Reply to Pros/cons of buying a second home

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "Pros/cons of buying a second home "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]We've had a small cottage for about 5 years now.  It costs about $11-12k a year for regular maintenance, and we've had 2 big items @$20k a piece.  It needs roof repairs now.   
Costs are approx:
Taxes $2600
Mowing $2000
Pool $3000
utilities $1200
Bugs $400
minor repairs/maintenance $2000

We have pool and mowing service because, as folks pointed out, we don't want to spend our time doing that while there, we want to relax.  ALSO it's nice to have those folks out there and maintaining the house in case we don't get there for several weeks.  I do keep a garden out there that I take care of, because I love to garden.

It's not an investment.  The property value has not increased.

Not being there regularly means that mice and other critters sometimes think it's their home, which can be an unwelcome surprise for all involved.  Also, if there is a problem, like a water leak, sometimes it goes on for a while without detection.  We do have very nice neighbors who let us know if there is something really wrong.  It's been broken into once, but nothing was taken since there isn't anything really valuable there - just furniture, books, plates, etc.

It's about an hour away from our regular house, so we go a few times a month.  More in the summer than the winter.  It's a nice place to invite friends to.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics