This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
A Home Away
proximity to championship golf
courses
means to the millions of people who
From Home
own second homes. But lush fairways
and finely-manicured greens are but
one of the
At one time, most people fortunate attractions of living in the Carolinas,
enough to own their own home were where pursuit of the little dimpled
content with just that. If a family ball is as vigorous as anywhere in
had a second home, it probably was Scotland and undoubtedly
a simple cabin on a lake, a rustic more available and affordable.
mountain hideaway or a bungalow Two factors are generally cited to
way to duck the tax was to roll any
at the beach – a place to get away explain the tremendous growth not
gain into another home of equal or
for a few days or weeks to escape the only in second homes but in second
greater value. The new rules offered
concrete and asphalt of the city, not a homes whose size and style rival those
homeowners additional options, one
fully-furnished, year-round retreat. of first homes. One is the aging of
of which was to use the equity in
In most cases, these holiday havens the baby boomer generation. With
their primary homes to buy second
weren’t intended to offer the creature so many successful and prosperous
homes.
comforts of the more substantial boomers in retirement or closing
In just a few decades, the concept
family home back in town. For in on retirement age, the demand
of the second home has gone from
millions of Americans, those days for high-quality second homes has
a bucolic reverie for the few to a
are gone forever. In the 21st century, soared.
fully-equipped, year-round reality
the typical second home is likely The other factor is the change in
for the many. And, for hundreds of
to be just that – a second “home.” the federal tax code in 1997 that
thousands of second-home buyers
In fact, according to a recent study permitted most homeowners to
from the Northeast, the Midwest
by the National Association of escape the capital gains tax when
and beyond, there’s nowhere more
Realtors, second homes account for selling their homes.
attractive to buy or build than in
an astonishing 40 percent of existing Under the old code, the only
North Carolina and South Carolina.
home sales and make up one of the
hottest segments of the real estate
market.
These homes are far from woodsy
lean-tos or tumbledown shacks on
remote and rocky shores. Whether
they are purchased for personal
use, rental income, investment or a
combination of those reasons, second
homes are bigger, better and more
elegant across the board.
In 2006, the median-priced
investment home cost $183,500,
while the median-priced vacation
home tipped the scales at around
$204,000. For that kind of money,
buyers were snapping up well-
appointed properties equipped
with or accessible to an array of
amenities–and as large as or larger
than their principal residences of a
generation ago.
Where do most prospective second-
home buyers look when they are in
the market? Not surprisingly, most
want to be close to a river, ocean or
lake, with nearby opportunities for
recreational and sporting activities,
including golf.
Volumes could be penned on what
SummervilleBuilders.com | SouthCarolinaBuilders.com | CharlestonBuilders.com
74_AmericanDreams.indd 76 5/31/07 4:12:43 PM
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101
Produced with Yudu - www.yudu.com. Publish online for free with YUDU Freedom - www.yudufreedom.com.