Sell or Keep House after becoming a Snowbird?

[Ncc1701]

Hi All, Question for the snowbirds. Did you keep your house up North or did you sell it and come back North in the summer to something different?

I have no attachment to my house up North but my wife may not want to spend the full year down South. She wants to keep the house but I would rather sell it and instead get a Airbnb or stay in a place like Extended Stay America rather than hang onto the house. My feeling is this. Why deal with property taxes, insurance and maintenance when these options make it so easy to be so mobile these days? In addition, the extra income provided by investing the home sale proceeds would be really nice.

Am I missing something? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Out of Steam]

I would not be eager to own two single family houses, though a house and a condominium would be OK.

It appears that we will spend up to 10% of our time at a beach area where we have many friends about 4 hours from home. For that, an Airbnb or extended stay hotel will be fine, especially since summer-season stays will be rare. Much beyond that, the economics could make us consider a condo.

 

[Music Lover]

Is it a winter climate? If you keep your house who will shovel snow, check the furnace, and do all the other things that an empty house requires? I bet your insurance company also has specific policies regarding how long you can leave the house empty and how often someone must check up on it.

 

[Ncc1701]

Is it a winter climate? If you keep your house who will shovel snow, check the furnace, and do all the other things that an empty house requires? I bet your insurance company also has specific policies regarding how long you can leave the house empty and how often someone must check up on it.

Yup in NY. Always thought we could get a guy to shovel snow, never even thought about checking the furnace but thanks for bringing it up!

 

[Dash man]

Yup in NY. Always thought we could get a guy to shovel snow, never even thought about checking the furnace but thanks for bringing it up!

We have family around us in PA, so we’d never give up the house. We’re more likely to give up the Florida condo as we age.

 

[calmloki]

Depends if you are house people or apartment people. We like our own stuff and our own beds and our own art - we're house people who enjoy the blue skies and sunshine of SoCal in the winter and the glorious burgeoning green of Oregon in the summer. Every year we come home twice and sigh with satisfaction. For us the maintenance issue and logistics are just a modest cost that we are still capable of paying.

 

[flyingaway]

This is a tough question I have to face soon and have not been able to make a decision, my main concern would be the process and cost of selling the house and all the furniture and belongings.

 

[Aerides]

I'd compromise here: Migrate south, keep the house up north, then decide in a year or two if you'll really want to come back as much as your wife thinks now.

 

[truenorth418]

I might consider this someday if I were confident I would be spending a significant amount of time in each place and I had the financial resources to carry two homes.

However my tastes and preferences change over time. One season I might want to spend a few months in Miamj, another time maybe the Gulf Coast if Florida, I live Arizona, etc etc.

My advice - rent a place near your southern destination for a couple of seasons. If you still
like it then maybe buy.

 

[disneysteve]

I'd compromise here: Migrate south, keep the house up north, then decide in a year or two if you'll really want to come back as much as your wife thinks now.

This is what the snowbirds I know well have done. They kept the house for a few years and gradually extended the time away. Once the time away got to be the majority or close to it, they sold the original home and just stayed in a hotel when they came back to visit.


My concern would be maintenance and monitoring of the vacant home. What if the power goes out for a while? What if the roof leaks or a pipe breaks and nobody is there to notice? What if the heater dies in the dead of winter? Obviously, those things could happen even when we're just on vacation for a week, but the odds increase when you're talking about being away for months at a time.

 

[38Chevy454]

I think it also depends on what your snowbird accommodations are. Is it a house type that could be a permanent residence you are happy with? Or is it a small condo type that you would be feeling cramped and wanting to have more space and yard? Your wife's concern about the weather is valid, there are many examples of people moving south and then deciding that the summer heat is too much.


I like the idea of give the new place a year or two and decide later. There will be some costs for the northern house, but keeping it for a while may help you make a decision that works best for you.

 

[OldShooter]

At the bottom, what you are asking about is a real estate investment that you just happen to already own. Since real estate prices are very localized, a lot depends on the location. I would run, not walk, away from any property in a state like IL with serious financial problems and a steady flow of people leaving. Same-o for the popular areas of CA, other big cities. Assuming the house is not leveraged, the big picture on houses is that they can't increase in value much more than the average household income, which is IIRC a couple of points above inflation. So, a pretty risky investment for only a modest return IMO.

Other factors, like possibly moving back, may dominate. But also consider the loss of the owner-occupied tax shelter if you hold too long and the basis step-up if it ends up in your estate.

 

[Ronstar]

As long as your DW wants to keep the house up north, I would keep it and rent down south for a few years. Then reassess and find what your DW's thoughts are at that time.

We snowbirded to our Az condo for several winters and kept our Illinois house. We have since sold our Az condo and now live in Illinois 100% in an elder care situation.

I enjoyed owning 2 places for 17 years, but I won't do it again. I don't want to deal with the extra work needed to maintain 2 places, even if 1 is a condo. I'd rather live full time somewhere warm.

 

[brett]

We kept our home but we did downsize considerably.

We considered buying a snowbird home but decided against it at this time. We were looking at Mexico, Costa Rica. The numbers did not work unless we were spending 3/4 plus months in one location.

We do snowbird but our preference is to travel to various countires. Since retiring we have spent snowbird seasons in Mexico, Central/South America, SE Asia, and Australia. We are not ready to go to the same place each year or for the entire winter. We still have snowbird like destinations on our respective bucket lists so a snowbird home or condo purchase is not on our horizon at this point in time.

