Turn your summer home into a year-round retreat

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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