You know that you want a Florida vacation home, and you know that this is the time to get incredible deals on Florida vacation homes. But you’re just not sure how you’re going to be able to afford it. With some creative thinking, you may realize that you already have the means available to finance your Florida vacation home. It might take a bit more time or some tightening of your belt, but you can make your dream of owning a Florida vacation home come true.
There are two traditional ways that people usually pay for a Florida vacation home. The majority of buyers take out a mortgage, making payments over a period of years. If you have already paid off your first home, then getting a new mortgage for your Florida vacation home may be easily affordable. The second way people traditionally pay for a new Florida vacation home is to pay cash. Most of us wouldn’t be able to pay cash for a second home, or we couldn’t do so without taking money out of savings or investment accounts. Instead, consider some other ways that you might be able to afford your second home in Florida.
One option is to simply spend less on the home by purchasing a home that you can refurbish over time. Even if the structure isn’t appreciating as you would like it to before it is repaired, at least you’re not losing any money in the overall value of the home. As long as the home is habitable, you could rent it out and make the repairs as you can afford it. You might even be able to find a renter who can make the repairs in exchange for reduced or free rent. Or, you could look into local, state, and national grant programs to see if you might be eligible for some government assistance in repairing your home. If you choose a historic home or one in a neighborhood the government is trying to revitalize, this may be possible.
Another possibility is to consider a reverse mortgage on your current home. Doing so will allow you to get access to the money you’ve already invested in your home to afford all or a portion of your Florida vacation home. With a reverse mortgage, you are able to take out a portion of the equity in your home as cash. But unlike a normal home equity loan, you don’t have to repay the reverse mortgage until the home in question is no longer your primary residence. So you could take out a reverse mortgage on your current home, buy your Florida vacation home, rent it, and then repay the reverse mortgage when you are ready to move to your Florida vacation home permanently or when you sell the primary residence – whichever comes first.
