Pros/cons of buying a second home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A little different, but we bought a large lot with two homes on it. We rent them out and they pay for themselves. We've never thought that they were that much extra work, and in less than 4 years they'll be paid for. We've only had them for around 7 years. It's a great investment, IMO. One of our sons and his wife rent one of them, so between the three homes that we have, there will always be that source of income for our kids should they decide to rent them out when we're gone, or they could? live in them.

I don't think we want to deal with renters. This property would be strictly for our enjoyment. Honestly one of the things that is appealing about buying the property is that we will be able to bring our dogs with us while we are enjoying it. Now we usually have to get a pet sitter when we want to go out of town for a weekend and that can really make a weekend away $$$$.

The cottage is small so I'm not seeing us staying in it for weeks at time. It would be more for weekends and even some occasional week nights depending on the time of year.

Are you sure that renting a place for a weekends away and paying for the pet sitter is more expensive than buying a second place? That doesn't sound right.
Sure, if its for your enjoyment and you can afford it, go ahead, but I seriously doubt it will save money on getaways.

[Anonymous]

I hate doing the maintenance and yard work on my own house, no way I'd want to take on another house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A little different, but we bought a large lot with two homes on it. We rent them out and they pay for themselves. We've never thought that they were that much extra work, and in less than 4 years they'll be paid for. We've only had them for around 7 years. It's a great investment, IMO. One of our sons and his wife rent one of them, so between the three homes that we have, there will always be that source of income for our kids should they decide to rent them out when we're gone, or they could? live in them.

I don't think we want to deal with renters. This property would be strictly for our enjoyment. Honestly one of the things that is appealing about buying the property is that we will be able to bring our dogs with us while we are enjoying it. Now we usually have to get a pet sitter when we want to go out of town for a weekend and that can really make a weekend away $$$$.

The cottage is small so I'm not seeing us staying in it for weeks at time. It would be more for weekends and even some occasional week nights depending on the time of year.

Are you sure that renting a place for a weekends away and paying for the pet sitter is more expensive than buying a second place? That doesn't sound right.
Sure, if its for your enjoyment and you can afford it, go ahead, but I seriously doubt it will save money on getaways.

Yes, I see what you are saying. One thing that is a pain right now is that we can not just get up and go anywhere spontaneously. We have to line up a dog sitter or dog boarding well in advance. When it comes time to go, the weather might suck or something happens with work or one of the kids has an activity suddenly come up that we don't want to miss. We might wind up leaving late for a planned vacation or coming home early or spending a good part of our trip on the phone with work.

Owning this cottage would be 99% a quality of life issue. We would work on getting the chores done at our primary home during the week and we would make the cottage's yard work as low maintenance as possible. The plan would be to keep the cottage furnished and easy clean like a vacation rental. I would have time to pop by during the week to clean it. There won't be anything expensive inside to steal or get ruined should something happen when we're not there. We'll probably have security cameras at the property so that we could keep track of it even while we're not there .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's your def of a "reasonable drive"?
It might not be as practical as you think to go there, say, every weekend as you may think.
Aren't you busy on weekends - with your own household chores, errands, cleaning, prepping for the week, social obligations, etc.?

And if you have (multiple) kids - sports, Saturday games, bday parties, school projects...on top of regular weekend stuff?

Financially, it comes down to can you afford 2 households. Yes, there's maintanence, but you also have to have the "small" things that add up quickly - the food, the linens, the creature comforts of home, and that can really add up quickly.
And what is this "maintenance" - will it need a new roof soon, new windowns, pipes are getting leaky, HVac working ok?

This is what we found out. We just don't have time on the wkds. So the cabin sits... There is nothing worse than an empty house. All kinds of issues. Think carefully

This is worry. The goal is to add enjoyment not a ton more work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The small cottage is within a pretty reasonable drive from us in a scenic area. We would be able to handle yard work, maintenance, etc. and we would also be able to use it a lot. I think that there is a good chance that the home/lot will appreciate in value over the next 5 years.

Aside from utilities and another mortgage payment, what are the other expenses associated with a second home that we should keep in mind? We do not plan to rent it out.

We have a second home, but no mortgage. It is like owning any other home. Repairs, taxes, and insurance. Just had to replace my washer machine and need a new roof. Normal house stuff. I will say though, my taxes and insurance are WAY lower than at my primary home in Northern Virginia. Despite not having a mortgage, it costs me about $1,000/mo to run the home when you take into account everything. More if a major repair hits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate doing the maintenance and yard work on my own house, no way I'd want to take on another house.

