Do you have a second home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

1) What do you do regarding postal service at your second home? I don't want mail to pile up - I won't use that address as a mailing address but I'm sure there will be junk mail and other stuff that comes there.

Notify the post office that you don’t want mail delivery.

2) What temperature do you leave the heat or air conditioning set to when you are not going to be there for a few weeks?

Really depends on the weather. Summer not higher than 80 so there won’t be mildew build up. Fall and spring 45. Winter or anytime there is risk of reps below 32, no less than 55 but sometimes really warm to prevent pipes from freezing. We have a programmable thermostat so unexpected weather changes are not problematic

3) Do you shut off the main water line every time you leave the house for more than a few weeks?

We shut water off every single time we leave even if we’re coming back two days later.

Anything else I need to be thinking about for the weeks between visits?

If you turn off your water be sure to turn off your hot water heater and ice maker.

How do you turn your hot water heater off?

[Anonymous]

1. There’s no mail delivery at our house, so it’s a non-issue.

2. Set to 76 in summer and 62 in winter. We can access it remotely.

3. No, but we do have wifi water sensors.

[Anonymous]

We have one but we rent it out too.
Doesn’t get any mail.
We can adjust heat and AC via an app on our phone.
We don’t turn off the water but do have water sensors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have one but we rent it out too.
Doesn’t get any mail.
We can adjust heat and AC via an app on our phone.
We don’t turn off the water but do have water sensors.

You don’t have a second home. You have an investment property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1) What do you do regarding postal service at your second home? I don't want mail to pile up - I won't use that address as a mailing address but I'm sure there will be junk mail and other stuff that comes there.

Notify the post office that you don’t want mail delivery.

2) What temperature do you leave the heat or air conditioning set to when you are not going to be there for a few weeks?

Really depends on the weather. Summer not higher than 80 so there won’t be mildew build up. Fall and spring 45. Winter or anytime there is risk of reps below 32, no less than 55 but sometimes really warm to prevent pipes from freezing. We have a programmable thermostat so unexpected weather changes are not problematic

3) Do you shut off the main water line every time you leave the house for more than a few weeks?

We shut water off every single time we leave even if we’re coming back two days later.

Anything else I need to be thinking about for the weeks between visits?

If you turn off your water be sure to turn off your hot water heater and ice maker.

How do you turn your hot water heater off?

I turn the circuit breaker off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

1) What do you do regarding postal service at your second home? I don't want mail to pile up - I won't use that address as a mailing address but I'm sure there will be junk mail and other stuff that comes there.

Notify the post office that you don’t want mail delivery.

2) What temperature do you leave the heat or air conditioning set to when you are not going to be there for a few weeks?

Really depends on the weather. Summer not higher than 80 so there won’t be mildew build up. Fall and spring 45. Winter or anytime there is risk of reps below 32, no less than 55 but sometimes really warm to prevent pipes from freezing. We have a programmable thermostat so unexpected weather changes are not problematic

3) Do you shut off the main water line every time you leave the house for more than a few weeks?

We shut water off every single time we leave even if we’re coming back two days later.

Anything else I need to be thinking about for the weeks between visits?

If you turn off your water be sure to turn off your hot water heater and ice maker.

How do you turn your hot water heater off?

Breaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a true second home and we go back and forth all the time so we never worry about any of this stuff.

As opposed to a fake second home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a true second home and we go back and forth all the time so we never worry about any of this stuff.

As opposed to a fake second home?

I think she means having a second house that is rented the rest of the time. That's an investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a true second home and we go back and forth all the time so we never worry about any of this stuff.

As opposed to a fake second home?

I think she means having a second house that is rented the rest of the time. That's an investment.

Okay, so some second homes (SFH - not condo or townhouse, or attached) are on the salt water, and my friends who have those usually go there for most of the summer - is that real or fake?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a true second home and we go back and forth all the time so we never worry about any of this stuff.

As opposed to a fake second home?

I think she means having a second house that is rented the rest of the time. That's an investment.

Okay, so some second homes (SFH - not condo or townhouse, or attached) are on the salt water, and my friends who have those usually go there for most of the summer - is that real or fake?

Asking because those friends do not rent it out that much, so it is not an investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a true second home and we go back and forth all the time so we never worry about any of this stuff.

As opposed to a fake second home?

I think she means having a second house that is rented the rest of the time. That's an investment.

We have a second house that is never rented. Is that a true second home?

I’m curious how often PP goes “back and forth all the time” that exempts them from worrying about stuff that might happen while no one is there.

[Anonymous]

1) What do you do regarding postal service at your second home? I don't want mail to pile up - I won't use that address as a mailing address but I'm sure there will be junk mail and other stuff that comes there.

We have a homewatch service that comes weekly when we are not there. I have them bring the mail in at least once a month. We do get junk mail and catalogs. We have not removed the house from the route because we need to get mail when we are there in the summer. But it's not that much mail that I worry about it.

2) What temperature do you leave the heat or air conditioning set to when you are not going to be there for a few weeks?

I have 2 wifi thermostats so can control them remotely. I leave the heat on 50-55. When there are cold snaps I turn it up for a few days, just to be safe. We only use the AC when we are there, it's in New England so doesn't get that hot. We do have a dehumidifier running year round in the basement because we are on the water so humidity is an issue.

3) Do you shut off the main water line every time you leave the house for more than a few weeks?

Yes, we turn off the water. We also turn off the hot water heater. I had a switch installed next to the hot water heater so all we need to do is flip the switch. Our cleaning people know how to turn the water back on if it's off when they clean.

Anything else I need to be thinking about for the weeks between visits?

- Depending on where you are consider a pest control contract. Mice can be an issue where we are, and empty houses seem to be attractive for field mice.
- Having a homewatch service has been great for peace of mind since there are long stretches of the off season that we aren't able to get there. We also have a Ring camera.
- Buy small quantities of things like spices, flour, etc. Even though we spend 4 months there, I am always finding expired items because we just don't go through it at the rate we do at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a true second home and we go back and forth all the time so we never worry about any of this stuff.

As opposed to a fake second home?

I think she means having a second house that is rented the rest of the time. That's an investment.

We have a second house that is never rented. Is that a true second home?

I’m curious how often PP goes “back and forth all the time” that exempts them from worrying about stuff that might happen while no one is there.

NP but we go almost every weekend from mid-Spring to mid-Fall and monthly between that so we would never bother stopping the mail or shutting off the water and wouldn’t need a caretaker to check in on anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. We really don't get that much mail because we have all the utilities and such set to bill at our home address so I assume our 2nd home address isn't on the junk "lists" or whatever.

2. 60 in winter, 75 in summer. In winter, we leave the sink cabinet doors open when we leave.

3. We don't shut off the water.

We have several neighbor friends too if we ever needed someone to immediately check on something like if there's a major freeze and we want them to check the pipes. We regularly thank them with bottle of wine or whatever.

Is that because it keeps the pipes a few degrees warmer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a true second home and we go back and forth all the time so we never worry about any of this stuff.

As opposed to a fake second home?

I think she means having a second house that is rented the rest of the time. That's an investment.

We have a second house that is never rented. Is that a true second home?

I’m curious how often PP goes “back and forth all the time” that exempts them from worrying about stuff that might happen while no one is there.

NP but we go almost every weekend from mid-Spring to mid-Fall and monthly between that so we would never bother stopping the mail or shutting off the water and wouldn’t need a caretaker to check in on anything.

PP back, hit submit too soon. Other people have second homes say on the Vineyard where they spend two months there in the summer and are never there the rest of the year.