Where is your vacation house? Where would you get one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poster who says it's "same stuff, different location" has obviously never bought a vacation home (or the right vacation home) and never should.

Look on the rivers in SoMD (St. Mary's/Potomac/Pax). Anywhere from 80 to 120 minutes max from NoVA with zero traffic (once you get past the beltway). Are there great beaches? No, but we aren't beach people. Sit on the deck (more comfortable/less sand), watch the sun rise or set, take in the breeze, buy a boat. Be around normal people. It's the best, and is the furthest thing from being home.

I am the poster that said maintenance was basically the same stuff in a different location. We have a house a on Hilton Head. A majority of maintenance on a house is tied to wear and tear. If you are adding wear and tear in one place you aren't in another. We designed the house and landscaping to be relatively maintenance free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poster who says it's "same stuff, different location" has obviously never bought a vacation home (or the right vacation home) and never should.

Look on the rivers in SoMD (St. Mary's/Potomac/Pax). Anywhere from 80 to 120 minutes max from NoVA with zero traffic (once you get past the beltway). Are there great beaches? No, but we aren't beach people. Sit on the deck (more comfortable/less sand), watch the sun rise or set, take in the breeze, buy a boat. Be around normal people. It's the best, and is the furthest thing from being home.

I am the poster that said maintenance was basically the same stuff in a different location. We have a house a on Hilton Head. A majority of maintenance on a house is tied to wear and tear. If you are adding wear and tear in one place you aren't in another. We designed the house and landscaping to be relatively maintenance free.

Total bs. The weather on the Mid-Atlantic coast is brutal on homes in the winter. Hilton Head is further south I suppose, so maybe less so. But a beach house anywhere from the OBX north gets killed in the winter. The closer to the beach, the worse it is. And who wants a beach house that isn’t as close to the beach as you can get?

[Anonymous]

Queens Anne County, Maryland on the Bay. Takes about 1 hour to 1.5 hours to get there depending on traffic. Do not rent it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked how many of you are willing to take care of a second or third home. It’s all I can do to take care of the one I live in. I could afford a vacation home, but the S&P 500 doesn’t need cleaning and maintenance.

+1. Plus I love not having to clean or cook on vacation. I’m staying at a nice hotel where someone is refreshing my sheets and towels. Owning the place I’m vacationing in would take the fun out of a vacation for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked how many of you are willing to take care of a second or third home. It’s all I can do to take care of the one I live in. I could afford a vacation home, but the S&P 500 doesn’t need cleaning and maintenance.

+1. Plus I love not having to clean or cook on vacation. I’m staying at a nice hotel where someone is refreshing my sheets and towels. Owning the place I’m vacationing in would take the fun out of a vacation for me.

There are house managers and cleaners for that, to be perfectly frank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked how many of you are willing to take care of a second or third home. It’s all I can do to take care of the one I live in. I could afford a vacation home, but the S&P 500 doesn’t need cleaning and maintenance.

+1. Plus I love not having to clean or cook on vacation. I’m staying at a nice hotel where someone is refreshing my sheets and towels. Owning the place I’m vacationing in would take the fun out of a vacation for me.

There are house managers and cleaners for that, to be perfectly frank.

I hear you but, even if I had a whole team of people there, I still don’t really get the appeal of going to the same house over and over. If you have the money to fully staff a vacation home you could do so many more interesting things with your time.

[Anonymous]

I own a vacation home. It is nice to have a place to get away to, but it is absolutely not worth the time, effort, and money we put into it. DH wanted it really badly, and I gave in. It has nearly broken our marriage.

If I were you, OP, I would find a place you like to rent at a location you like, and then just rent there as often as you want. Get all of the enjoyment with none of the hassle.

[Anonymous]

Unless you can’t afford to vacation otherwise, vacation homes are old fashioned remnants from a time when it was more difficult to travel and comfortably visit new places (or even the same place frequently)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked how many of you are willing to take care of a second or third home. It’s all I can do to take care of the one I live in. I could afford a vacation home, but the S&P 500 doesn’t need cleaning and maintenance.

+1. Plus I love not having to clean or cook on vacation. I’m staying at a nice hotel where someone is refreshing my sheets and towels. Owning the place I’m vacationing in would take the fun out of a vacation for me.

