Any of you guys have a second home somewhere?

[cyclone24 1,794]

So looking for some guidance here. We have a lake about an hour from Des Moines where the prices for homes are completely comical. We bid on two places and got blown out of the water by people that paid well over 50 grand over the asking price, no inspections, etc.

wife wants to get one to have lots of memories with the kids growing up at the lake in the summers that sort of thing.

my thinking is we would be better served by buying an oceanfront house down in Florida taking two different weeks over the summer to take the girls down there, have a place we can get away in the winter too if you really want to until we retire.

I will also note my folks have a place out of this lake already that’s an hour away. So it’s not like we can’t ever use it.

so my question is I guess is that logical thinking that you’re investing in a oceanfront house you might only use four or five weeks out of the year? Could rent it out?. Just seems silly to me to spend 3/4 of $1 million on the lake house in Iowa that we know we’re overpaying for.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

I have mentioned we bought a 2nd house near OC, MD over covid.  Nothing fancy. We overpaid because we had to. We were outbid on others. But we did hit the sweetspot of location and price. We won't get killed if the market turns.  The downside is we are there maybe 4 days a month as it is 2.5 hours away in good traffic. My wife is a teacher so she can stay the summers. But you have all the repairs, yardwork, upkeep, etc of a home, with no real time to do it, especially since you bought it to relax and enjoy.  It's a money pit.  But, it's still great. 

[Gladiators 1,902]

Wife and I have gone back and forth on a lake house as well.  There's a lot available on a lake about 45 minutes from our house.  It would be perfect to build a walkout home on.  We have a boat, but rarely get to use it.  The cost-to-fun factor just isn't worth it for me at this point when comparing it to what we have.  We have a trailer at a campground (also 45 minutes away from our house) that we've owned for 5-6 years.  3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, brick patio and firepit, golf cart for riding around the campground and to/from the beach, playground and softball diamond.  Beach is on a small lake with no motors allowed.  There's an ice cream and candy shop at the entrance to the beach. It's cheap and easy to maintain and the kids absolutely love it.  Kids love driving the golf cart.

We spend most of our weekends in April, May and June at kids' sporting events.  We get July and most of August off and then it starts back up.  As much as the thought of a lake home intrigues me, I can't justify it right now.

Long-term, we plan to buy a place in Florida.  We love Anna Maria Island, but that's probably too much of a tourist destination.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,587]

I have a pool and a pond. The pond would be good for you. 

[cyclone24 1,794]

1 minute ago, Gladiators said:

Wife and I have gone back and forth on a lake house as well.  There's a lot available on a lake about an hour from our house.  It would be perfect to build a walkout home on.  We have a boat, but rarely get to use it.  The cost-to-fun factor just isn't worth it for me at this point when comparing it to what we have.  We have a trailer at a campground that we've owned for 5-6 years.  3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, brick patio and firepit, golf cart for riding around the campground and to/from the beach, playground and softball diamond.  Beach is on a small lake with no motors allowed.  There's an ice cream and candy shop at the entrance to the beach. It's cheap and easy to maintain and the kids absolutely love it.  Kids love driving the golf cart.

We spend most of our weekends in April, May and June at kids' sporting events.  We get July and most of August off and then it starts back up.  As much as the thought of a lake home intrigues me, I can't justify it right now.

Long-term, we to buy a place in Florida.  We love Anna Maria Island, but that's probably too much of a tourist destination.

Yeah we are eyeballing Ana Maria as a retirement place. It’s touristy but there’s no hotels which is nice.

yeah kind of like what you said. We could really only use it about three months out of the year while the kids are out of school. And once football season starts I’m not going to be out at the lake.

The counter argument to all of that is if you’re going to go down to florida two weeks out of the summer might as well just VRBO it

[cyclone24 1,794]

2 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

I have a pool and a pond. The pond would be good for you. 

Our main house is already on a large pond.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,587]

Just now, cyclone24 said:

Our main house is already on a large pond.

It’s a line from caddy shack. 

[MTSkiBum 1,593]

The problem is that it locks you into only visiting that area and you may be less likely to take vacations elsewhere in the country.

 

The couple people I know in Houston that had a second house on the beach sold their second houses after a couple years. It is a tremendous amount of maintenance and the house becomes more work than what it is worth.

[DonS 3,063]

Thanks to Covid and no longer being tied to an office we finally moved forward with our plan of "someday" buying a vacation house on the coast.

https://www.seabrookwa.com

We bought one that has a master bedroom on the main floor as we hope to eventually move out there full-time after retirement. 

