“When we were renting it out, too many opportunities came up because it’s a log cabin and very Alaska-like,” said Wigren, who rents the two-bedroom cabin at $209 per night on VRBO.
The Alaska native boasts a 94% occupancy rate and credits her property’s popularity to being featured on what she calls “cheesy” Alaska shows on the History Channel and Discovery Channel.
“We’ll probably never live in it,” laments Wigren, who moved into a three-bedroom house in Anchorage last year with her husband Kevin, 28, to start a family.
Wigren said that the property turns a hefty revenue stream, amassing over $52,000 gross revenue annually over the $22,000 operating costs — easily paying off the mortgage inside of a couple years.”For the average family, investing in the second home, is a good place to put your money,” said Shari Olefson, director of the Carnegie Group and author of Foreclosure Nation (Prometheus, 2009). “People still perceive real estate as a lot safer than the stock market.”
Vacation homes sales boomed in 2014 above their most peak level in 2006, representing 21% of all home purchasing transaction last year, according to NAR’s most recent Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey released in April. The survey found that the price of vacation home fell by 11% since 2013, selling at a median price of $150,000.
“Most people who buy them rent them out part of the time and use them part of the time, ” Olefson said. “Most are not covering all their income and expenses, but it’s helping to subsidize [their vacation home].”
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