 

[RetireeRobert]

I have no attachment to my house up North but my wife may not want to spend the full year down South. She wants to keep the house but I would rather sell it
Am I missing something? Thanks for your thoughts.

Yes, you are missing something: Happy wife, happy life!

 

[anothercog]

Yes, you are missing something: Happy wife, happy life!

Yup, property taxes are cheaper than divorce. Plus you or she may decide the south isn't for you after awhile.

 

[W2R]

I think the two of you have to come to an agreement about this. If you sell the house up north, and she loves it, that could create some resentful feelings. If you don't sell that house, you'll have to maintain it throughout the wintertime from a distance (which sounds less than ideal).

I think you would be better off choosing to have a house in only one location, and visiting the other.

But bear in mind that I really don't "get" the psychology of being a snow-bird. To me, snow-birding (or even having two houses in any two different locations that are not within a day's drive of one another) is the ultimate expression of wishy-washy-ness and indecision, I do not admire it, and I would never do it. I am working on improving my attitude wrt snow-birding, which I know is faulty, but that's how I feel right now. I know that snow-birds see it differently and, y'know, different strokes for different folks and all that.

 

[Ncc1701]

Yes, you are missing something: Happy wife, happy life!

HAHA..Yeah I know. And even though we could swing two homes, when you add up the expenses, the opportunity cost and the worry about leaving maintenance to someone else while we're gone, it seems like such a waste of money and unnecessary worry, I'm sure I could convince her to sell.

But I thank those who suggested to keep the up north home a year or two before selling. That is viable but the only reason I shy away from the idea is because I would have to sell investments at a gain to pay for the southern home and I was hoping to use the proceeds from the Northern home sale..

 

[disneysteve]

But I thank those who suggested to keep the up north home a year or two before selling. That is viable but the only reason I shy away from the idea is because I would have to sell investments at a gain to pay for the southern home and I was hoping to use the proceeds from the Northern home sale..

How about borrowing against the north home to pay for the south home. Then when you decide to sell the north home, you pay off the HEL.


The other thing to think about is if you actually want to buy the south place right away or if it's better to rent for the first year or two to make sure you like the location and everything that goes with it (unless you've already done that part of the process).

 

[Ncc1701]

How about borrowing against the north home to pay for the south home. Then when you decide to sell the north home, you pay off the HEL.


The other thing to think about is if you actually want to buy the south place right away or if it's better to rent for the first year or two to make sure you like the location and everything that goes with it (unless you've already done that part of the process).

Thanks interesting idea, though I can't imagine the HELOC being large enough to pay for the southern home. Even with the northern home paid off, they will base the line amount off of income which will be minimal to moderate as a new retiree. I wonder if bridge loans are still a thing.

 

[Markola]

I bet your insurance company also has specific policies regarding how long you can leave the house empty and how often someone must check up on it.

You made me look. I just clarified with Liberty Mutual that this is not a problem. As long as our stuff remains in the house, it is considered occupied and insured.

 

[pb4uski]

We kept our house up north because it is lakefront.... if it had been our prior home that was 25 miles away then I doubt that we would have kept it... we probably would have just rented a condo for the summer at one of the ski areas... they are plentiful and a pretty good deal for the summer as I understand.

Our son checks in on our place occasionally, but I can monitor the temperature via a wi-fi thermostat and the water is turned off while no one is there... I also have three Blink security cameras for monitoring as well.

The insurer for our winter condo does require that we have someone visit occasionally.

The annual carrying costs for our winter condo are about the same cost as rent for a season... actually a bit less... and while we have no investment earnings from what we have invested in the winter condo it is appreciating some.

For us, snowbirding isn't at all wishy-washiness about where we want to live... in fact it is really assertiveness that we don't want to live in snowy winters nor do we want to live in hot and humid summers.... by snowbirding we have pretty good weather year-round (albeit at a cost).

 

[Bamaman]

Most of our close friends have kept their main home, and they've got rental condo's on the Gulf Coast 400 miles south.

They run back and forth--using the beach place a number of weeks a year. And most will take a month in the Fall just as soon as the renters quit going down there.

Our lake house has a 6 mile over water view with magnificent sunsets this time of the year. And it's just 70 minutes from home. With ridiculously cheap property taxes, we can afford the upkeep.

 

[rk911]

Hi All, Question for the snowbirds. Did you keep your house up North or did you sell it and come back North in the summer to something different?

I have no attachment to my house up North but my wife may not want to spend the full year down South. She wants to keep the house but I would rather sell it and instead get a Airbnb or stay in a place like Extended Stay America rather than hang onto the house. My feeling is this. Why deal with property taxes, insurance and maintenance when these options make it so easy to be so mobile these days? In addition, the extra income provided by investing the home sale proceeds would be really nice.

Am I missing something? Thanks for your thoughts.

snowbirds by definition fly away for 3-5 months before returning home. we've kept our home cuz we love it and have spent the last 20-yrs remodeling and improving it. and no air bnb or extended stay hotel is gonna be 'home'. not to us anyway.

 

[Al in Ohio]

Many snowbirds sell their northern home and buy a new condo up north in the same location near old friends. They buy in a ranch style condo development with pool and all exterior snow removal and yard work done by an HOA. Lock snd leave they call it. This becomes your primary residence as many snowbirds just travel south for less than half the year to avoid the heat and humidity in spring and summer. The southern home would be my rental.