Second homes are a time and money suck. I grew up with one. Wonderful as a kid, but as an adult they are a burden. Selling it opened up the entire world with new experiences and took away all those monthly bills.

I would never do the vacation cottage or beach house unless I had some serious FU money - and I mean serious FU money where I don't care about the $80,000 to fix the roof on a house I use 6 days a year. And the taxes. F that. I'd rather be in a position to take the fam to Asia or French Polynesia or a good long vacation in Europe. And if I want to go to the old lake or beach, I can AirBNB or VRBO something for that week without the gazillions in costs that come with ownership.

nother?

hmm

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’d rather explore a new city and location every time. I have no desire to keep returning to the same place, so I don’t care about a second home.

I thought I felt that way, but it really is nice having a beach house within a few hours drive. We can go there all summer when traveling abroad isn’t ideal. Europe is over crowded, Asia is way too hot. We typically do South/Central America during one of the kids school breaks. As long as we take at least one big trip every year and some mini trips, I really enjoy leaving the DC area for a good part of the summer to relax at the beach.

Don’t your kids miss their friends? We know people who have second homes on Nantucket and in the Hamptons and their kids are increasingly bothered about leaving friends behind for 10-11 weeks. Plus, they miss summer sports opportunities and the breadth and quality of the camps are lacking. If your goal is to use a home more than a handful of weeks a year it makes sense to hold off until your kids are older.

They miss them for like the first few days, but then they are back into spending their summer with their beach friends. They’ve grown up with these kids, coming back each summer to hang out together. It’s a great whole nother community!!

No.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’d rather explore a new city and location every time. I have no desire to keep returning to the same place, so I don’t care about a second home.

I thought I felt that way, but it really is nice having a beach house within a few hours drive. We can go there all summer when traveling abroad isn’t ideal. Europe is over crowded, Asia is way too hot. We typically do South/Central America during one of the kids school breaks. As long as we take at least one big trip every year and some mini trips, I really enjoy leaving the DC area for a good part of the summer to relax at the beach.

Don’t your kids miss their friends? We know people who have second homes on Nantucket and in the Hamptons and their kids are increasingly bothered about leaving friends behind for 10-11 weeks. Plus, they miss summer sports opportunities and the breadth and quality of the camps are lacking. If your goal is to use a home more than a handful of weeks a year it makes sense to hold off until your kids are older.

Anonymous wrote:We’d rather explore a new city and location every time. I have no desire to keep returning to the same place, so I don’t care about a second home.

I thought I felt that way, but it really is nice having a beach house within a few hours drive. We can go there all summer when traveling abroad isn’t ideal. Europe is over crowded, Asia is way too hot. We typically do South/Central America during one of the kids school breaks. As long as we take at least one big trip every year and some mini trips, I really enjoy leaving the DC area for a good part of the summer to relax at the beach.

Anonymous wrote:No, because I live in an "affordable" part of the DC metro burbs so no one I know has a second house.

No one I know from my federal job has a second house.

Tucker Carlson said he sold his Kent mansion to a fed. They paid cash.

No, because I live in an "affordable" part of the DC metro burbs so no one I know has a second house.

No one I know from my federal job has a second house.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You realize there is a huge percentage of the American population for whom homeownership is out of reach?
Please.

Okay? This is DC Urban Moms, not flyover country podunk town moms. People in Washington have money and know people with more money. Ignorance is bliss in a nobody town where everyone is poor. Not so much here.

Thanks for this insightful comment, Bubble Girl.

Anonymous wrote:You realize there is a huge percentage of the American population for whom homeownership is out of reach?
Please.

Okay? This is DC Urban Moms, not flyover country podunk town moms. People in Washington have money and know people with more money. Ignorance is bliss in a nobody town where everyone is poor. Not so much here.

Past a certain age you look like a failure without a second home. Of course the wormy strivers on here lie to themselves that nobody notices or cares.

Anonymous wrote:With seemingly everyone who has one gone from their main residence right now, anyone else feel this way? Be honest.

Because honestly, this week I can't stop feeling "poor" (not literally, relatively) because we don't have a place to escape to. Relying on whimsical invites to friends' and family vacation homes at this point in our life just feels so low and desperate. I don't care how much or how little financial sense it makes, we need a second home. I'm so over being trapped at home all year, fishing for invitations, or even renting for a week at a time. Perhaps this is the precise feeling that motivates so many to buy a second home?

We only have 4 additional homes plus our primary residence. So people have more than us *shrugs*

Anonymous wrote:The deluge of Facebook post coy brags from the second home really rub salt in the wound.

*picture of sunrise with beach and ocean view*

"Just enjoying my morning coffee and feeling so blessed this morning. It's the simple things."

All posts like that are thinly veiled bragging about their multi-million dollar beach house.

Anonymous wrote:Life hack: buy a very nice PRIMARY home so that you actually enjoy being there and don’t feel the need to “escape” from it. Too many people buy crappy homes and then waste money on a second crappy home. Stupid.

Everyone I know with a lavish primary house also has at least one vacation or summer home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re selling ours. It’s a time and money drain. I spend half the time there either doing work or scheduling people to come out to do work. Due to kids’ sports and activities, we don’t use it enough to justify the expense. And, finally, I’d rather travel than go to our weekend home.

This! I don't love the beach/lakes, so even if we had the money I'd rather use it and our limited vacation time to go abroad or to visit another city.

Im at mine now (which is great and nice) but I’m looking at insta pics of people taking awesome trips all over the world. And I’m jealous. We always come here rather than go lots of different places. So you know grass is always greener.