It's a smallish lot. Big enough to have a little backyard get together but not a lot of weeding, trimming and such. We could have the lawn mowed in under 30 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A little different, but we bought a large lot with two homes on it. We rent them out and they pay for themselves. We've never thought that they were that much extra work, and in less than 4 years they'll be paid for. We've only had them for around 7 years. It's a great investment, IMO. One of our sons and his wife rent one of them, so between the three homes that we have, there will always be that source of income for our kids should they decide to rent them out when we're gone, or they could? live in them.

I don't think we want to deal with renters. This property would be strictly for our enjoyment. Honestly one of the things that is appealing about buying the property is that we will be able to bring our dogs with us while we are enjoying it. Now we usually have to get a pet sitter when we want to go out of town for a weekend and that can really make a weekend away $$$$.

The cottage is small so I'm not seeing us staying in it for weeks at time. It would be more for weekends and even some occasional week nights depending on the time of year.

Are you sure that renting a place for a weekends away and paying for the pet sitter is more expensive than buying a second place? That doesn't sound right.
Sure, if its for your enjoyment and you can afford it, go ahead, but I seriously doubt it will save money on getaways.

As the owner of a second home, owing a home is much much much much more expensive than a dog sitter and taking vacations elsewhere. Also, I LOVE travel, so just because we own a 2nd home doesn't mean we do not travel.

For us, with kids, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get to our vacation home frequently. If the kids can't bring a friend, they do not want to go. Plus they have sports and birthday parties and lives of their own. Because of this, we rent ours out. We recoup 75% of our total expenses. I really want to sell our 2nd home, but i'm too lazy and it does not cost us that much given the renters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The small cottage is within a pretty reasonable drive from us in a scenic area. We would be able to handle yard work, maintenance, etc. and we would also be able to use it a lot. I think that there is a good chance that the home/lot will appreciate in value over the next 5 years.

Aside from utilities and another mortgage payment, what are the other expenses associated with a second home that we should keep in mind? We do not plan to rent it out.

We have a second home, but no mortgage. It is like owning any other home. Repairs, taxes, and insurance. Just had to replace my washer machine and need a new roof. Normal house stuff. I will say though, my taxes and insurance are WAY lower than at my primary home in Northern Virginia. Despite not having a mortgage, it costs me about $1,000/mo to run the home when you take into account everything. More if a major repair hits.

We renovated our former 1960's home in Northern Virginia....it was a good learning experience. By comparison, this cottage will be nothing compared to that. Much of the unglamorous but necessary stuff (like windows/roof/siding) has already been done. AC might need replacing at some point within the next 3 years. But that's a might.

If the washer dryer or dishwasher break it won't be the end of the world. We plan to keep meals simple while we're there - eating out and bbqing. Hanging out, having fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A little different, but we bought a large lot with two homes on it. We rent them out and they pay for themselves. We've never thought that they were that much extra work, and in less than 4 years they'll be paid for. We've only had them for around 7 years. It's a great investment, IMO. One of our sons and his wife rent one of them, so between the three homes that we have, there will always be that source of income for our kids should they decide to rent them out when we're gone, or they could? live in them.

I don't think we want to deal with renters. This property would be strictly for our enjoyment. Honestly one of the things that is appealing about buying the property is that we will be able to bring our dogs with us while we are enjoying it. Now we usually have to get a pet sitter when we want to go out of town for a weekend and that can really make a weekend away $$$$.

The cottage is small so I'm not seeing us staying in it for weeks at time. It would be more for weekends and even some occasional week nights depending on the time of year.

Are you sure that renting a place for a weekends away and paying for the pet sitter is more expensive than buying a second place? That doesn't sound right.
Sure, if its for your enjoyment and you can afford it, go ahead, but I seriously doubt it will save money on getaways.

As the owner of a second home, owing a home is much much much much more expensive than a dog sitter and taking vacations elsewhere. Also, I LOVE travel, so just because we own a 2nd home doesn't mean we do not travel.

For us, with kids, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get to our vacation home frequently. If the kids can't bring a friend, they do not want to go. Plus they have sports and birthday parties and lives of their own. Because of this, we rent ours out. We recoup 75% of our total expenses. I really want to sell our 2nd home, but i'm too lazy and it does not cost us that much given the renters.

We don't travel much at all because of the logistics of just getting away..This is part of the reason this property is looking so attractive to me. It's away and a change of scene w/o being too far away. It's accessible. I really do see us going there.

[Anonymous]

ILs have a second home that is about 75 minutes from their house that they use in the summer and on occasional weekends during the spring and fall. They've had it for 30 years and I know that the distance has gotten to be a bit of a drag, the location of the 2nd home is fantastic and they would never want to give it up.

