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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bar harbor - summer
OBX - winter

Translation: we rent our OBX house out in the summer, so it’s an investment property

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP in West Virginia. Also would add, which someone pointed out, that healthcare is huge wherever you buy. I assume you will want to use it in retirement. WV has terrible healthcare - almost non-existent where we are. I would never buy there for that reason. We essentially have to go back to Northern Virginia.
And also look at infrastructure. Do they have good roads? Do you have to plow in the winter? Do we need a well or septic (big deal in rural areas)? How far to the grocery store? How far to a hardware store? Are there any restaurants? Do I have to bring in all my food every time I go?

The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is just over the river from Loudoun County. We have a vacation/second home there and I’ve driven back and forth to Arlington for dentist and doctor appointment and been back to our WV home before 3. And that’s with stopping somewhere for lunch.

Nobody is talking about retiring in Welch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Investment beach front condo in North Myrtle Beach. We usually go in December and a couple weeks mid to late June. Quick flight or 8 hour drive. Makes great money and we aren't sit at the beach all day people so a few weeks a year where we can see and hear the ocean from inside or walk down works for us.

Vacation house at Lake Anna. Friday traffic is bad, but other days a quick trip.

I would get a another home in Colorado, but at this stage of life we would not be able to use it much.

Good for you. Other posters would insist this is a "vacation" property. Which, as you know, it isn't.

Why so hung up on labels, PP?

The PP is jealous as hell, that’s why.

Why would the PP be “jealous as hell” over not having to rent out her vacation home to afford it? I’m confused . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We bought on the Eastern Shore on the Chesapeake. I don't love driving, so the beaches were just too far for us. Plus I am not really a beach person.

We love kayaking, cycling, nice waterfront bars and restaurants. And I love that we can be there in 90 minutes door to door from DC. I guess near Annapolis might have been even more convenient, but I am not sure we could have afforded to be on the water there. Plus I think the Eastern Shore maybe has a bit more of a relaxed vibe.

PP with house in Rehoboth. Yes, this seems pretty ideal to me. Love Rehoboth, but the Bay would be so much more accessible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yea, I agree. We did the same thing as you. We bought a really nice place on 7 beautiful acres with a pool about 90-100 minutes west of the DMV just outside of a small historic town. Not only is it far more convenient than the DE/MD beaches, it's a nice area to visit regardless of the season. Unlike a beach town, it's not jam packed in the summer, dead in the winter, and focused exclusively on tourism.

It’s great that a sleepy town in tge middle of nowhere works for you. We love visiting our beach house year round - all the restaurants are open, and it’s cozy to sit by the fire and watch a game or read in the winter. Our house is on a private beach, so not packed at all even on holiday weekends, and being able to swim in the ocean and gaze at it is so relaxing. We enjoy our pool, too. Different strokes, right?

Where? Do tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP in West Virginia. Also would add, which someone pointed out, that healthcare is huge wherever you buy. I assume you will want to use it in retirement. WV has terrible healthcare - almost non-existent where we are. I would never buy there for that reason. We essentially have to go back to Northern Virginia.
And also look at infrastructure. Do they have good roads? Do you have to plow in the winter? Do we need a well or septic (big deal in rural areas)? How far to the grocery store? How far to a hardware store? Are there any restaurants? Do I have to bring in all my food every time I go?

The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is just over the river from Loudoun County. We have a vacation/second home there and I’ve driven back and forth to Arlington for dentist and doctor appointment and been back to our WV home before 3. And that’s with stopping somewhere for lunch.

Nobody is talking about retiring in Welch.

We would never buy a beach house because of climate change concerns, but dream about somewhere around Harper's Ferry. Easy river access, wooded, but still with reasonable access to healthcare and city services (plowing, water, etc.). Any specific areas or towns that you would recommend looking?

[Anonymous]

The idea of a vacation house has never appealed to me because I love traveling and exploring different countries and cultures. I understand the appeal if you’re in love with a certain area but the logistics always seem tough. When the children have sports tournaments or birthday parties or other events they want to be home for how does that work? And taking care of one house is honestly all I can do so the idea of two is just not possible with all of the maintenance and service people and repairs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Yough is great for whitewater. Not sure about hanging out in tubes. You could look at the Cheat River in WV. Parsons, WV has homes with river access.

Parts of the Yough in MD are lazy and slow. Good for tubing, canoeing and regular kayaking

[Anonymous]

We've come to the conclusion that a vacation home isn't the right fit for us. We'd want it to double as a second home for retirement, and there's nowhere within easy driving distance that fits the bill. Like others, I'd only want a second home now if it were easy to get to.

Now, for retirement, we do plan on having two places, but are really all over the map when is comes to where they'll be. Though we're both pretty clear that it won't be the beach, because of climate change (and I'm not a beach person). One may be here; it may be our current place. One can be smaller (though probably at least a 2 BR), and one will be larger. If the next few years are really lucrative, perhaps a small place in NYC and another in Maine or Utah . . . really, it'll be whatever we want/can afford when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP in West Virginia. Also would add, which someone pointed out, that healthcare is huge wherever you buy. I assume you will want to use it in retirement. WV has terrible healthcare - almost non-existent where we are. I would never buy there for that reason. We essentially have to go back to Northern Virginia.
And also look at infrastructure. Do they have good roads? Do you have to plow in the winter? Do we need a well or septic (big deal in rural areas)? How far to the grocery store? How far to a hardware store? Are there any restaurants? Do I have to bring in all my food every time I go?

