Random thoughts on living in multiple homes

[imoldernu]

So where do you live on the campground, an RV? This sounds interesting. It's land that you own?

Our campground is Woodhaven Lakes, and yes, we do own our land. We have a Park Model trailer... originally comes in on wheels, but designed to be a permanent installation. The specifications are that the maximum size is 12x34 or 400 sf. We are allowed to add a site built 400 sf add-a-room, and a 400sf deck. In addition we are allowed to have an 8x12 storage shed.
Our "camp" is located on a small lake (no gas motors). The current (year round) campground membership fee for this is $1400, which includes free access to all campground facilities (of which there are many)...including 2 large olympic pools, a beach, a very large campground store and many, many sports fields, meeting rooms, pavilions, a full size Tru Value Hardware, Gas Station, Restaurants, Laundromat, a 17 miles of trails. In addition, the $1400 fee includes unlimited water and sewer. We pay $500 in taxes because we are on a prime spot on the lake, and another $500 for insurance.
Because it is a recreational facility, we are limited to 187 days a year. Many of our neighbors live for 6 months here, and six months in Texas, Florida, or Arizona... in similar campgrounds. Example: in the early days, we lived part time In Victoria Palms in Donna, Texas.
Later we moved to a senior gated community in FL... again relatively low cost and with great facilities. On a lake, with a marina. We call it 6 and 6.

With some questions (then) about my life expectancy... and limited assets it was a great option for a try at early retirement. It worked. We lived in the manner to which we were accustomed (at a much lower cost)... we lived with younger people who were like minded, and who also loved the campground lifestyle... and were too busy having fun to even worry about money.
From 1990 to 2004... this snowbird lifestyle suited us perfectly... In 2004 we bought a regular home in our CCRC in Central Illinois.
Truthfully, without making this decision to live in less expensive surroundings, we might still be waiting to retire... 25 years later.
Not for everyone, but still a great option for those who aren't tied to large homes and a more expensive lifestyle.

This was a great way to start our retirement, and by LBYM, we now feel very safe financially.

 

[45th Birthday]

I'm not complaining about my situation, just stating observations that surprised me and I haven't seen posted here before. Overall, the experience is great and I'm not planning to change (other than downsizing the biggest house to a smaller condo).

Since early on when we bought the second place, we have not worried at all about the place we weren't in, and don't worry about the third, either.

The third place is a condo with excellent security and a staff that checks it regularly and arranges for even the interior maintenance and repairs. There is also a small maintenance staff that can do minor things.

The other two places are houses. We hire caretakers to visit each during the times we aren't there. They can take care of minor problems, and we have never had to return to a place to deal with anything (but nothing major has happened-downed trees, power outages, alarm glitches have been the worst problems). Landscape maintenance, pool, snow removal, etc. done by outsiders. One of the houses has an excellent security system, and the other doesn't need one at all because of where it is.

So, on an intellectual level, we immensely enjoy each place while we are in it, and other than missing the people and sometimes weather of the others, we don't have problems worrying about them.

Financially, we are able to do this comfortably. The physical process of paying bills is not difficult, but once in awhile we receive a second copy of a bill that got lost in the shuffle.

The differences between two and three are what surprised us.

 

[lampshade]

imoldernu (post #26) Bravo!! This is just what DH and I want to do. Our retirement date is Jan. 2020.

We're trying not to rush our life away; but we can't wait!![/COLOR]

 

[NW-Bound]

A poster sent me the Zillow listing of a nice large home for sale in the Puget Sound area.

It's nice, but nowadays I start to think more of smaller homes like the following one I happened to drive by in my recent RV trip. Barely enough space for the 2 of us, and visitors can stay in the RV. I would figure out a way to make the stairs retract up, so that the place is secure when I am away.

 

[Sarah in SC]

NW, that's a cool design!

 

[pb4uski]

+1

to OP, for the bills, can you put as many bills as possible on auto-pay?

 

[45th Birthday]

+1

to OP, for the bills, can you put as many bills as possible on auto-pay?

Yes, everything that can be is on auto-pay. However, there are many things that can't be: real estate taxes, medical bills, small tradespeople (pool, irrigation, landscaper, etc.).

 

[Danmar]

We have 4 homes. Principal residence in Alberta( close to Banff), winter place in Arizona (Paradise Valley), lake house in Ontario, city condo in Toronto. All very different and that is intentional. Love the fact that we can go from mountains to desert in a few hours. From Lakeside to city in 2 hours. All places fully equipped with autos, clothes, fitness equipment, bikes, boat, etc. I really like having my own clothes in the closet and my own car in the garage when I get to a place. Always excited to get to a different place.

This is obviously not for everyone. Very expensive. Property costs probably make up 25-30% of our total yearly spending. Lots of time spent managing the places but have hired management companies for the Alberta and Arizona houses. City condo is lock and go. Lake house is the biggest issue as lots of maintenance required and locals don't seem to want to work.

