Vacation homes - are you glad you bought one?

[Anonymous]

We are considering purchasing a cabin in WV. It is around 2 hours and 45 minutes to get there. We have 3 kids under 8. We have been renting the cabin this past winter and love all of the winter sports to enjoy despite there being little snow this winter. In the summer, there is mountain biking, hiking, etc. I am torn on whether to pursue purchasing it. I question how much we will really use it when our kids get older. Right now, we can go out every weekend in the winter. Spring, summer, and fall are harder with sports/activities.
Has anyone been there, done that? I am just curious if you regret it. We know it is not an investment. The market out there is so depressed. We could probably rent to friends/family. It is really more about enjoying it with our kids. Any advice you have is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I have a good friend who bought a river house in the Shenandoah area. They used to use it a lot more when they first got it. Now they pretty much rent it out as a vacation rental and were trying to sell it. its hard to sell a house in that area and expect to have much equity.

If you can afford to not look at it as an investment then buy it. And don't be upset if in 10 years its worth pretty much what you paid for it.

[Anonymous]

We are in the process of buying a condo in a popular mountain town in the Rockies (we live in Denver). Our goal is to purchase a 3 bedroom 2 bath condo and Airbnb it a lot for the first two or three years. Being as it's a popular ski area as well as huge in the summer for mtn biking and hiking etc. the research that we have done indicates that we can cover our mortgage with rentals if we put what we have saved, down. We'd then sell it in 6 years or so when our kids are teenagers and buy a place that we use exclusively. I will say, sports makes it hard to get places on the weekend, depending on how active your kids are. Its HARD to carve out weekends to get to the mountains between three sports and constant birthday parties etc. By the time they are in high school they won't have constant weekend sports like they have now. That is when we would like to sell, and purchase a larger place that we don't rent and use a lot more often. The nice thing about the location is that the kids are huge skiers as are all of their friends, so later on when they are teens its actually somewhere they want to go as their peers are there too. That is something you might want to consider, based upon your chosen destination.

[Anonymous]

We bought a beach house and rented it out-renters bought bed bugs-twice. Got them-spent thousands getting rid of them. A year later got them a second time-spent thousands more and never rented it out again. Don't do it.

[Anonymous]

We have a beach condo. We love it. We're finding that at certain ages, it's tough to go as often as we'd like due to kid activities. But we go a lot and are happy we bought it.

[Anonymous]

We have a beach house. We use it for 3 straight weeks in the summer and most summer weekends. Plus Christmas and Thanksgiving we use it as a home base to see family in the area. Our kids play travel sports but those are just 10 week seasons in fall and spring. We have our weekends free in winter and summer.
We love it and it's my happy place. I love knowing that I can escape DC at any time and only have to bring the clothing on my back.

[Anonymous]

Mountain house at Bryce Resort. Under two hours to get there, go almost every weekend in the winter and summer and as much as possible during the spring and fall. Had the house for over seven years, love having it. We don't rent it out. Current plan is to keep it until the kids go to college then reevaluate. Or maybe convert to a vacation rental.

Bryce has tons of activities for the kids and with the resort membership lots of families are very close.

[Anonymous]

Find out how much it will cost to have someone winterize it and check on it when you aren't there. This winter was mild, but that's not typical.

[Anonymous]

No regrets. We've had ours for 10-12 years. Beach house on Cape Cod. The distance means it's not a weekend place, although we go for periodic long weekends in the off season. Kids love it there and have been able to get summer jobs there some summers.

[Anonymous]

A vacation rental should generally not be thought of as an investment. If you are buying a second home as an investment, and one of the perks is that you can occasionally stay there for vacation, then that's great. But you will make very different decisions depending on which perspective you have.

None of my clients who buy vacation homes make money with them. They rent them seasonally to minimize the losses on the vacation property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A vacation rental should generally not be thought of as an investment. If you are buying a second home as an investment, and one of the perks is that you can occasionally stay there for vacation, then that's great. But you will make very different decisions depending on which perspective you have.

None of my clients who buy vacation homes make money with them. They rent them seasonally to minimize the losses on the vacation property.

The op didn't ask about vacation rentals, and most of the people replying aren't talking about renting. I posted and we don't rent our vacation house. We use it.

[Anonymous]

OP, how much are you expecting to spend? What's the annual cost to maintain it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mountain house at Bryce Resort. Under two hours to get there, go almost every weekend in the winter and summer and as much as possible during the spring and fall. Had the house for over seven years, love having it. We don't rent it out. Current plan is to keep it until the kids go to college then reevaluate. Or maybe convert to a vacation rental.

Bryce has tons of activities for the kids and with the resort membership lots of families are very close.

This fits our vision of a vacation home and have similar ow key sports for kids

What does Bryce resort membership get you? What are summer activities there and nearby?

[Anonymous]

PP here- the Bryce area itself has a lake, walking trails, a golf course. Summer activities are zip lining, mountain biking, mini golf, summer tubing. Winter has tubing and skiing. There are ski and snowboard teams for the kids.

The area itself is like stepping into the 1950's. Slow paced, not pretentious. The local general store carries EVERYTHING, including the best bacon known to man.

The membership gets you discounts on food and merchandise, free mini golf, free tubing, free lake use, member pool and member lounge and closer parking (unless all the member spots are taken). As a member you get five coupons for free skiing or golf and the ability to buy activity passes for unlimited lift tickets, golf or mountain biking. We're members only for the social aspect, as there are a ton of families with kids and it's the best way to interact. We weren't members the first several years we owned the house and we just did our own thing but the kids would get a little bored so we joined.

[Anonymous]

Oh and to add, Bryce sits in Shenandoah Valley. There are a ton of activities close by but not in the immediate area. Caverns, orchards, farms where you can get eggs from under the chickens, local butchers, wineries, breweries (Swover Creek is a favorite), small towns with festivals and events, lots of history, Route 11 potato chip factory where you can watch the entire process. Just a much slower pace.