[REAL STORIES] This NYC Fashion Stylist Bought a Beach House in Maine Sight Unseen

What do you get when you cross a New York City-based fashion stylist with a vintage beach cottage in Maine? A fully booked rental calendar, that's what.

Today's guest decided to keep his rent-controlled apartment in the West Village and bought a beach cottage, sight unseen, 300 miles north.

What if your 401 came with a fire pit and a lake view? That's the question that inspired it all.

I'm Katie Klein, and living in New York City meant buying a home felt impossible.

So I decided to flip the script and buy my second home first.

When I'm not there, it doubles as a short-term rental, covering its costs, building equity, and even turning a profit.

And best of all, it gives me a place to vacation for free.

What 401k can do that? Every week, join me as we hear from real people who've done the same and experts who can help you do it too.

If you thought owning any home, let alone a second one, was out of reach, this is the show for you.

This is Second Home First.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Second Home First.

I'm your host, Katie Klein, and today we have a really exciting Real Stories episode for you all.

Today, I'm chatting with Sepe Tiravasi, a fashion stylist based in New York City who's also the contributing fashion editor for GQ.

Sepe lives in a rent-controlled apartment in the West Village, and after seeing how much it would cost to buy an apartment in Brooklyn, he decided to change course and buy his second home first in his native state of Maine.

If the beginning of this story sounded a little familiar, that's because Sepe's partner, Paul Jabara, was also a guest of this podcast.

I'll be sure to link his episode in the show notes.

And yes, that means Paul and Sepe now have not one, but two vacation homes they get to enjoy together.

In this episode, Sepe shares how listening to his intuition gave him the confidence to make an offer on his home sight unseen.

He talks about why it's okay to change course.

not just from the traditional route of buying a home where you live, but in his case, buying in a different town than where he originally began looking, as well as rethinking design and decor decisions along the way.

He highlights how his property has truly become a family affair.

His friend served as his realtor.

A family friend laid all new flooring alongside him, and his mom and his aunt prepare the home for each guest turnover.

Thank you so

much for joining us.