ER Permanent Relocation vs Seasonal Rentals?

[hankster]

Originally Posted by chinaco

It seems to me that the answer depends on where you want to be. We intend to rent rather than buy for several reasons.

• We want to be in our current location permanently because family lives here.
• We want to be somewhere else during certain seasons. And that somewhere else may vary.

For us renting seems to make the most sense...

Exactly like our situation. Mmmmm....February in Hawaii, March in Phoenix for spring training baseball, August on the NW Pacific coast to escape the hot, dry summer weather inland, etc.

[CATAMAN]

Originally Posted by Midpack

Not that clear to me.

If you rent and then buy, you will pay to move twice. So if you get it right the first time you avoid about $10K in moving costs (the second time), not to mention the inconvenience of two moves in a year.

So what's left is paying real estate commission twice vs renting for a year (a little hard to rent for less than that no?).
- Est commission second time = $300,000 x 6% = $18K
- Rent a home for a year = $1500/mo x 12 mo = $18K

So if you buy a house and get it right you save $28K (rent and second move). If you're wrong, it still costs you about $28K (second commision and second move) not to mention the inconvenience/uncertainty of having to sell the first house.

I'm making some assumptions just to put $ to the discussion, but what am I fundamentally missing?

Your assumption seems to include a cash purchase price of $300,000 (since there was no monthly mortgage mentioned). By renting first, the $300,000 that would have been used to buy the property could be used to arbitrage the monthly rental payment. $300,000 x 0.05 = $15,000 toward the rent, reducing that cost.

[Rich_in_Tampa]

Originally Posted by Moemg

One of the things we did when trying to decide is we got the local newspapers . When we read the Venice Gondolier we knew this was the place for us .

What a great suggestion.

I can see where this would be a quick way to get a feel for the lifestyle, scope of recreation and other amenities, and the local priorities. And free of the hype you get when working through the promotional interests.

Plus, the same dirty laundry that sells newspapers is the dirty laundry that everyone tries to play down when you are in the real estate market.

BTW - we drove through Lakewood Ranch yesterday on our way back from Port Everglades. Pretty imposing community - huge, spread out all over, and some of the homes seemed very attractive. It definitely has that "development" feel loud and clear both for good and bad. Overall favorable impression, though.

[Midpack]

Originally Posted by CATAMAN

Your assumption seems to include a cash purchase price of $300,000 (since there was no monthly mortgage mentioned). By renting first, the $300,000 that would have been used to buy the property could be used to arbitrage the monthly rental payment. $300,000 x 0.05 = $15,000 toward the rent, reducing that cost.

Very good point, you've got me there...thanks.

[Oldbabe]

Do you think you really need to be gone all winter? I don't like winter either, but this year a 3 1/2 week vacation in S. America did the trick for me. Broke up the winter enough so that it didn't feel like a death march until Spring.

[Walt34]

Originally Posted by Moemg

The second move is usually closer so a lot of the boxes can be moved in your car and only the furniture has to be moved

We only moved an hour and a half away, and everything that I could physically carry and would fit in the pickup truck went to a storage facility 10 minutes from the new house. So when the movers came they were packed in about an hour, the bill was $600 and change.

[tednvon]

Hi,
We choose to rent hands down. We do 3 months in central Florida. Lots of homes and condos for rent by the week are very empty during slow Disney season. 3 months guaranteed rental from adults with no kids, no cleaning fees and someone to watch the house works out well. Monthly rents inlcudes heated pool, all utilities, and furnished home or condo.

For us, and this is just us, this is a fun fast paced area with not all "old people." I cannot just sit and be retired. I work 2 days at a big time golf course as starter and spouse works 12 hrs a week at Disney. She loves it and made several friends of other retired midwesterners down for 3 months...plus free golf and free Disney for us and friends and family who visit!!
Traffic is very managable compared to any Florida cities on the coasts.

We spend 9 months back in Iowa and get back just in time for golf, spring, and summer. We do Christmas with the kids and grandkids and head out.
Thought about buying but the numbers don't come close even if we try to rent the property when we are not there. Plus no worries about real estate tax, hurricanes, bugs, HOA fees, mold, yard work and so on.

Trade off is we don't choose the furniture, the carpet color, the wall color. We don't have our decorations on the wall, or our pattern of dishes in the cupboard. We do, however get to see the home before we rent, see where we will be living and the furnishings. We have 3 bedrooms and two baths and that is more than enough, even when we have visitors.
For us works great...and all the money is still in Vanguard waiting for the market to turn around!!!!

Just spent 4 days in Fairfield Glade with friends who own a beautiful golf course home there. Weather can be iffy in Dec-April, but golfers paradise with $25 green fees on 4-5 different courses for members. Membership is very reasonable, under $1500/year as I recall.
Large lots with houses very well spaced. All 55+ ages in the homes. There are time share condos in the Glade but far removed from the homes.
Shopping is expanding rapidly in the area and it is about a 10 minute drive from inside the "Glade" to any grocery store.
Hope this helps..

All the best...Ted

[jIMOh]

I didn't here discussions from rocky mountain states??

I have been to Denver twice- once in late winter and once on July 4 weekend. The temperature difference between the two times of year was about 10 degrees (60 in winter, maybe 75 in summer).

My understanding is that Denver is sunny around 300 days per year. The High altitude keeps it cool in summer, and the mountains absorb most of the snow storms (go 45 miles west and snow can change from 0 inches to 360 inches yearly).

I live in Ohio now. I'd like to retire to Colorado and ski in the winters and do other stuff in summers (white water raft or other).