When I knew I had to move and sell our mountain home due to our health issues I immediately started dismantling my layout. Two other homes in the gated community of 150 homes and condos had nice train layouts in basements. As the two couples aged out both homes went on the market with layouts intact during comparatively strong late 1990s markets. Yet both homes remained unsold well into the slow "second home" market of 2005-06 and well beyond. This scenario influenced me to take down my twin shelf layout no matter how much visitors and friends had bragged on it as a "fun feature''and said leave it up(no doubt somewhat affected by adult beverages). My Realtor agreed with the decision.
My house was in good shape on 1-3/4 landscaped acres and went on the market in late 2008 but remained unsold until 2013 even after I severely discounted the price three times. The buyer, a Florida "halfback" originally from Ohio, was in his late '50s wanted to be unhampered by any chores not associated with golfing, tennis& skiing (wife & kids) or trout fishing, had his own plane, and favored our all weather landing strip. But his wife later told my Realtor negotiations ended with a sale only when I threw in my FWD John Deere tractor and he saw a photo of it plowing in a 10" snow. No photos or structural evidence of the train operation was anywhere to be seen. He had rejected homes with putting greens, waterfalls and pools as too much work and "aggravation".
Point I learned is that many,or perhaps most, looking for a second home want to pick their own features and reject potential for maintenance expense or labor that interferes with leisure.
