Purchase a vacation home ?

We love our "vacation" home. Bought it in 2017, RE in 2020. So nice to be able to just go, already have a closet full of clothes, our tooth brushes, and all set up the way we like it. The convenience and privacy to me is worth it. If at some time we decide that it is no longer what we want, we sell it.
 
Can't afford a 2nd home, but am super happy in FLA year round and like traveling to many different places.
 
Our current main home is our former vacation home. We bought it in 2005 when we were 50 despite plans to retire at 55. It was about 40 minutes from our main home at the time.

Initially, we used it mostly on weekends three seasons (it was not winterized). Then we decided to live there in the summer and use it weekends in the spring and fall.

Ultimately, we put in a septic system and well and foundation, and in 2010 decided to demolish and rebuild. We had initially planned to gut it and keep the existing structure but a high school friend who was our builder convinced me that we wold be better off to demolish and rebuild... and he was right.

We moved in 6 months after demolition and sold our main home about 4 months later. Having the proceeds from the main home in the bank and only one home for expenses convinced me to retire.

The opportunity in the OP looks like a great chance to both enjoy it on vacations and weekends and build some sweat equity.
 
Ronstar said:
I bought a snowbird condo 12 years before I retired. I only spent about a total of a month or two a year there before I was retired. Now we’re there 3-4 months a year and we really enjoy it.
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Us too, and we bought it 2 weeks after DW retired. Foreclosure, but a condo, so no upkeep, just fees, and total cost is even with renting a place in our association for the winter.

Like another earlier reply, we have great friends at our snowbird neighborhood. It has been a good investment and great fun for 3 months a year. But, I would not like to work there all winter. Vacation homes are not a vacation if all you do is work each time you show up.

BTW, the earlier comment about the proximity to HD or Lowes is a great tip. We once lived about 35 min. away from the nearest-Too far away. Local hardware/lumber yard was friendly but expensive.
 
Similar story here, except we bought our snowbird condo after we retired and after renting for a couple seasons... we had initially intended to rent just 3-4 months a season, but one season could not find a rental in the neighborhood that we wanted where we have several friends... but an opportunity to buy popped up out of nowhere and the annual carrying costs were about the same as 3 months of rent in season.

Now that we own and are paying for 12 months a year anyway, it is easier to justify spending 6 months down here.
 
45th Birthday said:
Seriously? If our offspring ever gave us instructions like that, we would make sure they inherit....

NOTHING.
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I just thought I'd share the private message you sent me with everyone.
 

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Teacher Terry said:
We like to travel to different places. My in-laws had one and we told them to sell it as we didn’t want to inherit it.
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That reminds me... in his later years my Dad came around to a view that inheriting a vacation home was like inheriting a liability. True, you may have a nice property to enjoy but also a $15k a year bill between property taxes, maintenance, utilities, etc. You could rent it some to help cover the costs but then you inherit the hassles of being a landlord and in many cases the rent won't cover the costs... or if so just barely.

A neighbor friend died and his two kids inherited a nice waterfront seasonal property. One sibling could afford their share of the annual costs... but another could not... so they ended up selling it and splitting the proceeds.
 
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45th Birthday said:
Seriously? If our offspring ever gave us instructions like that, we would make sure they inherit....

NOTHING.
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travelover said:
Some people are just more vindictive than others. :cool:
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travelover said:
I just thought I'd share the private message you sent me with everyone.
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45th Birthday said:
At least I keep my public posts free of violations of the TOS. Bless your heart.
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[Mod hat on] Entirely too much personal unpleasantness going on. If we can't be tolerant with each other, we don't belong here.[/Mod hat off]
 
Purchase ?

Thanks for all the thoughts on purchase of vacation home.


My family has owned a vacation beach house about 10 miles away since the 1960s, so I am very familiar with the area, costs, taxes, headaches. My sister, cousin, and a friend have vaca homes in the same area.



So Yes, part of this decision is personal choice.



We have looked at other homes in this town over past 2 years but it was never the right deal.

This house is on the water......with wonderful views. Other homes on the street are being rehabbed, so DH thinks it will appreciate. I looked at comps and maybe it will- but maybe it won't.



We have not made a decision yet but as many of you point out - it is a commitment of money, time, and maintenance.

Because it is a foreclosure, we have a week before bids are due.



Thanks again for your time and thoughts.
 
This is one of those questions where the answer can really only come from you. We had a vacation home and loved it but that doesn't mean you will. It worked out well for us financially, but again, that doesn't mean it will for you. The devil is in the details. All I can say is do your homework, due diligence, inspections, etc. and then decide.
 
I thoroughly enjoy my coastal condo. But it's not for everyone so only you can decide. I spend 25-30% of my time there. Anything less than that is probably not worth it.
 
I'm following this conversation closely as I'll be in the same situation. I want to find a vacation home in Florida. Either as a permanent residence or a three to four months a year place and possible rental.
I can't get FloridaTennisPlayers post out of my head while reading this thread. It beautifully painted a picture of what I want.

Cheers!
 
  • Are you all caught up with everything you want to do with your main home?
  • Feeling bored or is your ToDo list always growing?
  • Can you get it for less than 5% of your portfolio?
  • Would you still be happy if you sold it in 20 years for the same amount you purchased it for today?

These are the types of questions that I would ask myself if I were in your shoes.

