Darci Marchese, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – Even luxurious beach homes can fall victim to the market.

Emory Miller, an Alexandria executive, owns a six-bedroom beach home in the Outer Banks in Duck.

He says he watched a beautiful semi-oceanfront home in his North Carolina neighborhood fall from grace in just a year and a half.

“It went on the market for $2.5 million. I learned it was sold as a bank-owned property for $1.2 million,” Miller says.

Of course, that kind of price decline is extreme. But overall, prices are down.

In 2005, an oceanfront home in Duck sold for an average price of $890,000. In 2008, the average price fell to $800,000. One year later, and knock off another another $100,000. That’s a total fall of about 21 percent in just four years.

For Miller, it shows it’s time to buy.

“Unquestionably it’s a buyer’s market,” he says.

But if you’re thinking about buying a beach home to rent out, Miller suggests having your eyes “wide open.”

“If you have to rent it, as most of us do, you have to think of it as a business.”

So ditch the idea of it being your own home.

He says put yourself in the shoes of someone renting a beach home.

“What would someone want if they walked into a high quality hotel? What are the furnishings like? What’s going to make them feel comfortable?”

Bernie Roach with Century 21/New Horizon in Ocean City, Md. also thinks potential purchasers need to understand it’s not necessarily a lucrative business.

“You’re not going to make a lot of money just off of the rentals,” he says.

Bottom line: don’t spend more than you can afford.

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