A second home?

[Ronstar]

We have 2 homes - house in Illinois, condo in Arizona. Condo has no maintenance, House has a lot. Condo is great in the winter, not so great in the summer. House is the opposite. Condo I can lock and leave for months with no problem. House is difficult to leave for an extended period. I need to work on resolving that. Either downsize or develop means for monitoring/maintaining house during an extended leave

 

[Kimo]

We have two homes and we found a unique way to overcome some of the problems I read on this post. We rent one home out for a minimum of a one year lease (usually more) and if the tenant moves out we put both houses up for rent and whichever one rents first, we move into the other one.
It is a great way to supplement your retirement income and we get to live in two areas we like.

 

[38Chevy454]

We have a second home (on wheels) and we always haul our "stuff" with us back and forth - in the RV.

Same for us. Our second home is a motorhome and it has multiple addresses

 

[Khan]

We don't want a second home. One is more than enough work to take care of.

What he said.
I can barely keep up with one.

 

[45th Birthday]

We have had a second home for 15 years and just bought a third. Primary house is in Illinois, which has tax and climate issues. Second house is in coastal New England and is fantastic during the summer, which is the only time we use it. Third place is a condo in Florida, which will become our primary residence for tax purposes. We will keep the Illinois house for several more years and then maybe downsize to a condo there or near where the kids end up (both still in college).

There are definitely maintenance and upkeep issues related to owning more than one place. We do nothing at the Illinois house-lawn, pool, snow, etc. all done by others. The summer house is smaller and the lawn is done by others. We do minor upkeep and repairs, mostly because it's is fun and manageable. The condo has a staff that will take care of minor repairs inside, and of course all outside stuff is done by the association.

The summer house has more than doubled in value since we bought it. The Illinois house value has declined significantly. The Florida place-who knows, but we paid about $700,000 less than it sold for in 2007. A similar but less desirable unit just went under contract for $250,000 more than we paid.

We have been and plan to drive between places (1,100-1,400 miles). We don't/won't keep a car at the summer place but will probably leave one in Florida.

The lifestyle we have had far outweighs any extra costs and maintenance headaches. The summer place has actually been more of a constant for us since we have owned it for 15 years versus only 10 for the Illinois place. The kids have gotten to do many great things, as have we. As a family, we have evolved over the years in the way we use the summer house and the memories are irreplaceable. We expect that as the kids marry and have kids of their own that Florida will also be a special place like the summer house.

 

[CorporateSoldier]

Came very close to buying a second home last year. Nice house right on one of the great lakes and only 1.5 hours away. Then got cold feet in the middle of negotiations (maintenance costs, taxes, tying up a lot of cash, etc).


Instead bought a nice used ski boat and rented a slip on an inland lake at a marina 10 minutes from our house. Got to use it for the first time a couple of days ago. Advantages vs weekend home:

• MUCH smaller expense (in this case, $17k boat vs $240k house).
• Slip rental not cheap at $3k a year but this is far less than the taxes and maintenance costs would have been on the house.
• If we get bored after a few years, we can sell the boat and not renew the yearly slip rental. Used boat and a good deal so depreciation won't be bad.
• We can use the boat and marina on a weeknight after work. It's a very nice 10 minute drive.

 

[ls99]

My camp is my second home. DW visits it on very rare occasions.

 

[aja8888]

My garage and workshop is my second home. That's all I need.

 

[ls99]

We have two small homes, townhouse in AZ and condo in MN both of which we can lock and leave W/I 30 minutes. Neither require much maintenance. Hard to beat the upper midwest summers and what we think "Americana" is all about. MN is used as a launching ground to Europe. We keep a car in both places.

We would be all for one home if we could find a year round "Shangri La" which I have been searching for all my life. I found something close to it below but can't afford it.

I see your problem. Besides the purchase price, gotta buy a helicopter to get to it. And set it up for IFR approach.

 

[check6]

I see your problem. Besides the purchase price, gotta buy a helicopter to get to it. And set it up for IFR approach.

Actually that photo is taken from a cog train that travels from the valley floor (Lauterbrunnen) to the mountainside village (Wengen).

 

[Fishfarmlady]

Two homes work for us. City house near family and long time friends, close to best medical care, shopping, restaurants, the arts. Country home to relax, enjoy fresh air, get away, enjoy nature and sometimes entertain friends and family. We love the contrast of two different environments, and the extra work is worth it while we are young enough and healthy enough. Will eventually give up one or the other, but enjoy today not making that decision yet. If you can afford it, and want to, then by all means follow your heart.

 

[Kimo]

Fishfarmlady.......that sounds so much like us. Our two homes are in the high northern desert 1/2 an hour out of Reno and the other is here in Makakilo, HI. For all the same things you said..........

 

[ls99]

Actually that photo is taken from a cog train that travels from the valley floor (Lauterbrunnen) to the mountainside village (Wengen).

Ah, so many springs. Much better.

 

[HarryL]

Hey Check6 that shot looks familiar. Similar scenery from Gimmelwald, Switzerland. Wonderful place!!! But, very high cost of living!

 

[gcgang]

We bought a home in Hawaii near the school my now 13 year old daughter is attending. We kept our home in Montana, and are returning there this week for the Summer.

I worked for about 8 months, going back and forth every few weeks the first year my wife and daughter were in HI, finally retiring April, 2013.

It is very difficult and expensive to maintain the two places. For example, it's costing us about $1,100 and countless hours of meeting HI Dept of Ag requirements just to take our dog with us. We may spend a couple more years doing this, but probably should sell the Montana place, the sooner the better. One of our holdups was would we like island living enough to permanently live here. My wife loves it, I am OK, but my daughter is very resistant. Also, and this seems quite stupid to me, but what do we do with all our stuff? We will see how it goes in Mt this summer, how my daughter feels about her friends, maybe getting a storage unit or small town home in Mt and sell the McMansion.

Although neither my wife nor I have family in Montana now, I'm finding it hard to leave behind 32 years of friends/history and totally start over. I suppose I should realize how fortunate I am to have this option and jump in headfirst with this new chapter of my life.