From Michigan to Sarasota, the growing appeal of a home away from home

Bradley Borowiec didn’t want to wait until retirement to create the life he had dreamed of with his family. As a senior vice president in commercial real estate in Chicago, he and his husband, Michael, wanted to enjoy the fruits of their labor while they were still laboring.

Rather than taking cruises and traveling for vacation, the two find solace in having a home away from home.

That’s come in the form of a lake house near South Haven, Michigan, and a single-family home in Sarasota, Florida. Borowiec and his husband are still based in Chicago but are making full use of the access they have outside the city.

Owning a vacation home is a dream for lots of Americans, and many of them look in the same places for their getaways. With such a significant purchase, vacation homebuyers put considerable thought into what they want these homes to deliver.

“I thought if I'm really serious about it and that's where I want to be, then why not invest in that now?” Borowiec said in an interview with Homes.com. “I just wanted something that I could be a little bit of a homebody and have more of a stationary place to go.”

Borowiec has lived and worked in the city of Chicago since 1999. While he enjoys the proximity to work from his condo and all that the city has to offer, Borowiec has always been in “city mode.” He didn’t get the chance to relax and recharge for the following week.

A home away from the city gave him the chance to do that.

Vacation home destinations tend to be odd ducks as markets. The idea is a place free from the pressures of work or one’s usual neighbors, and typically something that lets in a bit of the fantastic — whether that’s stunning nature, Old World charm, or vibrant nightlife.

It’s hard to build a place that can support a lot of leisure but not require everyone in the community to be working in its economy.

Florida is one of the most sought-after vacation destinations in the country, if not the world. Of the top 20 counties with the highest percentages of second homes, Florida has seven, according to research by the National Association of Realtors. The only other state with more than one is North Carolina, which has two.

But in Cape May County, New Jersey, 47.5% of the homes are second homes, the highest in the country.

“It’s like living in a Norman Rockwell village,” Carol Menz, an agent with Coastline Realty LLC in Cape May, told Homes.com. She said the town takes pride in preserving its historic buildings and maintaining its trails and walkways.

Cape May’s main clientele drives in from the major cities that surround it: Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. “We’re such an easy drive … from all of them,” Menz said.

The county is competing with other northern destinations such as The Hamptons and Martha’s Vineyard. But Menz said those places tend to cater to a higher-end crowd.

“I mean, we have plenty of Louis Vuitton here, too,” she said. “But we’re a little more laid-back, just a little more casual.”

But homes are plenty expensive in Cape May. On Homes.com, there are three homes for sale over $24 million.

Like a true vacation destination, Cape May has its own distinct season. “Primetime is when school’s out,” Menz said. “'Shoulder season' starts around Memorial Day … when rates are a little bit lower but the weather’s good.” Shoulder season is the travel period between peak and off-peak seasons.

However, Menz said many owners return to visit for the holidays and special events throughout the year. “There is something to do here virtually every weekend,” she said. “Right now, the Christmas season is amazing. The bed-and-breakfasts and hotels are all lit up.”

Monroe County in Florida also attracts visitors throughout the year. It has the second-highest percentage of vacation homes at 34.7%, but Kelly Randin of ReMax All Keys Real Estate has a simple explanation for that. “It’s the Keys,” she said.

Monroe is primarily the Florida Keys (though it includes a portion of the Everglades), a string of islands that amps Florida’s usual tropical beauty up to 11.

Second-home buyers in the Keys fall into two categories, according to Randin: snowbirds (people from Canada or northern states who come in the winter to get out of the snow) and weekenders.

“Typically, they buy them because they live in Miami or South Florida somewhere, and this is their weekend getaway,” Randin said. She said these are the people who buy the biggest vacation homes, always on the canals. “They’re usually people with money.”

Destination markets tend to operate differently from other home markets. “We’re kind of insulated and resilient” as a luxury destination market, Menz said. “People are coming here for a reason.”

“You know how everyone says that 2025 was a terrible year in real estate?” Randin said. “It was my best year.”

Carteret County in North Carolina, which has the third-highest percentage of vacation homes at 34.5%, is also a pretty stable market, but it has built-in buyers.

“We’re really recession-proof because of the military bases,” said Vanessa Justice with Justice Realty Group in Swansboro. “We will slow down, but we don’t crash like other markets would.”

The county, which features Emerald Isle off the coast, is sandwiched between three military bases. Justice said many buyers are military families and retirees who fall in love with the place for its quiet life. Emerald Isle didn’t even have a bridge until 1971.

Justice said her biggest problem is time-wasters. “We get a lot of looky-loos,” she said. “You have to really judge: ‘Are they serious? Are they just … trying to get a tour of these big houses?’”

Borowiec, from Chicago, purchased the lake house near South Haven, Michigan, in 2011, offering an escape two hours from his Chicago condo. Borowiec grew up outside the city and longed for the chance to live a little slower on weekends and take time off from work.

The water and well-manicured lawn offered the perfect backdrop for Borowiec to have a coffee in the morning and a glass of wine at night. Additionally, his dogs get a chance to run around and play, which can be difficult in the city.

Beyond the change of scenery, the lake house allowed Borowiec to create new memories with his friends and family. It quickly became an epicenter for summer fun during the weekends. Additionally, he made friends with his lake house neighbors, who keep an eye on his property when he’s away.

Wanting to form another “community,” Borowiec moved forward on purchasing a house in Sarasota in 2022 amid the Sun Belt boom post-pandemic. He chose Sarasota because he already has friends and family nearby.

It also fulfills childhood memories of frequently traveling to the Gulf side of Florida with his parents “every year.”

He recalls visiting Sarasota to scout the area and ended up touring over 30 properties in a couple of days. He found the home he wanted on the last visit.

His Florida home provides the same comfort of easy living that his Michigan home does, with the bonus of vacation-like weather during the harsh Midwest winters, when the days are short and dark.

“There's like no better place to be walking on the beach when it's like 0 degrees back home and you're able to kind of get a break from all of it,” Borowiec said.