Vacation Homes: Is Now the Time to Buy?

Deborah Rehyer of Vienna, Va. had just one requirement for buying a vacation home: It had to be waterfront.

Her search began in a region 90 minutes from her home, in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. And her search ended on the opposite side of the state with a six-acre parcel on a tidal pond just off the Chesapeake Bay.

"Waking up in the morning is the best. I take my coffee out to the floating dock and watch the world wake up," Rehyer says of her vacation property.

Many of us visit vacation spots and wonder what life would be like to live there. Often, we pick up the real estate brochures searching for a cheap vacation home or the luxury house of our dreams.

Even as the national real estate market remains stagnant, professionals and experts say that the market for vacation homes may be the most attractive it's been in years, with prices down and interest rates low.