Retirement House

[INTJ10]

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Originally Posted by RunningBum You'd have to stow away all of your private stuff, and also hope nothing you value was stolen or damaged while you are away. You'd also need to pay for someone to manage it while you are gone. "not feel guilty"?? Just don't feel guilty. That's a terrible reason to do anything when it's only affecting you. If you can't afford it, that's a valid reason for renting it out, but it's also a reason to go cheaper. Wouldn't you be more likely to stay around during prime time and travel in your off-season? That would reduce your occupancy and the rate you can charge, making it less worthwhile.

We had a vacation home at one time. It was nice but it was expensive so we didn’t travel that much because the vacation home would be empty during the peak season. This decision is more about tradeoffs. More house vs more travel budget. The rental aspect might be a way to have both. I own rental property so I am aware of the implications. But we haven’t ever rented our primary house. The Air BnB idea is to have very limited, selective rentals. We have rented other people’s houses and it worked out well from our side and the owners. I just wanted to hear from those that have tried this approach so I could better understand the potential pitfalls.

[Badger]

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Originally Posted by 82-T/A 1 - Jacksonville: Please don't laugh. The city is quickly becoming a mecca for well-educated and growing income earners due to its business-friendly environment, and the low taxes. Homes are *absurdly* cheap compared to what you'll find in Metro-Dade / Broward area, and even compared to what you'll find in Tampa. You can literally buy a nice home on the water for $250k within walking distance to night-life. .

I am very familiar with Jacksonville and would NOT recommend it. AND the home prices you describe are more in line with 2008 and on the low side at that. Even if you found one at that price it would be so bad it would only be bought to tear down and build new. I know a number of homes with that description and today they are 3X that price unless you buy in a bad part of town. If you want to live at the beach then a home within walking distance (a few blocks from the ocean) will easily cost $800k on the low side if you can find one.


Cheers!

[Midpack]

Not much help here, as I wouldn’t be interested in letting our home be used for AirBnB/rental even if it was a vacation or snowbird home. We have a few “friends” we wouldn’t welcome to stay in our home, strangers would be out of the question for us.

And I also think it’s a good idea to wait until you’ve retired to buy and relocate. It took us almost eight years to decide where we really wanted to move to, and the (new to us) house we bought isn’t much like we thought we wanted. Glad we waited to move and buy.

[ocean view]

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Originally Posted by INTJ10 We are going to check out the villages. A “lifestyle visit” is a four day minimum.

If you are an introvert as your INTJ handle implies, I’m thinking the Villages would not be a good fit. Too much social interaction. And yes, you don’t have to partake in all they offer, but why move to this type of community if not to participate. That’s just me, YMMV.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by INTJ10 We had a vacation home at one time. It was nice but it was expensive so we didn’t travel that much because the vacation home would be empty during the peak season. This decision is more about tradeoffs. More house vs more travel budget. The rental aspect might be a way to have both. I own rental property so I am aware of the implications. But we haven’t ever rented our primary house. The Air BnB idea is to have very limited, selective rentals. We have rented other people’s houses and it worked out well from our side and the owners. I just wanted to hear from those that have tried this approach so I could better understand the potential pitfalls.

There's a world of difference between renting out a vacation home, and renting out your main home. But let's see if anyone has actually done that.

I had people ask about renting my home when I was only living there part time, but I turned them down. Just didn't want to deal with all the things I mentioned in my earlier post, even for easy money from friends.

[HI Bill]

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Originally Posted by pb4uski If I were in the OP's shoes and wanted to travel, I would probably get a condo....if we want to go away, clean out the fridge, turn off the water, close and lock the door and arm the security system.... easy peasy. Our annual costs, excluding mortgage payments since we bought for cash, are about $9k a year all in so it is very affordable too.

+1. My plan is to buy a condo in a gated community for the first decade of retirement (54-~64) when we intend to travel a lot. I looked at buying a house in a gated community, but the monthly costs would sink half our travel budget. My hope is that in the next decade, our assets (and the condo) appreciate enough to allow us to buy a really nice house. In the mean time, I'll be selling ETFs annually (and re-purchasing similar funds) to the limit that allows the LTGCs to be tax-free. That way, any time after 59.5, I'll have ready cash available for the purchase.

[Moemg]

Have you looked at Venice ,Fl. ? It has a nice historic downtown and is very close to the beach . It has been discovered and is getting built up but it is a very pretty area .

[INTJ10]

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Originally Posted by ocean view If you are an introvert as your INTJ handle implies, I’m thinking the Villages would not be a good fit. Too much social interaction. And yes, you don’t have to partake in all they offer, but why move to this type of community if not to participate. That’s just me, YMMV.

That is a fair point. Although, i don’t dislike social interaction, I just prefer smaller groups. I am curious to see what it is like.

[joeea]

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Originally Posted by pb4uski If I were in the OP's shoes and wanted to travel, I would probably get a condo.

A lock and leave condo makes a lot of sense if you don't need the rental income.

[INTJ10]

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Originally Posted by Moemg Have you looked at Venice ,Fl. ? It has a nice historic downtown and is very close to the beach . It has been discovered and is getting built up but it is a very pretty area .

Venice, is great. It gets pricey to get near Venice Ave and/or the beach so a little rental income might make it practical to get a place closer to the water if it is worth the hassle.