The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia is just over the river from Loudoun County. We have a vacation/second home there and I’ve driven back and forth to Arlington for dentist and doctor appointment and been back to our WV home before 3. And that’s with stopping somewhere for lunch.

Nobody is talking about retiring in Welch.

We would never buy a beach house because of climate change concerns, but dream about somewhere around Harper's Ferry. Easy river access, wooded, but still with reasonable access to healthcare and city services (plowing, water, etc.). Any specific areas or towns that you would recommend looking?

Harper’s Ferry is a good place to start. Shepherdstown is also great. More of a college town than a touristy place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, let's make one thing clear: if you rent it out, it's not a "vacation house." It's an investment. If you "have a condo in Rehoboth" and "block out a week" for yourself, it's an investment.

Got it?

I’m the pp. can’t it br both? All homes purchased are considered an investment aren’t they? We go one weekend a month approx year round, few days at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And yes block out a week in August. It’s both.

Nope. It's an investment property that you make personal use of on occasion. We've been there, and done that. If you have to have an "owner's closet" and can't leave your personal stuff out in the open and need to empty the fridge before you go, it's an investment property.

We have an "investment property" beach house then. Spent 3 glorious weeks down there this summer. Also made $90k in rental revenue for the other 10 weeks. That paid for all expenses of ownership for the year plus a new roof plus a new boat for the kids to use at the beach. Love those investment properties that we can make personal use of.

Op here. We can afford $1.5-2m if we don’t rent it out. The larger nicer homes beachfront seem to be more like $3m+. We would rent some weeks for the nicer more expensive home. The house we almost bought was $3m. We had planned to use it for 3 weeks and try to rent it for a few weeks to offset some of the costs.

Now I’m not sure if we would use a beach house for 3 weeks every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, let's make one thing clear: if you rent it out, it's not a "vacation house." It's an investment. If you "have a condo in Rehoboth" and "block out a week" for yourself, it's an investment.

Got it?

I’m the pp. can’t it br both? All homes purchased are considered an investment aren’t they? We go one weekend a month approx year round, few days at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And yes block out a week in August. It’s both.

Nope. It's an investment property that you make personal use of on occasion. We've been there, and done that. If you have to have an "owner's closet" and can't leave your personal stuff out in the open and need to empty the fridge before you go, it's an investment property.

We have an "investment property" beach house then. Spent 3 glorious weeks down there this summer. Also made $90k in rental revenue for the other 10 weeks. That paid for all expenses of ownership for the year plus a new roof plus a new boat for the kids to use at the beach. Love those investment properties that we can make personal use of.

Op here. We can afford $1.5-2m if we don’t rent it out. The larger nicer homes beachfront seem to be more like $3m+. We would rent some weeks for the nicer more expensive home. The house we almost bought was $3m. We had planned to use it for 3 weeks and try to rent it for a few weeks to offset some of the costs.

Now I’m not sure if we would use a beach house for 3 weeks every year.

Why buy one at all if you don’t even think you’d use it 3 weeks out of the year? That makes zero sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bar harbor - summer
OBX - winter

Translation: we rent our OBX house out in the summer, so it’s an investment property

I’ve never been to OBX, but as someone who loves the beach in the off season, I can’t see anything but jealousy in this comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bar harbor - summer
OBX - winter

Translation: we rent our OBX house out in the summer, so it’s an investment property

Not yet, but it's nice to know I can if I want to some day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, let's make one thing clear: if you rent it out, it's not a "vacation house." It's an investment. If you "have a condo in Rehoboth" and "block out a week" for yourself, it's an investment.

Got it?

I’m the pp. can’t it br both? All homes purchased are considered an investment aren’t they? We go one weekend a month approx year round, few days at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And yes block out a week in August. It’s both.

Nope. It's an investment property that you make personal use of on occasion. We've been there, and done that. If you have to have an "owner's closet" and can't leave your personal stuff out in the open and need to empty the fridge before you go, it's an investment property.

We have an "investment property" beach house then. Spent 3 glorious weeks down there this summer. Also made $90k in rental revenue for the other 10 weeks. That paid for all expenses of ownership for the year plus a new roof plus a new boat for the kids to use at the beach. Love those investment properties that we can make personal use of.

Op here. We can afford $1.5-2m if we don’t rent it out. The larger nicer homes beachfront seem to be more like $3m+. We would rent some weeks for the nicer more expensive home. The house we almost bought was $3m. We had planned to use it for 3 weeks and try to rent it for a few weeks to offset some of the costs.

Now I’m not sure if we would use a beach house for 3 weeks every year.

Why buy one at all if you don’t even think you’d use it 3 weeks out of the year? That makes zero sense.

That is why we are in the current position that we are in. We wanted to get one during Covid but couldn’t find the right opportunity. Then we found one but it was sold before we could go see it. It was perfect but we still wanted to see it in person before buying. Now we have $800k in cash in our bank account. Yes, we can put it back in the market.