Written By: Brian Farley
Brian Farley is the President of Pride Mortgage, an east coast based mortgage lender. Brian has been ranked in national industry periodicals among the Top 200 loan officers over the past several years. Purchase loan business dominates his personal origination, which exceeded $90,000,000 in 2003. He serves as an advisory board member of Loan Officer Magazine and an active member of the Mortgage Speakers Bureau. Brian can be reached at brian@pridemortgage.com.
We all know that two heads are better than one - but how about two houses?
Second/vacation home purchases are becoming more and more popular each year. What a great niche for mortgage loan professionals!
Many of us originate loans in a geographic region of the country where, within driving distance, there is a vacation destination. Whether you work in or near Boston, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, or Hartford there are great get-away spots to match these cities such as like Cape Cod, East Hampton, Rehoboth Beach, Cape May and the Berkshire Mountains.
Even if you don't think your office is located near a "vacation" hot spot, just look around at the lakes, rivers, and even colleges within a 3 to 4 hour drive and you will find a niche market waiting to be tapped. A great way to determine if there is a demand for vacation properties is the "classified ads" in your local newspaper. They are often listed under the heading called "Vacation Homes, Lake Homes, or Resorts".
A short air trip is not out of the question for 2nd home buyers. The warm appeal of vacation destinations such as Fort Lauderdale and Palm Springs are at the top of the list for weather challenged New Yorkers and Seattleites. In fact, the New York to Fort Lauderdale route is the most heavily traveled route in the U.S.
More and more "baby-boomers" are buying second homes for a variety of reasons.
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