Second home ownership

[Anonymous]

Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

Our next door neighbor keeps an eye on it for us. You sound anxious and risk adverse OP. A second home might not be a good fit for you.

Also, if you are so worried about finances, I also don’t think a 2nd home is a good fit. It’s not about cost effective.

[Anonymous]

Turn the water off when you’re not there lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know?

You turn off the water heater and the water each time you leave so it’s not a catastrophic event.

What if there’s a fire?

You have wifi smoke detectors and good insurance. Your house isn’t. Going g to survive a fire even if you’re there.

How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Not sure what the huge risks you are worried about. We have a wifi carbon monoxide detector because we have propane.

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

You don’t get a second home unless you can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Who watches it depends on the community you choose and the services you hire.

You turn your water and water heater off every time you leave so there are no floods.

You get wifi smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. You put Ring cameras everywhere.

And not sure what huge risks you are worrying about. We’ve had a second home for more than a decade and have not had issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Turn the water off when you’re not there lol

+1

OP what could you actually do if there's a fire there besides leave? Our second home at the beach has never flooded. Just turn off the water when you're not there and don't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

I have a Phyn automatic water shutoff installed which alerts me to any water leak (even a drip) and allows me to turn off the water from my phone.

I have ADT alarms and sensors for motion, trespass, fire, smoke and CO2 that go both to my phone and the local authorities.

I control my thermostats remotely from my phone.

I know my neighbors and they let me know of any problems (branches down, garbage cans knocked over, packages, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

This is ultimately why we sold our second house. We had no one to look after it and turning on and off the water, worrying about snow, storm damage, etc was a pain.

Someone said “you don’t get a second home unless you can afford it” which I guess is true- but really you need to be able to afford a live in caretaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

This is ultimately why we sold our second house. We had no one to look after it and turning on and off the water, worrying about snow, storm damage, etc was a pain.

Someone said “you don’t get a second home unless you can afford it” which I guess is true- but really you need to be able to afford a live in caretaker.

A live-in caretaker? Ridiculous. I shut off the water when we are away for a long period of time, and control the thermostat remotely. No one looks in on it. The worst case scenario is that the house is destroyed in some freak event, just like with our maiin house. But it is insured, nothing serious has gone wrong in decades, and I have zero concerns about any of it.

[Anonymous]

We have a property manager.

[Anonymous]

We had a second home in our family for most of my young life.

It was a Victorian-era summer cottage, and not winterized, so the plumbing was shut off in the late fall until spring.

The house was robbed once. A precious glass photograph was broken. Only practical things were stolen so all could be replaced.

One year the roof over the dock was caved in by ice ruining the docks more than usual.

The house was imperilled by forest fires once before 1900 but the fire went out before it reached the house. Some of the china kept at the house was damaged because it had been packed into barrels and sunk in the lake in case the fire reached the house.

In modern times, there was a local man within 15 minutes drive who could be hired for repairs. But he wasn't really a caretaker. He didn't drop by regularly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

This is ultimately why we sold our second house. We had no one to look after it and turning on and off the water, worrying about snow, storm damage, etc was a pain.

Someone said “you don’t get a second home unless you can afford it” which I guess is true- but really you need to be able to afford a live in caretaker.

A live-in caretaker? Ridiculous. I shut off the water when we are away for a long period of time, and control the thermostat remotely. No one looks in on it. The worst case scenario is that the house is destroyed in some freak event, just like with our maiin house. But it is insured, nothing serious has gone wrong in decades, and I have zero concerns about any of it.

+1 You don't need a live-in caretaker. If turning off the water is too much for you, then you're far too lazy to own any home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Turn the water off when you’re not there lol

+1 we always shut off the water.

We’ve known our neighbors for generations. They reach out to me if extreme weather is coming through and ask if I want them to check on the house.

Anything else is why we have insurance.

[Anonymous]

We have staff that live on the property (not in our house) to maintain our houses. For our flat in Paris, there is an on-site guardian and we call in people to prepare it for our arrival.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who watches the property when you’re not in it most of the time? If a pipe burst or the water heater goes or it floods, how would you know? What if there’s a fire? How do you manage the huge risks of not living in a home FT?

Also two homes = twice the liability for thinks like HVAC, roof, plumbing, wiring, landscaping/gardening, pest control. And double the insurance. How is this cost effective?

Our next door neighbor keeps an eye on it for us. You sound anxious and risk adverse OP. A second home might not be a good fit for you.

Also, if you are so worried about finances, I also don’t think a 2nd home is a good fit. It’s not about cost effective.

This.