ivinsfan
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Messages
- 9,969
I can't believe that with all these posts, nobody has suggested that you could avoid the commute entirely if you just decided on a single location where you want to live, and then live there. To me, this is a first world problem caused by indecision. Not only is it a problem due to the huge cross country trek twice a year, but also maintaining two homes in two different states sounds like a giant pain in the neck. My advice would be to just move to southern Utah since the winters in Vermont could be pretty tough to endure as you age.
I agree completely and this comes from somebody living in Central MN. I never bought into the idea that 2 places could feel like home at the same time without a tremendous amount of effort and money.
Our home is our old farm house and in the cold weather we will rent a place in Southern Utah, or Florida or go to beach at Playa del Carmen for a month for a fraction of the money and time involved with owning a second home.When we get to the rental, we dump our bags and just start enjoying ourselves. If something isn't right we just call the owner and asked to have it corrected. When we leave we dump our keys on the counter, walk out the door and never think of the place again.Even with the long winters we are always glad to get back to our home and if the weather continues cold we book a fun trip somewhere. I certainly am not saying it's wrong to own a second home, it just has zero appeal to us.
I have a friend that has a lovely home in Northern Utah which she leaves in October-April to live in a park trailer in AZ. Doesn't even return at the holidays to see her grandkids because she doesn't want to wear long pants!
Different strokes for different folks!
I think it is interesting that the OP bought such a faraway house before asking for tips and problems with the drive aside from the money aspect, transiting between the 2 homes will be the biggest hassle.