Vacation Home

[Anonymous]

If you own a vacation home, how did you decide where to buy?

[Anonymous]

We have two. They are in places we went to often enough that we decided we wanted the ease of having our own place vs having to deal with rentals and/or hotels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two. They are in places we went to often enough that we decided we wanted the ease of having our own place vs having to deal with rentals and/or hotels.

+1

Places we were familiar enough with, because we already go there regularly. No anon board will be able to tell you where you should buy one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two. They are in places we went to often enough that we decided we wanted the ease of having our own place vs having to deal with rentals and/or hotels.

Same as us.

We recently built in Hilton Head for convenience.

We also have a house near Nice as we we love spending time there.

[Anonymous]

We are in Delaware. We wanted on the water and close enough for an easy weekend drive. Also had to be affordable because we didn’t want to rent. We’ve had our place for 10 years and feel really great about our decision. It’s more of a lifestyle than a vacation home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Delaware. We wanted on the water and close enough for an easy weekend drive. Also had to be affordable because we didn’t want to rent. We’ve had our place for 10 years and feel really great about our decision. It’s more of a lifestyle than a vacation home.

+1. We are in Bethany. Easy drive from DC. We use it as a weekend getaway. Being by the beach and ocean is great and the area has so much to do besides the beach and ocean. We love it.

One of the best decisions we made for our family. We have had the place since DS was 1 and now at 8 years old, so many great memories. We live in DC and it’s great to have a city place and beach place.

Totally agree that it’s a lifestyle more than a vacation home. We go elsewhere for vacations.

[Anonymous]

I made a checklist of everything I wanted in a second home (tennis, golf, beach, near airport, etc.)

Then I started looking. Ended up in Kiawah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I made a checklist of everything I wanted in a second home (tennis, golf, beach, near airport, etc.)

Then I started looking. Ended up in Kiawah.

We picked Hilton head based on same list.

[Anonymous]

30a in Florida

[Anonymous]

We bought after vacationing there for 15+ years. At this point it’s a second home, not a vacation house. We split our time between the two houses and work remotely. We do take some time off in the summer but our vacations are usually elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

We also chose Kiawah after years of vacationing there, and purchased because that’s where we want to retire down the road too. So it’s both a vacation house while the kids and a future retirement home for us as empty nesters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Delaware. We wanted on the water and close enough for an easy weekend drive. Also had to be affordable because we didn’t want to rent. We’ve had our place for 10 years and feel really great about our decision. It’s more of a lifestyle than a vacation home.

+1. We are in Bethany. Easy drive from DC. We use it as a weekend getaway. Being by the beach and ocean is great and the area has so much to do besides the beach and ocean. We love it.

One of the best decisions we made for our family. We have had the place since DS was 1 and now at 8 years old, so many great memories. We live in DC and it’s great to have a city place and beach place.

Totally agree that it’s a lifestyle more than a vacation home. We go elsewhere for vacations.

There is nothing easy about getting to Delaware from DC unless you pull kids from school or drive at 2am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in Delaware. We wanted on the water and close enough for an easy weekend drive. Also had to be affordable because we didn’t want to rent. We’ve had our place for 10 years and feel really great about our decision. It’s more of a lifestyle than a vacation home.

+1. We are in Bethany. Easy drive from DC. We use it as a weekend getaway. Being by the beach and ocean is great and the area has so much to do besides the beach and ocean. We love it.

One of the best decisions we made for our family. We have had the place since DS was 1 and now at 8 years old, so many great memories. We live in DC and it’s great to have a city place and beach place.

Totally agree that it’s a lifestyle more than a vacation home. We go elsewhere for vacations.

There is nothing easy about getting to Delaware from DC unless you pull kids from school or drive at 2am.

It’s very easy for weekend getaways except for the summer. I mean if you leave Friday afternoon, of course you will hit rush hour traffic in Annapolis but that’s the deal, Friday traffic you will deal with anywhere you go in thus area . Just go Friday evening at 7pm after dinner and no issue. Sunday coming back anytime is easy. We just pull DS out of school a few hours early and leave by 2pm. No issues. It’s also great for the 3 day holiday weekend.

In the summer with kids off, you can go anytime and avoid Friday traffic. If you go 7am Friday morning, it’s easy and you get all day Friday at the beach. BTW, your argument applies to anywhere you go in the summer. I would much rather deal with route 50 than the horrendous I-95 south in the summer which is much, much worst.

[Anonymous]

To me, vacation homes make the most sense when:

You buy someplace you know well because you’ve already been visiting for years

It’s close enough for weekend trips

You’d like to spend more time there in retirement

[Anonymous]

We live in Chicago and have a second home in Wisconsin. Our criteria was:

-Close enough for day trips. This was a big one for us. When kids get heavy into sports and we only have a sat or sun free or when DH and I have something we want to do at the house and want to take a PTO day and run up there, it's been great.

-Close to water. We are 1 block from the public beach on the lake, have a boat, kayaks, paddle boards, love to fish, ski, tube, etc.

-Enough bedrooms for guests.

-Be close to little towns. We have our favorite ice cream shop, coffee shop, pizza place, pub, etc up there.

-Some sense of community. We wanted family traditions and to increasingly be part of the community as we'd like to spend a lot of time there in retirement. Our beach has an annual neighborhood block party, there's super cute traditions like a weekend family fishing derby, every 4th of July all the kids around the lake decorate their bikes and then the local firetruck leads them in a parade, there's monthly clean the beach days where from 6-8am all the neighbors come clean the beach area and shares coffee and donuts, there's a winter tradition of "trick or treating" door to door via sleds and getting candy in stockings.

Couldn't be happier. It's become such a vital piece of our family.