For those of you who own beach houses...

[Anonymous]

We are thinking of buying a beach house in DE. Right now we don't intend to rent it out, but are thinking maybe we should, especially if we don't use it as much as we think we will. My question to those of you with a house, how often do you get to your house? FWIW-- I recently decided to stay home with my two children (4 and 7), but my husband works long hours.

[Anonymous]

I don't own a house at the beach but am answering anyway. 2 of my husband's sisters do and invite us frequently. We find ourselves accepting only a couple times a year. I do not mean to sound so ungrateful about such kind invites. Maybe it's just us but I find that drive across the bay bridge in the traffic etc. very taxing with a 5 year old. If our child was older I might feel differently. Plus we both work and the car pack up etc. has to happen early in the AM etc.

Sometimes it works out to just rent vs. buying.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a beach house, but I have to say, if you can afford it, you should do it! You could even go up mid-week with the kiddos and have your hubby join you on the weekends. And the interest rates are good. I would rent it out though, for the weekends you aren't there. You would be able to cover some of the mortgage. I'm sure it's easy enough to do on craigslist.

[Anonymous]

to rent the property use vrbo.com.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that renting has its own issues. By way of background, we own a second non-beach home, my in-laws own a house with friends at the beach (think informal time share - everybody pitched in to buy the house), and we rent a beach house every year and have become friendly with the owner. I also have a good friend who owns a beach house in NC and does not rent it.

For rentals, you will probably want a rental agency because dealing with it would be a pain in the rear otherwise (are YOU going to drive to the house each time to give them the keys and pick them up)? Once you allow renters in, you just never know how they are going to treat your stuff. The owner of our rental house finally got so fed up she labeled every drawer and shelf and posted rules about what people could or could not do. She also has had renters who, against the rental company's rules, brought dogs in and gave her whole house fleas. It took three treatments to get rid of them. Even my in-laws have problems because some of their friends who own the place with them are more responsible than others about taking care of the house. If they are that careless when they own it, I would hate to see how those same people would act in a rental.

My friend who doesn't rent her beach house has a property management company who comes and looks in on her house every week or so to ensure everything is fine. We do not have a property management company because our place is remote and in the mountains. The nice thing about not renting is you can lend your place to friends when you are not using it. Under those circumstances, most people would probably take very good care of your house - or at least they have when we have lent ours out.

In terms of economics, I have always been told that you should not expect your rental income to cover more than the property taxes at most. The management company will take a chunk for every rental.

Good luck with your purchase. Especially in the summer, I often wish that I won the second home debate (beach) and not my husband (mountains).

[Anonymous]

People think it is easy to own a beach house. Some even say "oh, my family will take care of it". Well, their family will also always be at the beach house at the most inopportune times. If you are living in the real world, and your family does not take care of things for you, (*and your umbilical cord is actually cut!*) you will need to hire someone to clean it and watch over it.

As for "friends", they will certainly hone in on it whenever possible. You need to NOT be a people pleaser and be able to say no. Even if you have to say it is rented.

This is my two cents from first hand experience. It is completely worth it to us, to have a place to chill out and have a place of our own, without the masses trying to claim it as theirs. It wasn't worth it for us to "go in on" a beach house with anyone. It would defeat the purpose and definition of "vacation"!

When we do rent it, we get a huge security deposit, to deter anyone who might want something for nothing.

Some people buy a condo, but for us, that was akin to staying in a hotel, with other people's noise and problems (again, that definition of vacation) and just not worth it.

Owning a beach house is not for the naive. Do your homework, have it be a place you like enough to make time for, and enjoy the peace and quiet of somehting you worked tirelessly for most of your life. Enjoy it in good health.

[Anonymous]

My family owns a beach house, but my Aunt only uses it 2 weeks out of the year. DH and I try to go down once, sometimes twice a month year round. I actually prefer it up there after the summer season has come to a close. It is in Bethany and is so peaceful and quiet in the off season. Plus, just a hop up to Rehoboth and all the stores are open.

We have a property management company who checks in on it when we are not there. A beach house is A LOT of upkeep! However, it is definitely worth it IMO.

[Anonymous]

We bought a new beach house, so repair issues haven't been big. We get down about 1 long weekend a month, the rest of the time it's rented out to help defray the mortgage. I only rent to people I know (but that includes from work, etc.). They get below-market rent prices, and in turn they clean it before they leave. It's worked out really well and the house has MUCH less wear and tear than a regular rental. Lawn mowing/care contracts are fairly cheap, so we don't worry about that getting done. Replacing the heat pump is coming up, since apparently they are changing federal regulations on the type of coolant allowed to be used, or something like that. So if part of the heat pump goes next year (like the outside part), then you will be required to replace the whole thing. I'd rather face a $2,500 cost now than an $8 - $10,000 cost next year or soon after.

