If owning a home is the American dream, then owning a vacation home must be
the American fantasy.
That fantasy is becoming a reality for an increasing number of families
these days. Last year alone, more than 1 million vacation homes were purchased
in the United States, an increase of nearly 17 percent over the record set in
2004.
Mountain homes in the Central Sierra counties of Tuolumne, Calaveras and
Mariposa are among those luring buyers.
"Vacation home buyers want beautiful and natural areas, and the Central
Sierra is an emerging destination,"said David Hehman, president of
EscapeHomes.com, an Internet-based company that focuses on vacation property.
"The attraction there is the natural beauty and affordability."
Affordable, that is, compared to other vacation hot spots in California,
like pricey places along the ocean. Most foothill vacation homes sell for
$350,000 or more, with many priced above $1 million. A decade ago, many
Tuolumne County homes could be found for $100,000 to $150,000.
"Prices are up from last year," said Ruth Jeffers, owner of Acorn Real
Estate in Twain Harte. She's been selling foothill property for two decades,
and she's seen unprecedented price jumps the past few years.
Vacation home popularity — and prices — are being driven by
pleasure-seeking baby boomers who are in their peak earning years, according
to David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
"Vacation home sales will remain strong for the foreseeable future, given
the fact baby boomers are favorably positioned in terms of affordability, as
well as being at the stage in life when people are most interested in making
that kind of a lifestyle purchase," Lereah said. "Discretionary purchases of
that nature are more likely in a healthy economy, and that is looking positive
as well."
Jeffers said foothill prices have soared particularly high because
privately owned property is scarce there.
"The government owns about 80 percent of the land in Tuolumne," said
Jeffers, noting that terrain makes much of the remaining property difficult to
develop.
That means existing homes can demand premium prices.
For instance: Jeffers has a small, older, three-bedroom home in Twain Harte
listed for sale at $488,800. That same home sold last year for $395,500.
"Call the appreciation a bonus because there are no guarantees prices will
continue to rise," Jeffers said. "But I've had people tell me they were able
to sell their family cabins and completely pay for their kid's college
education."
Timing is the key.
"We bought our cabin at the right time and sold it at the right time," said
Bob Rosenbaum of Modesto. He bought a five-bedroom home near Strawberry in
Tuolumne County in 1998, then sold it last year for about triple the price.
While it turned out to be a great investment, Rosenbaum said his family
didn't visit the vacation home nearly as much as they thought they would:
"There were years we only used it a couple of times."
That same home now is bringing joy and peace to the Kisst family of Ripon.
"No matter how busy you are here, you go up there and look out the window
and have a little serenity," said John Kisst, who brings his wife and five
children to Strawberry several weekends a month. "We seem to have a lot more
quality family time together in that home away from home."
Kisst said buying a vacation home only makes financial sense for those who
will use it regularly.
"If you're only going up a couple weeks a year, why pay for something
that's collecting dust?" Kisst asked. "You don't have to buy when you can rent
the best house on the mountain for maybe $3,000 a week."
There's an active vacation rental market in the foothills.
Darlene Jacobson manages 25 rental homes in Tuolumne County, which she
books for $140 to $460 per night. Her typical four-bedroom home sleeps 10 and
rents for $1,100 per week.
"My biggest place sleeps 28 people," said Jacobson, who owns Darlene's
Vacation Cabins.
Most of the cabins she manages — around Mi-Wuk Village, Long Barn, Cold
Springs and Strawberry — are owned by others who rent out their dream homes
when they're not around.
"If they want their home to pay for itself, they've got to rent it all the
time," Jacobson said. That's tough to do without a management company, she
said, because someone must book the cabins, advertise them, hand out keys,
clean up, stock wood piles, remove trash, respond to problems and assorted
other things. "No one is going to get rich doing that."
Sandy Asquith, who manages 75 vacation cabins around Twain Harte, said
owners shouldn't count on renters to cover their mortgage payments.
"You're probably going to make enough to pay your taxes and that's it,"
said Asquith, noting that most cabins only rent during holiday weekends,
winter and spring breaks, and for perhaps four weeks during the summer.
Marcus and Yolanda Rivera of Turlock, however, found a way to make renting
their vacation home work for them. They purchased a home four years ago in
Calaveras County, right before housing prices there started climbing.
"We are both teachers, and having the second home is great for the summer,"
Marcus Rivera said. "The house is so big that we converted the bottom half
into a rental and have it rented all year long.
"We bought this house as a fixer-upper. We did all the work ourselves with
the help of family and friends."
Bee staff writer J.N. Sbranti can be reached at 578-2196 or
jsbranti@modbee.com