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3 Considerations For Purchasing A Mountain Vacation Home

by Fernando Moore

If you are purchasing a mountain property for your family's vacation home, then it is important that you take certain things into consideration. By selecting the right real estate located in the right area, you will get the absolute most out of your new second home. However, since mountain living and mountain driving are very different than being in the city or suburbs, it is vital to take each of these three considerations in mind when you are shopping for your family's new mountain vacation home:

Consideration #1: How Far is the Mountain Property from Home?

While having property in the mountains where you can escape the day-to-day grind of work and traffic is wonderful, if you choose a property that is too far from your home, then you will not get to use it as often as you would like. It clearly doesn't make sense to buy property too close to home, but it also doesn't make sense to buy property more than a couple of hours' drive away either. This is especially important if you like to host guests at your vacation home and want them to have easy access so they can visit more often.

Consideration #2: Are the Roads to Your Property Publicly Maintained?

When you live in a city or suburb, the majority of the roads have a paved surface and are maintained in bad weather by public employees. However, most rural mountain property is surrounded by gravel or dirt roads and they are not necessarily maintained by anyone. Some property will have roads that are plowed of snow in the winter and others will require you to use a snowmobile for access in the winter. Before you make an offer on a mountain property, first you need to ensure that you will be able to use it year-round if you choose.

Consideration #3: Is There a Homeowner's Association Who Controls How You Use Your Property?

Finally, it is also very important to consider if potential mountain properties are located inside of a homeowner's association. Homeowner's associations are famous for having a lot of rules about what you can and cannot do with your property. If you want to rent your mountain retreat to other people when you are not using, then a homeowner's association may prevent you from being able to do so. For this reason, you should always get a copy of the association's CC&R documents and review them before making an offer. 

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