[bigcmagor]

We never rented out our Florida home, but allowed friends, family and coworkers to use it for free (along with the car) when we weren't there. Providing a virtually free vacation for people we like seemed to be a good idea at the time. Spending time each trip repainting scuff marks on the walls and cleaning carpets got to be discouraging. The more money we poured into improvements, the less accommodative we became and eventually we just stopped allowing it. Nobody cares for your stuff like you do.

[cathy63]

Wherever you end up buying, do some serious research on the status of home sharing laws in the area and listen for any rumblings of discontent that might portend future restrictions. I don't know how Floridians feel about this, but most coastal communities in So Cal have implemented outright bans or very tight restrictions on short term rentals. It would be a shame to buy a place where you depend on an income stream only to have a restrictive law passed shortly thereafter.

And on the other side of that coin, don't forget to find out how many other houses in the neighborhood are listed on AirBnB. If the 2-bedroom home next door is listed as "sleeps 8", that tends to have an impact on your peace and quiet.

[INTJ10]

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Originally Posted by cathy63 Wherever you end up buying, do some serious research on the status of home sharing laws in the area and listen for any rumblings of discontent that might portend future restrictions. I don't know how Floridians feel about this, but most coastal communities in So Cal have implemented outright bans or very tight restrictions on short term rentals. It would be a shame to buy a place where you depend on an income stream only to have a restrictive law passed shortly thereafter. And on the other side of that coin, don't forget to find out how many other houses in the neighborhood are listed on AirBnB. If the 2-bedroom home next door is listed as "sleeps 8", that tends to have an impact on your peace and quiet.

Very true. I made the mistake of volunteering to be in our HOA Board and quickly became aware of deed restrictions. I actually had to enforce our “no short term rental” rule.

Florida lives off tourism. The state smells money so they have proposed a law that Does Not allow communities to restrict short term rentals. At the same
Time Air BnB made an agreement with the state to collect sales tax on bookings and pass it along to the state.

Some have suggested condo/ townhouses which would be nice for traveling. It is hard to find a condo/townhouse that would make it possible to do Air BnB since all are deed restricted. It is also almost impossible to find a townhouse with a 3 car garage.

[rk911]

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Originally Posted by joeea Not us. There's no way I'd want someone else living in my home while I was away. If we had planned to travel that much, we would have rented rather than buying.

agree. we are usually in the RV 5-6 months a year. we have zero debt including the mortgage and have been cash flowing an extensive remodeling job. we pretty much have the house the way we like it and will be staying here until health makes it difficult to remain.

[rk911]

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Originally Posted by INTJ10 We are going to check out the villages. A “lifestyle visit” is a four day minimum.

from folks who lived there with whom i talked the villages can be very cliquey and excluding especially if you don't play golf or drink.

[Calico]

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Originally Posted by INTJ10 We are going to check out the villages. A “lifestyle visit” is a four day minimum.

FYI, an earlier thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...eks-96561.html

[Scuba]

We have never rented out our primary home as an Air BnB and I think it would be hard to do so. We have rented many homes/condos from VRBO, Air BnB and other rental agencies. Nice rentals do not have any personal belongings in them, except for one locked closet. That means no clothing, personal photos, or personal effects of any kind, no food, except maybe some spices and coffee or tea. Essentially you would have to move out of your home when you wanted to rent it. Too much hassle for us, not to mention potential damage to nice furniture, artwork, rugs, etc. If you decide to do this, I would furnish it accordingly - ie stylishly but cheap stuff that looks good. The risk of damage is high from short-term renters.

We have rented a second home out on the short-term rental market. We only made around $12K per year, and it was also a big hassle dealing with property management, bad tenants who caused significant damage, etc. If we ever do that again, we will furnish it much differently. Our stuff was too nice and damage happened.

We rented out our primary residence, unfurnished, for long-term rentals when we moved away for a couple of years and that was fine. If you want to do a long-term trip, putting your things in storage and renting it out unfurnished could be a good option.

[INTJ10]

Thanks for all of the advice/comments. Based on the feedback, we gave up on the idea of short term rentals. We did sign a contract for a property that could be attractive for long term rentals if we want to travel for multiple months. The property is on a canal that provides direct access to the Gulf of Mexico but it is inexpensive enough so we don't have to depend on any rentals because it is distant from population centers.

[Scuba]

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Originally Posted by INTJ10 Thanks for all of the advice/comments. Based on the feedback, we gave up on the idea of short term rentals. We did sign a contract for a property that could be attractive for long term rentals if we want to travel for multiple months. The property is on a canal that provides direct access to the Gulf of Mexico but it is inexpensive enough so we don't have to depend on any rentals because it is distant from population centers.

Good decision, I think.

[Music Lover]

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Originally Posted by W2R BUT - - first I would retire, and spend a couple of years in retirement before selling or buying any real estate. My reason for this is that many of us seem to find it much easier to figure out what we need and want in retirement, after: (1) completely adjusting to retirement, and then (2) experiencing retirement.

Plenty of people on this site have said a lot of the things that they planned to do after retirement never happened. People should take a year or so to adjust before making a major purchase like a house in a new area. And, if it's a new area it's wise to rent for a few months first to get the lay of the land before committing.