Have separate spreadsheets for each place's expenses. Auto pay as much as possible. We are extremely organized so keeping everything staight not a problem for us. Actually kind of enjoy it. A bit of a hobby I guess. I estimate that each additional place doubled the effort required by us but still only works out to an hour or two a day maybe. Would be a little bored I think if we ever downsized.

Current age almost 65, retired 9 years. Can't see keeping all places into our 80's but for the time being this is our chosen lifestyle. Loan places out to friends and family quite often and enjoy having guests. Still travel internationally but not as much as before we bought houses #3 and 4.

 

[NW-Bound]

We have 4 homes. Principal residence in Alberta( close to Banff), winter place in Arizona (Paradise Valley), lake house in Ontario, city condo in Toronto....

This is obviously not for everyone. Very expensive...

You could be on the show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous".

 

[Gumby]

It's difficult enough keeping up with our one house. I can't imagine having to deal with two or more.

 

[calmloki]

It's difficult enough keeping up with our one house. I can't imagine having to deal with two or more.

The trick is to have low standards and a complacent nature. Pool guy decided he doesn't want to keep up the pool two days before we leave (well, he had decided earlier but didn't want to hurt our feelings so was just not being reachable or responding)? No problem. pump the pool dry and worry about it in six months.

 

[MooreBonds]

The trick is to have low standards and a complacent nature. Pool guy decided he doesn't want to keep up the pool two days before we leave (well, he had decided earlier but didn't want to hurt our feelings so was just not being reachable or responding)? No problem. pump the pool dry and worry about it in six months.

Ummm....do you have draintile around the pool? Is it an inground pool? There is a real risk of a pool "floating" if enough water accumulates around the pool and ends up exerting enough buoyancy force up on the pool!

 

[Danmar]

The trick is to have low standards and a complacent nature.

I wish. Certainly not my approach.

 

[calmloki]

Ummm....do you have draintile around the pool? Is it an inground pool? There is a real risk of a pool "floating" if enough water accumulates around the pool and ends up exerting enough buoyancy force up on the pool!

True, an empty pool is just a concrete boat sunk in dirt (http://www.concreteships.org/) and waiting to be floated free. Except in La Quinta California, with annual precipitation of 3-4", we aren't worried about flotation.
More likely to have an issue with re-filling, though our monthly water usage is so low we could refill the pool while there and still be under our scheduled tier one usage/month.

 

[aja8888]

True, an empty pool is just a concrete boat sunk in dirt (http://www.concreteships.org/) and waiting to be floated free. Except in La Quinta California, with annual precipitation of 3-4", we aren't worried about flotation.
More likely to have an issue with re-filling, though our monthly water usage is so low we could refill the pool while there and still be under our scheduled tier one usage/month.

You may also end up with cracked pool plaster.

 

[Persn]

Two years ago we bought a beach house about 30 miles from our primary home. We thought at the time we would maintain both homes and possibly rent the beach house occasionally. As it turns out we want to live at the beach and will be selling the primary house soon. Since we are retired we no longer need the convenient commute location of the primary. I find maintaining two houses to be a PITA and a financial stressor; while we can afford it there is noticeably less money left over for travel and other luxuries, and our cats don't like it either!

 

[pb4uski]

Similar story here. In 2005 we bought a lake house about 30 miles from our home. Initially we just used it weekends.. it was glorious even though it was a "camp"... no phone, no tv, no internet... just a radio. Then we decided to spend summers there so a phone, tv and internet were must-haves.. but we still loved being on the lake. In 2010, we decided to demolish and rebuild and we moved in in May 2011 and sold our main home later that year.

Though i suspect that we will someday soon have a winter home so we'll be back to two homes.

 

[mtheulen]

I have a hard time maintaining 1 home "which I built myself". I cannot imagine dealing with 2 or 3 homes.Way to much stress for me

 

[rodi]

True, an empty pool is just a boat sunk in dirt (http://www.concreteships.org/) and waiting to be floated free. Except in La Quinta California, with annual precipitation of 3-4", we aren't worried about flotation.
More likely to have an issue with re-filling, though our monthly water usage is so low we could refill the pool while there and still be under our scheduled tier one usage/month.

Not sure about La Quinta - but here in San Diego I've heard they are charging $10k on top of the water chargers to fill a pool. I've heard this from two people - both of whom had to drain the pool because of maintenance issues.... and then found out that not only would it be a few thousand in water charges - there's a $10k penalty because of the drought.

I couldn't confirm this on the city website... but I had 2 separate people who were directly impacted, tell me this.

 

[googily]

Currently embarking on having a second home, inherited, two time zones away. Not an optimum configuration for sure, but the house is in a place we love, and we hope to spend summers there once ER arrives in a couple of years.

It's been operating as a summer-only residence for a decade already - we pay a neighbor to look after it, and she's enough of a busybody that she loves it.