There are house managers and cleaners for that, to be perfectly frank.

I hear you but, even if I had a whole team of people there, I still don’t really get the appeal of going to the same house over and over. If you have the money to fully staff a vacation home you could do so many more interesting things with your time.

And again, those aren’t mutually exclusive. The same people who hire house managers and cleaners for their vacation home are also doing ski trips, Europe, Caribbean etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless you can’t afford to vacation otherwise, vacation homes are old fashioned remnants from a time when it was more difficult to travel and comfortably visit new places (or even the same place frequently)

Completely false. If anything, there has been increased interest in having a vacation home post covid and with the advent of remote work.

[Anonymous]

We’ve had several vacation homes over the years, but the only one that has truly been worth the money and that we have truly enjoyed is the one we bought most recently - at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s close enough to the DMV that you can even do a day trip (although we rarely do that), yet it’s also a whole different world. We’ve basically expanded into living in two houses - a city house and a country house. It’s been fantastic. That we happened to buy right before the market took off is a nice bonus, too.

If it’s so much of a hassle to get to your vacation house that you really have to think about it, it’s not worth it. Except, of course, as an investment property and not a vacation home . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you can’t afford to vacation otherwise, vacation homes are old fashioned remnants from a time when it was more difficult to travel and comfortably visit new places (or even the same place frequently)

Completely false. If anything, there has been increased interest in having a vacation home post covid and with the advent of remote work.

I’ll agree with you there, in the case of a global pandemic where I have to flee the city it would be useful. But in terms on a non emergency situation and for use on regular vacations? No interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked how many of you are willing to take care of a second or third home. It’s all I can do to take care of the one I live in. I could afford a vacation home, but the S&P 500 doesn’t need cleaning and maintenance.

+1. Plus I love not having to clean or cook on vacation. I’m staying at a nice hotel where someone is refreshing my sheets and towels. Owning the place I’m vacationing in would take the fun out of a vacation for me.

There are house managers and cleaners for that, to be perfectly frank.

Our vacation house, is cleaned and stocked with fresh groceries when we arrive and cleaning service is a phone call away. Generally show up with in the hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poster who says it's "same stuff, different location" has obviously never bought a vacation home (or the right vacation home) and never should.

Look on the rivers in SoMD (St. Mary's/Potomac/Pax). Anywhere from 80 to 120 minutes max from NoVA with zero traffic (once you get past the beltway). Are there great beaches? No, but we aren't beach people. Sit on the deck (more comfortable/less sand), watch the sun rise or set, take in the breeze, buy a boat. Be around normal people. It's the best, and is the furthest thing from being home.

I am the poster that said maintenance was basically the same stuff in a different location. We have a house a on Hilton Head. A majority of maintenance on a house is tied to wear and tear. If you are adding wear and tear in one place you aren't in another. We designed the house and landscaping to be relatively maintenance free.

Total bs. The weather on the Mid-Atlantic coast is brutal on homes in the winter. Hilton Head is further south I suppose, so maybe less so. But a beach house anywhere from the OBX north gets killed in the winter. The closer to the beach, the worse it is. And who wants a beach house that isn’t as close to the beach as you can get?

Any beach house takes a ton of maintenance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m shocked how many of you are willing to take care of a second or third home. It’s all I can do to take care of the one I live in. I could afford a vacation home, but the S&P 500 doesn’t need cleaning and maintenance.

+1. Plus I love not having to clean or cook on vacation. I’m staying at a nice hotel where someone is refreshing my sheets and towels. Owning the place I’m vacationing in would take the fun out of a vacation for me.

There are house managers and cleaners for that, to be perfectly frank.

I hear you but, even if I had a whole team of people there, I still don’t really get the appeal of going to the same house over and over. If you have the money to fully staff a vacation home you could do so many more interesting things with your time.

And again, those aren’t mutually exclusive. The same people who hire house managers and cleaners for their vacation home are also doing ski trips, Europe, Caribbean etc.

Ok, but you do realize that only a tiny fraction of people can both afford all of this AND have the time to do all of these trips. Also, for me, it's not just about having the time off of work, no kids with social lives, etc, but the desire to leave your primary home so often.

I also can wrap my head around people who live such apparently fabulous lives but then... Killing time on dcum?