Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't. Just ride out until your feeling goes away

Why not?

Because these things are like 'mid-life crisis" wants. They come and go. OP is thinking that taking the weekend off and spending the weekend on a nice quiet get-away home w/ spouse and their two teenage kids. Like a dream vacation. In reality, that's highly unlikely. Kids want to do what they want to do, not being told what they are doing in coming weekend. The weekend to-do items never go away which means every time you spend wkd away, your to-do list only get longer. Also, from $ standpoint, OP still have a big future liability that has not been realized - kids college cost. Also, their retirement fund is low (only 1 million). I am assuming OP has a pension because 1 mil at age 50 w/o pension and two kids heading to college sounds pretty shaky to me. That's why not.

+1

Unless you plan to rent out the vacation home a good portion of the year (and successfully do that), you are tied to "we own this place so we have to go there for the 4 days rather than somewhere else". 2nd homes only make sense if you can truly afford them, and unless college is fully funded and they have a pension, they really can't afford a 2nd home at this time. Not to mention, no HS kid wants to spend the weekend at the lake house---they want to be at home with all the amenities and all their friends and might have sports/drama/music/etc that requires them to be home. I know very few people who truly love their "vacation homes"---most in DC/MD have a place at the shore and feel obligated to travel there for every vacation "because we have the vacation home". Me, I'd rather travel to different locations and rent at each spot---not be tied to a specific location

Anonymous wrote:Get that house when you retire. Until then, find a cute cottage for rent on next to lake and use it couple of times a year.

We sold our lake house once the kids were teens. They didn't really have time to go enough to make it worthwhile and it was a hassle to maintain.

Anonymous wrote:Put your brokerage account aside, this is really a question about the prudence of buying a lake house in today's market. You just happen to have the option of paying for it with cash (after selling off some holdings in your account) or taking on a mortgage.

So it all comes down to the usual considerations of buying a second home: location, distance, frequency of use, ease of access and maintenance, enjoyment, etc.

If you have a particular location/property in mind and you've gone through all these considerations and decided that you still want it, THEN we can talk about which option is best for you.

If you're just daydreaming or talking about an idea, then it's not all that productive b/c you still have to answer those questions above.

Yes, we've talked to realtors and visited a few houses already that we didn't love, so we are certain we want to do it but not sure if it's the right move.

Put your brokerage account aside, this is really a question about the prudence of buying a lake house in today's market. You just happen to have the option of paying for it with cash (after selling off some holdings in your account) or taking on a mortgage.

So it all comes down to the usual considerations of buying a second home: location, distance, frequency of use, ease of access and maintenance, enjoyment, etc.

If you have a particular location/property in mind and you've gone through all these considerations and decided that you still want it, THEN we can talk about which option is best for you.

If you're just daydreaming or talking about an idea, then it's not all that productive b/c you still have to answer those questions above.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't. Just ride out until your feeling goes away

Why not?

Because these things are like 'mid-life crisis" wants. They come and go. OP is thinking that taking the weekend off and spending the weekend on a nice quiet get-away home w/ spouse and their two teenage kids. Like a dream vacation. In reality, that's highly unlikely. Kids want to do what they want to do, not being told what they are doing in coming weekend. The weekend to-do items never go away which means every time you spend wkd away, your to-do list only get longer. Also, from $ standpoint, OP still have a big future liability that has not been realized - kids college cost. Also, their retirement fund is low (only 1 million). I am assuming OP has a pension because 1 mil at age 50 w/o pension and two kids heading to college sounds pretty shaky to me. That's why not.

I agree with your thoughts on the dream vs reality of this idea but but OP looks to have at least $3M in assets at age 50. That's shaky?

Get that house when you retire. Until then, find a cute cottage for rent on next to lake and use it couple of times a year.