Second Homes: What To Look For

What do you look for in a vacation home? A place near a huge city in which you can play? A place in an exotic foreign country? Neither is what most people who buy vacation homes look for. They want a place where they can truly escape. They don't want to be near a city. They want a quiet town in which they can truly relax. Real estate company CENTURY 21 has done a study to determine the most popular places people are buying vacation homes and how much they're paying for those homes on average. What they found is that people want a wide array of recreational areas. They want to be near beaches, golf courses, and fishing holes. They want to be near urban areas, but not too near. Here are the results separated by regions of the country.

Location Closest City Average home price

Northeast
• Bidgewater, NH 30 miles from Concord, NH 100,000
• Sandwich, MA 65 miles from Boston, MA 135,000
• Lake of the Pines, PA 12 miles from Stroudsburg, PA 110,000
• Monticello, NY 20 miles from Middletown, NY 85,000
• Lower Cape May, NJ 35 miles from Atlantic City, NJ 92,500

Midwest
• Brainerd, MN 65 miles from St. Cloud, MN 127,000
• Houghton, MI 100 miles from Marquette, MI 45,000
• Nashville, IN 15 miles from Bloomington, IN 89,000
• Detroit Lakes, MN 45 miles from Fargo, ND 60,000
• Sturgeon Bay, WI 45 miles from Green Bay, WI 90,000

South
• Clayton, GA 50 miles from Gainesville, GA 90,000
• Ocean City, MD 30 miles from Salisbury, MD 150,000
• South Hill, VA 90 miles from Richmond, VA 125,000
• Emerald Isle, NC 30 miles from Jacksonville, NC 150,000
• Lake Marion, SC 60 miles from Columbia, SC 150,000

West
• Durango, CO 45 miles from Farmington, NM 150,000
• Madras, OR 45 miles from Bend, OR 85,000
• McCall, ID 90 miles from Boise, ID 130,000
• Lake Tahoe, CA 60 miles from Reno, NV 200,000
• Twain Harte, CA 64 miles from Modesto, CA 129,500