Second home vs Larger home

[Anonymous]

We went with the second home. We found that we used it less when the kids were tweens and early teens, but now that they are older we are using it more often again. It helps a lot that it's in a location where there is easy access to train/bus transportation and DCs have friends who are out there in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We almost bought a house on the water in Annapolis when our first was little. Since it was only 35-40 minutes away, we could have gone all the time and we loved the idea of the kids having memories there together. Now they are 11, 9, and 6 and I'm really glad we didn't. We are already so busy on weekend with sports and other kid activities and the kids want to stay in town to do things with their friends and have sleepovers, etc. I know we would never really go to Annapolis. Even in the summer, there is summer swim team and then sleepaway camp. I think we will revisit the plan when our youngest is in high school and we will use it more as a step toward retirement.

+1 We bought a cabin in the mountains when our kids were toddlers. Now that they’re in middle school playing sports we never have time to go. We’re selling soon. It was great for about 5 yrs.

[Anonymous]

IME if you get a beach house or lake house in a popular area with other amenities like good restaurants, then you'll use it or can rent it out if not.

Cabins in the woods are fun for novelty but not every weekend unless you're an avid hunter or fisherman.

[Anonymous]

Key is to buy a second home somewhere people want to be, and you would rather be. A house by a lake in WV isn't something anyone actually wants; it's a burden. A house in the Colorado mountains a couple miles from Breckenridge won't be a burden at all.

[Anonymous]

What does "extra space" mean to you? It sounds like you'd be buying a bigger house for some anticipated need or expectation of need but as someone who has managed to stay comfortable for much longer in a home that I fully expected to outgrow years ago, I really would urge anyone in this situation to pick what you think will be a better fit for your family today.

[Anonymous]

Op, your answer: rent a storage unit.
Likely there are only a few years of excess stuff. Yes, everybody grows bigger but more togetherness is not a bad thing. A little less privacy is not a bad thing. Living in a big house with everyone is separate corners is not a joyful existence.

Keep what you have. Don't go larger and don't buy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Key is to buy a second home somewhere people want to be, and you would rather be. A house by a lake in WV isn't something anyone actually wants; it's a burden. A house in the Colorado mountains a couple miles from Breckenridge won't be a burden at all.

+1 A ski house in a popular ski resort area or a beach house walkable to the beach in a popular vacation location can always be rented even during a recession.

[Anonymous]

How do you currently handle home maintenance OP? DH and I argue over who has to find/hire/supervise a plumber or a tile guy or whatever on our current home: I don’t want to do that x2 on a second home that is not even nearby.

We like going on vacation and then walking away and it being someone else’s problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will you be going to the lake for all weekends and vacations? What happens if you want to see something else or have sports commitments? We have neighbors with vacation property and when their kids were little we never saw them as they were always there and didn't build as much community with their regular neighbors. Now kids are in sports and they don't go as often. It's all a time and money trade off. I wouldn't get vacation property as I don't want to be tied to one place. Eventhough we often do a week vacation at the same place but we rent it and don't have to worry about maintenance etc.

lol who cares about “building community with their regular neighbors?”

All the people on this site who complain that they have no friends, don't get invited to parties or sleepovers and are alone all weekends.

Well, that’s why you put your kids in sports all weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME if you get a beach house or lake house in a popular area with other amenities like good restaurants, then you'll use it or can rent it out if not.

Cabins in the woods are fun for novelty but not every weekend unless you're an avid hunter or fisherman.

+1. This. We have beach house in DE. We went a ton when DS was young and early elementary. Now late elementary and don’t go as much, maybe 10-12 weekends out of the year and a week in summer. We just rent it out and that pays for the mortgage.

So much to do there besides the beach and can see it having much more usage in few years in summer when DS is teen with friends.

[Anonymous]

Second home without a doubt. Especially assuming that the interest rate you got in the last one is super low.

[Anonymous]

EXTRA LIVING SPACE. We moved from 1500 square feet to 3300 when we moved from the city to the burbs, and my life is better because of it. It is less cluttered, easier to clean, we are not on top of each other, everyone has their own space, kids can have friends over.

[Anonymous]

We opted to get a second home, but that’s something we had always wanted.

Our kids absolutely love going there. We rent it out when we are not using it, and the income largely offsets the cost of ownership.

For what it’s worth, our children are not sporty and all extra curricular activities are during the week. I’ve never been a fan of having regular ongoing weekend commitments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sigh. OP, why on earth would you buy a lake house to rent out at the expense of extra living space for your family?

What a hassle.

Depends if you love living where your primary home is and planing to live there forever and don’t want to take breaks from it. A lot of people end up raising family in places they don’t care about because of jobs or family nearby or both. It’s all very personal. Let’s say you live in DC metro and you are really a beach person or a mountain person or a big city person and need to have this lifestyle for your sanity and hope to retire there or at least be able to spend more time there and get some balance between routine life and what you truly love. If OP is a lakeside nature person and cannot have it as a permanent home she may see value in investing into a second home vs. expanding her home in wherever she doesn’t want to spend 100% of her time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:EXTRA LIVING SPACE. We moved from 1500 square feet to 3300 when we moved from the city to the burbs, and my life is better because of it. It is less cluttered, easier to clean, we are not on top of each other, everyone has their own space, kids can have friends over.

It’s all about perspective, needs, and must haves. We live in DC in 1400 sq feet with 1 kid. It’s enough room for us. Our priority was being close to downtown thus not interested in bigger SFH WOTP. Definately not interested in living in the burbs.

We have a SFH beach house twice the size of our home at DE shore, and it’s been great as weekend getaway. It’s too big for us as primary house but great to have family stay and great investment as a rental when we don’t use it. The family memories at the beach are priceless for us.