We bought when the market was $125,000 for a single family home, back away from the beach, so it's very affordable for us. If I were trying to do it now, I think I might have some trouble.

[Anonymous]

We go to our place in Rehoboth every other weekend (Thursday night - Sunday evening) with 3 kiddos and husband during May, June, September, October. We go less frequently in the summer since it is so crowded and hot. The months I mentioned are so lovely. It is also fun to go a couple of times in the dead of winter. I don't like to go without my husband so we don't do that.

[Anonymous]

We do not have a beach hosue but came very close to buying one in Rehobeth 2 years ago and decided against. I added up the cost of ownership and so on and the 'hassle' factor and decided that when all was said and done we could go to the beach just as often, staying in nice hotel with a pool, eat out while there and have the same annual outlay but with the flexibility to go other places and the ability to have a more diversified investment strategy than to have so much in real estate. Now we have one child so we can all share a room, with more kids and as she gets older we will obviously have to re-think that strategy and it would be nice not to have to do all the packing and unpacking!

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, I will actually ANSWER your question, not give you opinions as to if I think you should buy the house or rent it out.

We do not own a beach house, but we own a house in the mountains at a ski area/golf 4 season resort. We use it ALL the time. I work from home and often take go up with DS on a Thursday night, work friday while he destroys the house, and hubby joins us on Friday night. Sometimes I stay through until Monday (I have one day off a week). Since it is 4 season, we use it year round and is wonderful to have. In winter we go up and play board games in front of the fire and really bond together as a family. We have made friends at our resort community and there is no shortage of small children for my son and "baby on the way" to play with.

The reason why we go so often is the house is 100 miles away door to door, down Route 81 and we never ever hit traffic, and get to fly at 75-80 MPH. I do not think we would make the treck over to the DE/MD shore, the traffic is so terrible and it really is a long drive to just do for a few days. I love the fact that we can get to our vacation house in under 2 hours, often times with my son napping the entire time and no need for bathroom breaks.

We do not rent our house out, but it is located in a community that has very good ski rental season and a moderate summer rental traffic. If our financial situation changed we could rent the house all winter and probably cover our mortgage for at least half to 3/4 of the year. Probably if we purchased a home at the beach, it would be primarily a rental because those properties are so expensive with very burdensome mortgages.

[Anonymous]

Don't bite off more than you can chew, and renting out won't be an issue. You can always have the option to rent it out, especailly if it is a nice area. The rental market also changes with the economy. Some areas get an arm and a leg for rental, and that is such a nice bonus! If you own a nice beach house, you probably have a well managed, diversified portfolio to begin with.

[Anonymous]

If I were a SAHM with two kids 4 and 7 and a nice beach house, I would sepnd at least one month every summer at the beach. Maybe even the whole summer. Your DH can come for weekends and also take some full weeks while you are there. This is what everybody in NYC with a house in the Hamptons does.

I am not a SAHM and our second home is not at the beach. We get there one weekend a month, almost all of the long weekends, and usually at least one week a year. We also celebrate Thanksgiving there with my parents. It is 2.5 hours away if you don't stop (although, with kids, of course you stop). Traffic on 66 on Friday night is terrible, but that won't affect you because you are going the other direction.

[Anonymous]

I own a 2nd home and as much as I love going there it is still a pain and a huge financial commitment for upkeep. Also we always go there instead of new exciting places anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Don't bite off more than you can chew, and renting out won't be an issue. You can always have the option to rent it out, especailly if it is a nice area. The rental market also changes with the economy. Some areas get an arm and a leg for rental, and that is such a nice bonus! If you own a nice beach house, you probably have a well managed, diversified portfolio to begin with.

Where do you and your ilk get the impression that she is asking for financial advice? Don't ya think she has run the numbers and determined affordability? In this economic climate, IF the OP is even getting a loan and not a cash buyer, the banks are requiring hefty down payments and doing massive scrutiny of people’s finances ESPECIALLY for a 2nd home that is not an investment. If you think the underwriting process is tight for primary residences, the secondary home market is twice as bad, only reserved for the strongest of the strong when it comes to cash reserves and income. Many people who have wads of cash sitting around are hardly collecting interest are investing in real estate, because prices are deflated and inflation is right around the corner…remedial finance tells you to go long with real estate if it looks like inflation is probable.

I think she is asking people who own a beach house if they rent it out and probably looking to see if it is worth the hassle of having strangers sleep in your bed and possibly large groups destroy the property.

I cannot understand why posters here who are supposedly educated, chock full of PHDs, MDs, law degrees, and Masters Degrees have no critical reading skills...none at all.