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Turn your summer home into a year-round retreat
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By Justin Hunter
Owning a home is a privilege that most home owners take
great pride in. Owning a second, summer home is even more
special because it allows the owner to escape everyday
life without having to stay in an uncompromising motel.
However, owning a home that is only usable in the summer
is expensive. Especially during this day and age, the
emphasis of real
estate is profit. The industry is focused on where
the best places are to invest for now and the future.
There is a way to own and enjoy your summer
home for more than just a few months, while renting
it out for a few more.
The article, “A House for All Seasons,” written
by Amy Gunderson and published in the October 18, 2006
edition of The New York Times, explains how you can easily
turn your summer home into a year-round retreat.
Gunderson explains one such home owner who wants more
out of her summer home.
“Summers at Lake
Oneida in upstate New York were an ideal retreat from
Los Angeles for Anny Slazik, but she was eager to extend
the season at her two-bedroom East Coast house. ‘I
didn’t like the fact that that I couldn’t
use it year round,’ Ms. Slazik said. ‘In the
winter, the snowmobiling around there is great.’”
Two years ago Slazik began to turn her 1930 lakefront
summer-only house into a year-round destination and “a
more lucrative investment that she could rent out for
more months of the year.” The project took 10 months
and now she rents out her home about five months out of
the year. She snowmobiles in February.
So, how easy or difficult is it to get your summer abode
ready for year-round living? a Home inspector, Tim Hockenberry
provides the basic essentials that you must pay attention
to.
The first thing is electricity. “Quite simply, there
might not be enough power coming into the house to fuel
all the appliances.
‘If there’s a little round meter with 60 amps,
then you don’t have enough,’ Mr. Hockenberry
said. Additional circuitry will be needed, and outlets
will need to be installed. Until the heating system is
installed, but after the new electricity upgrade, space
heaters may be employed as a temporary measure.”
That brings up the most asked about feature when renting
out in the winter; heat. If the house
does not already have it, you will have to contact the
local gas company to find out if your home is even on
a gas supplying grid. If you need to install a furnace,
have a professional help you. You can purchase the necessary
supplies at a hardware store, but installation can be
very dangerous and hazardous.
To keep that heat in, you will need insulation. “A
house without the proper insulation in the crawl space,
walls and ceiling is the equivalent of ‘standing
out on your front porch and throwing dollars bills into
the wind,’ Mr. Hockenberry said.”
Hockenberry suggests putting in as much insulation as
you can afford to prevent from having to do it again.
Insulation is usually concentrated in the walls, attic
and crawl space.
On to the windows. Windows can be weather-stripped and
resealed, and if you can afford it, replace them with
more energy-efficient double-paned glass windows.
The last essential home improvement prior to settling
in on a frigid day is to insulate the pipes to protect
against freezing. “Pipes can be covered with insulation
or wrapped in electric heat tape.”
It may cost a few thousand dollars but you will be able
to enjoy your summer home year-round and receive some
helpful rent in the off months as well. |
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