I can't answer yes to these questions, personally, so I would say no for me.

-gauss
 
I would very much like to spend at least Dec-March in Florida. I think. I haven't done it yet, and this season will be my first season snowbirding, spending Jan-March. From a strictly dollars and cents point of view, I haven't found anyplace where the math evens out for me if I only spend 4 months there. By the time I factor maintenance, HOA fees, insurance, taxes, and mortgage interest, it always seems to work out to about 7 months is the "break-even" point.

As far as hassles and conveniences of renting vs. owning, right now, for me, it's a wash:

renting, you have to find your place, use other people's furnishings, and hope you like it, and if you do like it, you hope it doesn't get jerked away from you by something crazy like the owners retiring and wanting to use the place themselves.

Owning, you have to deal with maintenance, and on a place 1200 or so miles from home, that's a drag. A big hassle in my book.

My current plan, which thus far has not met the overwhelming approval of Mrs. HadEnuff, is that if we find a place we (I?) like enough, and we enjoy the snowbirding enough to do 4 or 5 months, I'll continue to rent. I think I like my life as simple as possible.
 
Octogirl said:
Thanks for all the thoughts on purchase of vacation home.


My family has owned a vacation beach house about 10 miles away since the 1960s, so I am very familiar with the area, costs, taxes, headaches. My sister, cousin, and a friend have vaca homes in the same area.



So Yes, part of this decision is personal choice.



We have looked at other homes in this town over past 2 years but it was never the right deal.

This house is on the water......with wonderful views. Other homes on the street are being rehabbed, so DH thinks it will appreciate. I looked at comps and maybe it will- but maybe it won't.



We have not made a decision yet but as many of you point out - it is a commitment of money, time, and maintenance.

Because it is a foreclosure, we have a week before bids are due.



Thanks again for your time and thoughts.
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A property on the water with great views may be a good investment, but it likely still depends on market cycles. We own a beachfront condo in So CA and the market here is very volatile. It’s been going up the last several years, but went down dramatically in 2008-2011, so the net appreciation is probably only 2-3% annually.

Some good questions posted here for consideration. Let us know what you decide. Good luck!
 
We went looking for a place to park our motor home somewhere warm in the winter, and ended up buying a house in Arizona. It works for us, because:

  • we were very selective, and found an opportunity that we thought (correctly, as it turned out) would appreciate
  • we analyzed everything to death before deciding, i.e., didn't give in to irrational enthusiasm
  • this included putting all costs, including the cost of capital tied up in the home, utilities, maintenance, travel to/from, etc. into our budget, to make sure we could truly afford it even under the least rosy scenario
  • we visited there at different times of the year, and made sure we liked the area under varying conditions, not just ideal ones
  • we compared the purchase we were considering to a number of alternatives, exhausting ourselves and our realtor looking at different properties. We were glad we did, because our plan evolved into a different choice over the course of this "due diligence."
I can't over-emphasize the importance of taking the time to make sure you're making the smart choice, even if it means you miss out on a limited-time opportunity. But all in all, I have to say our retirement life is made much richer by splitting our time between two very different homes. We appreciate each one more now when we return there. It's expensive and can be complicated, but for us it's worth it!
 
HadEnuff said:
I would very much like to spend at least Dec-March in Florida. I think. I haven't done it yet, and this season will be my first season snowbirding, spending Jan-March. From a strictly dollars and cents point of view, I haven't found anyplace where the math evens out for me if I only spend 4 months there. By the time I factor maintenance, HOA fees, insurance, taxes, and mortgage interest, it always seems to work out to about 7 months is the "break-even" point. ....
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Our annual carrying costs (condo fees, insurance, property taxes and electricity) are a little less than 3 months of in-season rent. We bought for cash.

The annual opportunity cost of money net of the annual appreciation is a little less than 2 months of in-season rent.

If I put them together, our total costs are just a little more than 4 months of seasonal rent... so our break-even point is 3 to 4 months depending on what you include.

We had planned to rent 3-4 months a year but ended up buying when an opportunity to buy in the area we wanted to be in popped up unexpectedly at a time that we couldn't find a seasonal rental... since we now have the place, we spend almost 6 months down here for essentially the same annual cost as a 3-4 month seasonal rental. We are in a late 1970s era association that is well maintained but admittedly the common areas are a bit dated.
 
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We had a water front house on a beautiful bay in Puget Sound that was 5 miles away from our primary residence. It was a 1100 sqft rambler on a 10k lot in a private community setting. We lived in it for 4 years to see if the water front lifestyle was for us, but kept the other place just in case. We found that privacy was much more important to us, and honestly, the water front luster lost its shine over time. We moved back to our house on acreage with total privacy and sold the beach home.

Luckily, we broke dead even when we sold. Owned the place for 9 years total basically for free due to higher resale.

Due to maintenance issues, I could not imagine owning a second home hundreds or thousands of miles away. What a total PIA!
 
DAYDREAMER said:
Due to maintenance issues, I could not imagine owning a second home hundreds or thousands of miles away. What a total PIA!
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Good point, and something I forgot to address. We would never have done this if we hadn't found a "lock and leave" home -- one that through design and/or by paying for service, we felt we could safely leave for months at a time without worrying. In our case, that includes a gated community, security system with cameras, and services to regularly check and maintain the home. This is a growing trend, especially in retirement/snowbird destinations.
 
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