It's about a 3.5 hr drive and we try to get out there at least once a month. Always gives us something to look forward to each month. The remaining time it's in the rental pool.

I can do work from out there so we can book a solid week during the summer months and I dont have to use vacation days if I don't want to. 

[cyclone24 1,794]

15 minutes ago, MTSkiBum said:

The problem is that it locks you into only visiting that area and you may be less likely to take vacations elsewhere in the country.

 

The couple people I know in Houston that had a second house on the beach sold their second houses after a couple years. It is a tremendous amount of maintenance and the house becomes more work than what it is worth.

Well there is something to that as well. Yeah you don’t have the investment in a house which how often are you really making a ton of money off of selling your house? But shoot for half $1 million you could take a ton of trips and make memories with your kids all over the place for 20 years and not have the headache

[fricker66 91]

4 minutes ago, MTSkiBum said:

The problem is that it locks you into only visiting that area and you may be less likely to take vacations elsewhere in the country.

 

The couple people I know in Houston that had a second house on the beach sold their second houses after a couple years. It is a tremendous amount of maintenance and the house becomes more work than what it is worth.

Several really good points here.  My wife's family had a beach house when she was growing up, and as a result, she had only spent time in a handful of states until she and I married and started traveling.   .

Whether you have a ton of maintenance is dependent on how much you rent it out, and the level of exposure to salt air.  The latter is obviously less of a consideration in a lake house than it would be for a beach house.

[IGotWorms 3,297]

I’ve got a rental place (regular rental, not like an Airbnb) but that’s it.

I’ve looked at lake or ocean places over the years and it just hasn’t seemed worthwhile to pull the trigger, especially given the crazy prices now. If you’re only going for a bit here and there why not just rent and then a) everything is someone else’s problem and b) you’re not tied to one specific spot so you can do different stuff if you want.

Now you’re not building an investment in that scenario but the PITA of maintaining and managing a place like that from afar is just not worth it to me, in comparison to other investments.

So yeah, I’d like to have one and maybe someday I’ll regret not just pulling the trigger, but it just doesn’t seem ideal to me. Maybe if my plan was to retire there someday, that could make some sense. But again, why not just build up your other investments and buy the retirement dream home closer to when it’s actually time?

[IGotWorms 3,297]

29 minutes ago, DonS said:

Thanks to Covid and no longer being tied to an office we finally moved forward with our plan of "someday" buying a vacation house on the coast.

https://www.seabrookwa.com

We bought one that has a master bedroom on the main floor as we hope to eventually move out there full-time after retirement. 

It's about a 3.5 hr drive and we try to get out there at least once a month. Always gives us something to look forward to each month. The remaining time it's in the rental pool.

I can do work from out there so we can book a solid week during the summer months and I dont have to use vacation days if I don't want to. 

Nice. I’ve never been out there but meaning to get to ocean shores for a while. I just keep ending up on the Oregon coast instead. In fact I’m heading back to Cape Kiwanda area again this summer for family reunion

[lod001 1,235]

No one should be thinking about buying any real estate right now. If you are, you really are not paying attention. In fact, you should be selling. You'll be able to buy it back at 1/2 price.

[GutterBoy 2,277]

I would wait until Putin nukes us, which should be any minute now, and then just get a fixer upper on the cheap.

[DonS 3,063]

10 minutes ago, IGotWorms said:

Nice. I’ve never been out there but meaning to get to ocean shores for a while. I just keep ending up on the Oregon coast instead. In fact I’m heading back to Cape Kiwanda area again this summer for family reunion

My brother in law has a cottage near Pacific City, OR.  Pelican Brewing is just a few miles away.  Whenever we'd go out there in the summer we would start talking about how we should do the same.  Summer of Covid 2020 and we finally said "fock it, why not now?" 

Edit: duh, I see Cape Kiwanda is right there.  Never noticed the name of the state natural area while driving to the brewery. 

 

[cyclone24 1,794]

6 minutes ago, GutterBoy said:

I would wait until Putin nukes us, which should be any minute now, and then just get a fixer upper on the cheap.

Nuclear winter they have to disclose right?

[cyclone24 1,794]

7 minutes ago, lod001 said:

No one should be thinking about buying any real estate right now. If you are, you really are not paying attention. In fact, you should be selling. You'll be able to buy it back at 1/2 price.

Yeah I thought about that too. This is the peak absolute worst time it feels like.