It's on about a 1/3 acre with a lot of grass to mow which is one of the biggest pains. They also close it up for the winter and open it in the spring which take up a full 2 weekends every year. The maintenance issues are just like with any other house and FIL is the type who likes to do everything himself and is a perfectionist so much of his free time is spent taking care of one or the other of their houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ILs have a second home that is about 75 minutes from their house that they use in the summer and on occasional weekends during the spring and fall. They've had it for 30 years and I know that the distance has gotten to be a bit of a drag, the location of the 2nd home is fantastic and they would never want to give it up.

It's on about a 1/3 acre with a lot of grass to mow which is one of the biggest pains. They also close it up for the winter and open it in the spring which take up a full 2 weekends every year. The maintenance issues are just like with any other house and FIL is the type who likes to do everything himself and is a perfectionist so much of his free time is spent taking care of one or the other of their houses.

We are early 50's and we do most everything maintenance/upkeep wise ourselves. Right now this cottage doesn't seem like too much for us to handle. I guess if it becomes too much in the next decade or so we could sell it for a profit.

I don't want every last second of our free time being spent mowing lawns and fixing toilets, though. The point of the property is to get out and enjoy the fresh air, get some exercise and enjoy treating ourselves to some relaxation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a luxury and a big expense, since you're not planning to rent it, which is fine. If you're confident that you can comfortably afford it, that's great.

I only take a slight issue with the way you said that you think it will go up in value in five years. You're not planning on renting it, and you're not planning on selling it, so whether it goes up in value is basically irrelevant. It's a sunk cost. I don't say this to criticize, but just to make sure you're thinking about this with the right mindset. It's not an investment. It is a large initial cost, and an ongoing cost in perpetuity, as long as you own it.

It's not strictly going to be an investment property. The goal is to use it often. The appreciation simply means that we will recoup some of the money we put into it when we go to sell it. I honestly do not know how much it will appreciate though. Obviously, 200K would be more of a profit than 20K. I do not anticipate having to sell the property at a loss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The small cottage is within a pretty reasonable drive from us in a scenic area. We would be able to handle yard work, maintenance, etc. and we would also be able to use it a lot. I think that there is a good chance that the home/lot will appreciate in value over the next 5 years.

Aside from utilities and another mortgage payment, what are the other expenses associated with a second home that we should keep in mind? We do not plan to rent it out.

We have a second home, but no mortgage. It is like owning any other home. Repairs, taxes, and insurance. Just had to replace my washer machine and need a new roof. Normal house stuff. I will say though, my taxes and insurance are WAY lower than at my primary home in Northern Virginia. Despite not having a mortgage, it costs me about $1,000/mo to run the home when you take into account everything. More if a major repair hits.

We renovated our former 1960's home in Northern Virginia....it was a good learning experience. By comparison, this cottage will be nothing compared to that. Much of the unglamorous but necessary stuff (like windows/roof/siding) has already been done. AC might need replacing at some point within the next 3 years. But that's a might.

If the washer dryer or dishwasher break it won't be the end of the world. We plan to keep meals simple while we're there - eating out and bbqing. Hanging out, having fun.

Since you know everything, have at it.

[Anonymous]

Empty homes are targets for thieves and vandals. Especially if there are no close neighbors or the neighbors are seasonal. Honestly, this second home may be a money pit and a stressor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a luxury and a big expense, since you're not planning to rent it, which is fine. If you're confident that you can comfortably afford it, that's great.

I only take a slight issue with the way you said that you think it will go up in value in five years. You're not planning on renting it, and you're not planning on selling it, so whether it goes up in value is basically irrelevant. It's a sunk cost. I don't say this to criticize, but just to make sure you're thinking about this with the right mindset. It's not an investment. It is a large initial cost, and an ongoing cost in perpetuity, as long as you own it.

It's not strictly going to be an investment property. The goal is to use it often. The appreciation simply means that we will recoup some of the money we put into it when we go to sell it. I honestly do not know how much it will appreciate though. Obviously, 200K would be more of a profit than 20K. I do not anticipate having to sell the property at a loss.

nobody anticipates that. However, when the economy experiences a slow down, vacation home areas are the first to take a hit. Unless you are renting it to recoup some of your money, it needs to be viewed as a losing expense.
A home of any sorts should never be looked at as an investment. With utilities, mortgage, internet (you said cameras, right?), taxes, upkeep, you will never make what you put into it and it will be much more hassle and expense than regular travel. People do it it build memories or to escape city life, or because they love the beach or mountains or whatever. Certainly not because it is easy, less hassle, or less money that simply getting on a plane and going somewhere.