Who: Grant and Bonnie Nichols, 51 and 48, a builder and a homemaker
Goal: Buy or build a vacation home on Lake Gaston, an hour away (estimated cost: $1 million).
Challenge: Before they can buy, the couple need to sell a lakeside home they already own (worth about $1.4 million). What Grant is counting on: "People are still willing to invest in waterfront property."
Strategy: Local home values aren't expected to fall much more. Agents advise them to put their existing vacation home on the market now to catch the spring busy season.
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