[lod001 1,235]

1 minute ago, cyclone24 said:

Yeah I thought about that too. This is the peak absolute worst time it feels like.

Trust me, it is. I mentioned in another thread, that my old house which is 888 sq feet is listed at $199000, I sold it and ripped off people back in 2003 for 68k. The thing isn't worth 50k today let alone back then and that was pre 2007 bubble.

If you buy anything now you will be destroyed, severely.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

51 minutes ago, MTSkiBum said:

The problem is that it locks you into only visiting that area and you may be less likely to take vacations elsewhere in the country.

This is very true, but the flip side is you literally have a home away from home that is always there and very welcoming.  

And also, my wife was 100% the driving force behind our 2nd home, and it is rare that she takes the reins.  There was no saying "no".  All I had to do was steer her toward something that I wanted. 

[cyclone24 1,794]

2 minutes ago, lod001 said:

Trust me, it is. I mentioned in another thread, that my old house which is 888 sq feet is listed at $199000, I sold it and ripped off people back in 2003 for 68k. The thing isn't worth 50k today let alone back then and that was pre 2007 bubble.

If you buy anything now you will be destroyed, severely.

Yeah I mean the flipside to that though is if we keep that thing for 25 years are we really going to care that we lost $75,000 a quarter of a century later? Probably not.

[cyclone24 1,794]

Just now, TimmySmith said:

This is very true, but the flip side is you literally have a home away from home that is always there and very welcoming.  

And also, my wife was 100% the driving force behind our 2nd home, and it is rare that she takes the reins.  There was no saying "no".  All I had to do was steer her toward something that I wanted. 

Same situation. That’s all I’m doing. I don’t really want it because I know who is going to have to do all the work

[DonS 3,063]

Just now, TimmySmith said:

This is very true, but the flip side is you literally have a home away from home that is always there and very welcoming.  

And also, my wife was 100% the driving force behind our 2nd home, and it is rare that she takes the reins.  There was no saying "no".  All I had to do was steer her toward something that I wanted.

Anal? 

 

[TimmySmith 2,782]

1 minute ago, DonS said:

Anal? 

2nd home yardwork is the new anal. 

[Herbivore 904]

I have a 2nd home. A lot of valid pts made by the geeks already...more locked in to 1 place, maintenance can be a pain. But we love it. We spend a lot of time there. We also rent it out, to the tune of breaking even for all expenses. It has been surprising how great the renters have been. We use VRBO.

[IGotWorms 3,297]

33 minutes ago, lod001 said:

No one should be thinking about buying any real estate right now. If you are, you really are not paying attention. In fact, you should be selling. You'll be able to buy it back at 1/2 price.

The market’s certainly looking a little shaky and we may be in a bit of a bubble, but this is probably doomsday BS. If it’s a lake/ocean house there’s just not that many available and it will always have value barring one of your loony civil war/nuclear Holocaust scenarios, in which case we’re all focked anyways.

[Hawkeye21 1,848]

I've been wanting to buy a cabin along the Upper Mississippi River.  I think I prefer the WI side but the MN would be fine.  I'd like to use it for fishing and family trips.  When not using it I'd like to use it as an AirBnB.  Prices are ridiculous right now though.

[IGotWorms 3,297]

52 minutes ago, DonS said:

My brother in law has a cottage near Pacific City, OR.  Pelican Brewing is just a few miles away.  Whenever we'd go out there in the summer we would start talking about how we should do the same.  Summer of Covid 2020 and we finally said "fock it, why not now?" 

Edit: duh, I see Cape Kiwanda is right there.  Never noticed the name of the state natural area while driving to the brewery. 

 

Yeah I call it Cape Kiwanda just to distinguish from the other Pacific Cities out there. Love the beer and view at the brewery but my god the food can be bad  

[JustinCharge 2,397]

i currently have a second home in rustys head.

its gawdamn SPACIOUS too. there is NOTHING here.

[cyclone24 1,794]

32 minutes ago, IGotWorms said:

The market’s certainly looking a little shaky and we may be in a bit of a bubble, but this is probably doomsday BS. If it’s a lake/ocean house there’s just not that many available and it will always have value barring one of your loony civil war/nuclear Holocaust scenarios, in which case we’re all focked anyways.

Well that’s the thing too. How often do prices really come down on houses? And if they do seems marginal at best unless something catastrophic happens

[Hawkeye21 1,848]

35 minutes ago, Herbivore said:

I have a 2nd home. A lot of valid pts made by the geeks already...more locked in to 1 place, maintenance can be a pain. But we love it. We spend a lot of time there. We also rent it out, to the tune of breaking even for all expenses. It has been surprising how great the renters have been. We use VRBO.

