Home Buying
Some are “rentvesting” by buying vacation homes on the Cape while renting their primary residences
Some buyers are entering the market by purchasing a vacation home/investment property while being renters at their primary residence. Adobe, Ally Rzesa/Globe Staff
The conventional path to homeownership might go something like this: a post-college apartment shared with more roommates than you’d care to admit, a starter home, an upgrade home a few years later, an even nicer upgrade further out, and maybe, if you’re lucky, a weekend place someday.
But for a growing cohort of buyers — priced out of primary markets or simply unwilling to wait — the trajectory is being flipped.
Welcome to the second-home-first club, where the vacation house is the first step in a homeownership journey. Some of the trend is motivated by what economists call “rentvesting,” when it makes more financial sense to rent a primary residence while purchasing an investment property in a more affordable location or where the short-term rental market is hot. It’s a way to start building equity when buying a primary home is not feasible.
“In Boston, for instance, 6 percent of home shoppers are actively looking at rentals at the same time. When comparing similar properties side-by-side, these ‘dual shoppers’ find that renting is often $1,000 a month cheaper than owning,” said Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. “Building wealth through homeownership is a great long-term benefit, but that extra $1,000 a month can be really hard to stomach.”
Boston-raised Patrick Holland and his husband, Steven Bontempo, have lived in New York City for years and love it. But they’re also clear-eyed about what it costs.
According to Redfin, the median sale price in Manhattan was $1.3 million in March, and $1.04 million in Brooklyn.
Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo rent their primary residence in New York City, but own a house on Cape Cod. – Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo
“The idea of owning a home always seems a little out of reach, especially in New York City,” said Bontempo. “So, this ‘second-property-first’ idea came up as a way to own a home and also have a way to get out of the city.”
Last November, the timing aligned. They had been saving up and looking at places near New York City and in Pennsylvania when Holland’s parents decided to sell a house in Harwich that had been in and around Holland’s family since the 1980s. Holland grew up going to the Cape, his parents relocated there during the pandemic, and the house carried enough history that letting it leave the family felt wrong.
Holland and Bontempo bought it, moved in around Thanksgiving, and spent the last four months doing something neither expected: becoming renovators.
“I work in digital marketing,” Bontempo said with a laugh. “I never do anything with my hands other than type on a keyboard.”
Countertops and tile went to professionals. Everything else went the DIY route. In all, they invested around $30,000 into the renovations.
“To put all this work into something that I can see a finished product for just feels so good,” Bontempo said.
Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo bought this house in Harwich from Holland’s parents. – Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo
A seating area in Patrick Holland’s and Steven Bontempo’s Cape Cod home. – Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo
A bedroom in Patrick Holland’s and Steven Bontempo’s Cape Cod home. – Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo
The couple now uses the home as a short-term rental part of the time.
Ng reminds those thinking of going this route that there will be unforeseen costs for repairs — and the pressure of finding tenants. “Being a landlord also means navigating complex rental regulations and property management for the first time, which can be a steep learning curve, especially if you’re becoming a landlord in an unfamiliar area,” she said.
“If something goes wrong — a burst pipe, storm damage, a fallen tree — you need someone local who can step in quickly,” added Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather.
For Holland, his parents living three minutes away is a “built-in emergency response plan.”
The living room in Patrick Holland’s and Steven Bontempo’s Cape Cod home. – Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo
A sunny seating area in Patrick Holland’s and Steven Bontempo’s Cape Cod home. – Patrick Holland and Steven Bontempo
“We do plan on spending quite a bit of time here. It’s not just an investment property,” Holland added. “It kind of emphasizes the things that I love and miss, and I’m excited to get back to [in New York City], but also reinforcing that I do love an escape.”
According to Zillow, the average home value in Harwich was $742,682 in March, and the median list price was $761,800.
Sixty minutes down the Cape, comedian Sean Flanagan and his husband, Simon, arrived in Provincetown by a different route — and from considerably farther away. Simon is in the Navy. The Washington, D.C.-based couple previously lived in Tokyo and Nashville, and Mexico City is next.
“Planning for anything like a first home, or a forever place, isn’t really feasible,” Flanagan said.
In 2020, with years of assignments still ahead of them, they bought a two-bedroom condo in Provincetown instead. Flanagan grew up near Boston, but neither he nor Simon had been to P-town before a family reunion brought them to Cape Cod.
Sean Flanagan and his husband, Simon, live all over the world, but set roots by buying an investment property in Provincetown. – Sean Flanagan
“We just absolutely fell in love with the place,” Flanagan said. “There was no other choice.”
Flanagan counts on a strong neighbor network as well as a property manager to jump in for heavier maintenance when they’re not there.
“We’re really fortunate,” he said. “We have an incredible homeowners association, and I don’t think many people get to say that.”
According to Zillow, the average home value in Provincetown was about $1 million in March, and the median list price was $1.2 million. The condo rents well when they can’t get there, but when they can be in Provincetown, it doesn’t feel like a vacation. It feels like their home base.
They’ve gotten to know neighbors, built relationships with local vendors, and discovered the charm of the offseason.
“Being there in the quieter time makes it home,” Flanagan said.
In the end, isn’t that the whole point?
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