Can't imagine getting rid of our primary big-city residence, and never really thought of myself as a "summer home" type, but the general expenses are manageable and we can always sell it if we change our minds.

And what someone said above about having a place where your stuff already is - I just shipped out there a box full of clothes that I don't need here. Will be great to travel light!

 

[45th Birthday]

We have 4 homes. Principal residence in Alberta( close to Banff), winter place in Arizona (Paradise Valley), lake house in Ontario, city condo in Toronto. All very different and that is intentional. Love the fact that we can go from mountains to desert in a few hours. From Lakeside to city in 2 hours. All places fully equipped with autos, clothes, fitness equipment, bikes, boat, etc. I really like having my own clothes in the closet and my own car in the garage when I get to a place. Always excited to get to a different place.

This is obviously not for everyone. Very expensive. Property costs probably make up 25-30% of our total yearly spending. Lots of time spent managing the places but have hired management companies for the Alberta and Arizona houses. City condo is lock and go. Lake house is the biggest issue as lots of maintenance required and locals don't seem to want to work.

Have separate spreadsheets for each place's expenses. Auto pay as much as possible. We are extremely organized so keeping everything staight not a problem for us. Actually kind of enjoy it. A bit of a hobby I guess. I estimate that each additional place doubled the effort required by us but still only works out to an hour or two a day maybe. Would be a little bored I think if we ever downsized.

Current age almost 65, retired 9 years. Can't see keeping all places into our 80's but for the time being this is our chosen lifestyle. Loan places out to friends and family quite often and enjoy having guests. Still travel internationally but not as much as before we bought houses #3 and 4.

Sounds ideal, congrats on managing four. Each additional place doubling efforts sounds about right.

We keep many things at each place, but don't leave a car everywhere. One we never will because we are only there 10-12 weeks in the summer, and one we haven't gotten around to deciding what to get for that location.

We haul most clothes back and forth, because the summer and winter places use the same stuff. Winter stuff stays put, but light jackets, etc. travel with us.

Thinking about your response, a big part of our logistical issue with three places is that we have two kids still in college (well, one just graduated), and both studied abroad in the past few years. So, not only do we have to deal with our own things, but have to figure out moving their stuff from dorm to storage to wherever, and both at different times of course. Because of their school schedules they often are in one place and arrive back home to another, sometimes visiting the third in the interim or on breaks. This requires careful planning where their "stuff" is going to be several moves in advance. This will not be a problem after they get totally out of the nest(s).

 

[kcowan]

We find lots of planning when we are back in Vancouver because household and other items are so hard to find in PV. So we carry a third suitcase just to fill up for our return. Utilities and other payments are all automated. Maintaining peso bank accounts takes some planning to cover the automated payments. When we get stuff done around the house while we are not there, payment is a bit of a challenge. We can transfer money between banks but many of the handymen do not have bank accounts. And most are illiterate. Plus we always fly so that is a complication when compared to driving.

We maintain cars in both places. NOB we take off the insurance for 6 months. SOB we leave it on because it is so cheap and easy.

We also rent out our NOB penthouse and that creates its own complications not relevant to this thread.

But just keeping track of what is where can be a problem, especially in the kitchen. Opening the wrong drawer for a special utensil that may or may not exist in that location.

 

[Danmar]

45/Keith: Yes, I agree knowing what is where can be an issue. Sometimes it takes me a couple of months and several flights to find something. That is why we try not to move too much of it around. Results in some duplication but in the overall scheme of things so what? We tend to change locations every 3-4 weeks or so because our parents are still alive and rely on us for assistance. This requires a few days in Toronto every month.
Some things, like our brand of sweetner or breakfast cereal is not available in the US so we take down large bags every year.
We don't rent out any of our places. This allows us to make spur-of-the- moment plans whenever we want.
I can see your issue with younger children. We don't have this concern as our daughter is out on her own. Really great having her visit us at our various places though. She loves them all.
Have made great friends at all our places and this really enhances our lifestyle.

 

[audreyh1]

I can definitely imagine living in multiple places. What I can't imagine is have the capital sunk in several homes. We'd rather rent and stay in different locations. At this point we wouldn't stay somewhere for more than a month anyway.

Maybe if we keep renting in a giving location - returning year after year - we might consider investing.

 

[Danmar]

I can definitely imagine living in multiple places. What I can't imagine is have the capital sunk in several homes. We'd rather rent and stay in different locations. At this point we wouldn't stay somewhere for more than a month anyway.

Maybe if we keep renting in a giving location - returning year after year - we might consider investing.

Yes, the capital issue was important when we bought our last home. I had to be sure that the capital left, along with our pensions, would be enough to support our lifestyle. We found that having a warm weather place reduced our need to vacation south every year. So there were some savings there.

We certainly hadn't planned on owning 4 homes in the run up to retirement. But things worked out pretty well, and we were able to do it. A good reason to pad the nestegg(within reason) prior to retirement. Real estate represents about 20% of our net worth and that would be as high as I would feel comfortable with.