It's Time to Reassess Your Plans For a Second Home

Sometimes the best laid plans can turn out to go all wrong. Since there are many variables involved, this can certainly be said for buying a second home. Whatever the reason you may want a second home, whether it's for vacationing, hunting, or a winter home, it can be a very expensive process wrought with many potential potholes. And that's just the buying process. What can foil many people's visions of small cottage house plans being drawn up for their perfect second home has nothing to do with actually picking out and buying the house. Instead, it's all the years that lead up to the purchase. The putting away of money, the sacrificing the now for the future, the things that need to be done to get your financial world in order. The good thing, however, is that by taking some simple steps now, you might just be able to afford that second home later.

This advice isn't intended for the wealthy. People that can afford a half-million dollar second home on the coasts of some tropical nation aren't the sort of people that will struggle to afford a second home. No, this is meant for all those people that are making ends meet but want to put away some money for when they're able to make those ranch home plans turn into reality. For those people, things might be a little more difficult, but thankfully they're not impossible. First, these people need to minimize their debt. If you're going to be taking on more debt of a second home, it would be wise not to have a balance sheet filled with car payments, boat payments, payments for furniture or electronics, or payment on student loans.

Second, protect your wealth by putting it in the appropriate investment. Unless you want to risk your retirement savings or the savings that will go towards your new property, get your money into an investment that won't risk you losing everything you've worked so hard to gain. When you're ready to move on those cottage home plans, you can actually make the move. Don't put money that you plan on using in the next five years into the stock market, and don't leave it languishing in a bank savings account. Instead, utilize higher-return investments like a money market fund. If you have enough time to play the stock market, consider an index fund over individual stocks. Sure, you won't make as much money, but you also won't lose it all and not be able to buy that second home of your dreams!