What percentage does VRBO take?

[DonS 3,063]

11 minutes ago, IGotWorms said:

Yeah I call it Cape Kiwanda just to distinguish from the other Pacific Cities out there. Love the beer and view at the brewery but my god the food can be bad  

Agreed about the beer and view.  Luckily I haven't had a bad food experience there.  Nothing to write home about though. 

[IGotWorms 3,297]

22 minutes ago, DonS said:

Agreed about the beer and view.  Luckily I haven't had a bad food experience there.  Nothing to write home about though. 

I like the Oar House in town (not by the beach, unfortunately). Pretty good food and totally reminds me of a place overlooking the harbor in my hometown :wistful: 

[jerryskids 5,169]

22+ years ago we chose not to get a 2nd house, instead spending more for our main house.  Two main reasons, both of which have been touched on already:

1. Her family had one growing up and to her it was a PITA; maintenance, repetition, etc.  Theirs was 4-5 hours away though, so much harder to get to/from.  But they went a lot.  She found that she would rather have the freedom to go different places, when we wanted, instead of being tied to one.

2. Early in our marriage we got some good financial advice which has served us well:  "rent your toys."  The context was things more like boats, ATVs, etc., but the concept is still somewhat relevant.

I also agree with @lod001that now would be a very risky time to buy non-essential real estate.

That being said, I believe that services like AirBnB and VRBO have changed the equation, actually in both directions I guess.  It is much easier to rent your place out so you can recoup a lot of the costs, but it is also much easier to rent a perfect place for your needs.

[GutterBoy 2,277]

I have a second home for my d, and it's your wife's box.  It's cozy, but over the years it's gotten stale and musty.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,587]

2 hours ago, GutterBoy said:

I would wait until Putin nukes us, which should be any minute now, and then just get a fixer upper on the cheap.

“Justin is nuts”. Then proceeds to bring him up all day. 

[lod001 1,235]

1 hour ago, IGotWorms said:

The market’s certainly looking a little shaky and we may be in a bit of a bubble, but this is probably doomsday BS. If it’s a lake/ocean house there’s just not that many available and it will always have value barring one of your loony civil war/nuclear Holocaust scenarios, in which case we’re all focked anyways.

It's not the bubble of 2007ish because they are not handing out loans of 125% of the already overinflated price but it is a major bubble. Anyone else receive cold calls offering to buy your house. I WAS. Not anymore because its starting to deflate. I received 1/2 dozen minimum over the past 6 months. NEVER have I received cold call offers to buy my house, even back in 2007. How the hell did they even get my work, my home and my cell numbers? THAT is a MAJOR bubble. 

[lod001 1,235]

8 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

22+ years ago we chose not to get a 2nd house, instead spending more for our main house.  Two main reasons, both of which have been touched on already:

1. Her family had one growing up and to her it was a PITA; maintenance, repetition, etc.  Theirs was 4-5 hours away though, so much harder to get to/from.  But they went a lot.  She found that she would rather have the freedom to go different places, when we wanted, instead of being tied to one.

2. Early in our marriage we got some good financial advice which has served us well:  "rent your toys."  The context was things more like boats, ATVs, etc., but the concept is still somewhat relevant.

I also agree with @lod001that now would be a very risky time to buy non-essential real estate.

That being said, I believe that services like AirBnB and VRBO have changed the equation, actually in both directions I guess.  It is much easier to rent your place out so you can recoup a lot of the costs, but it is also much easier to rent a perfect place for your needs.

I'll say this, if I had a 2nd home , I would have dumped it on some sucker 6 months ago. Good chance they end up in foreclosure. 

[Hardcore troubadour 12,587]

How many houses does Blackrock have now? Illegals and refugees have to live somewhere. And guess who’s gonna pay the rent? The You S A. 

[IGotWorms 3,297]

8 minutes ago, lod001 said:

It's not the bubble of 2007ish because they are not handing out loans of 125% of the already overinflated price but it is a major bubble. Anyone else receive cold calls offering to buy your house. I WAS. Not anymore because its starting to deflate. I received 1/2 dozen minimum over the past 6 months. NEVER have I received cold call offers to buy my house, even back in 2007. How the hell did they even get my work, my home and my cell numbers? THAT is a MAJOR bubble. 

Interest rates going up is definitely having a big impact. But it’s a normal impact, not a 2007 sky is falling type scenario