Vacasa: Best places to buy a winter vacation home 2019

US: Property management company Vacasa has detailed the findings from its latest report, “Best places to buy a winter vacation home 2019”.

From enjoying the warmth of a fire after a long day on the slopes to sipping cocoa with the kids at the kitchen counter, there is a lot to love about winter vacation homes. Buyers looking to invest in a winter vacation home have much to consider, but one thing is sure to remain constant: travellers cannot resist the appeal of cozy A-frames, plush mountain condos, and classic log cabins with room to sprawl.

Read on for our 2019 list of the best places to buy a winter vacation home. Those that made the list this year have an almost built-in guest population, as they are situated just a short drive from highly populated residential markets and draw plenty of visitors from the surrounding area. And while winter activities bring many travellers to these destinations, the summer offers opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, and more that keep vacation homes booked when the snow melts.

Investments that will not leave you cold

In this report, we rank vacation rental markets based on aggregate cap rate, the ratio of a property’s net operating income over its cost.

To determine net operating income for this report, we first calculated gross rental income for each market. From there, we subtracted each market’s average operating costs—factoring in things like management fees and property tax rates. Finally, we divided those figures by the historical costs of buying a vacation rental to determine cap rates for each market.

Familiarising yourself with cap rate will help you make a more informed choice when deciding where to buy a winter home.

Here is where we think you should start your search:

• Killington, Vermont

Market size: 1,198