When it comes to winter vacations, you’ve got two options. Head up to the mountains for an adventure on the slopes or down to the coast for day at the beach. Most people book a hotel and call it a day, but for hardcore winter vacation goers, nothing less than a destination vacay home will do. Kinda gives a new meaning to the term “staycation” (aka staying home as a vacation), doesn’t it? Heh.
Here at Trulia, we’re all about helping you find your very best place to live. If that means where you live on the weekends while on vacation, we’ve got your back there too. To start off, we looked up zip codes that are practically next door to popular ski resorts or beaches. We then compared these zip codes by the median home prices.
When it came to the most expensive winter homes, nothing compared to Aspen, CO (for the ski bunnies) and Santa Monica, CA (for year-round sun worshipers). While the homes in both of these places feature some pretty incredible, over-the-top palaces, our little analysis revealed that there are also beautiful, lovely, charming, wonderful (we could carry on for days with adjectives) homes for sale in comparable climates at a fraction of the price you’ll pay in the ritzy, glitzy towns.
Ski-in to these Winter Wonderlands
In the celebrity-infested mountain town of Aspen, the median price of homes in 81611 is a whopping $1.95 million. It’s great if you’ve got the cash, but if you don’t, here are some cheaper alternatives in comparable ski-resort cities where you can get a much bigger bang for your ski-bunny buck.
In 80305 within Crested Butte, CO, you’d only be plopping down about $299,000. Meanwhile, in hip and happening within Boulder, CO 81225, the price will hover in the area of $399,900. For homes closer to the slopes in Southern California and Arizona, homes with a zip code of 92391 (Twin Peaks), 92341 (Green Valley Lake) and 92386 (Sugarloaf) are nestled close enough to the Big Bear skiing areas to make them both worth the drive and an attractive place to potentially purchase or lease a vacation home. Median home prices are around $125,000.
So long story short -you don’t have to spend a bundle to have a great home in a winter wonderland. Just remember to bundle up. It’s cold out there!
Soak up the sun, save some coin
Santa Monica has a famous pier, beaches for miles, and…pricey beach homes. Lucky for you, the sun shines everywhere and you can get a Santa Monica-esque experience in other coastal beach towns across America.
Not too far from Santa Monica is Long Beach, CA. It even got it’s own theme song – remember “Summertime in the LBC” ? — so you know it’s legit. Prices are even more sunny. The median home in 90802 run you about $224,000. Farther down the coast of California is “America’s Finest City” – San Diego. With unrivaled beaches and a fun seaside vibe, San Diego is another prime pick for a sunny vacation home spot. And the prices are right in 92105 specifically– about $214,000. And of course, we couldn’t forget about the great homes for sale in Florida. It is “The Sunshine State” after all. In Miami, snag something for around $71,316 in 33147. In neighboring West Palm Beach, you’ll be looking at a price tag of around $74,000 in 33417. Elsewhere in Florida, 33763 in Clearwater clocks in around $83,700. An endless summer can be found, and it can be affordable, if you just know the right places to look!
Thoughts? If you’re in the market for a vacation home (or thinking/dreaming about it), where are you looking to buy?
