We have a small house on the Shenandoah River about 2 1/2 hours away that we enjoy on weekends. My DH is there almost every weekend from April through Oct and I go about once a month. DH loves fishing. It's gorgeous up there and very relaxing. We don't rent it out.

I have a second home 2 1/2 hours away. We use it all summer and off and on during the rest of the year.

Nothing new to add except to comment on the mail topic. We had originally put a mail hold as almost all mail was/is junk/circulars.

Then we ordered from Amazon and they wouldn't deliver with the mail hold. Had to reinstate mail to receive Amazon packages.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours us also an AirBNB so it's used, cleaned and checked often. Thanks to the government shut down we had a vacancy for 2 weeks and you won't believe the amount of dust that piles up. We also have a lot of remote monitoring devices on the home.

yours is not a second home

Who are these people gatekeeping second homes? And why?

We have a second home we don’t rent out, but I can’t for the life of me fathom being such an a-hole that you would tell people that theirs is not a second home because they do…

DP who hasn’t opined on this until now and I’m going to try not to gatekeep but.

Since the pandemic there has been a second home thread here like every other day. Many/most of these threads include questions about whether you rent it out or whether you don’t and how often. A LOT of people bought homes that they Airbnb most of the time and spend a few weeks here and there leaving a few personal items in a locked closet. As someone who bought a beach house ten years ago hoping to never have to rent it out but with an side-eye toward that if we fell on worse times, it’s really a different set of circumstances. And if you’re doing everything properly, a different type of mortgage. It’s not gatekeeping to differentiate between something that’s 90% a personal second/vacation home and something that’s 90% an investment property that you happen to enjoy yourselves once in a while. I have an actual second home that no one who isn’t my friend ever sees and investment properties that I don’t see unless something very bad has happened, so I know the difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours us also an AirBNB so it's used, cleaned and checked often. Thanks to the government shut down we had a vacancy for 2 weeks and you won't believe the amount of dust that piles up. We also have a lot of remote monitoring devices on the home.

yours is not a second home

Who are these people gatekeeping second homes? And why?

We have a second home we don’t rent out, but I can’t for the life of me fathom being such an a-hole that you would tell people that theirs is not a second home because they do…

A second home is one where you can leave food in the cupboards, stuff in the fridge, clothes in the closets, and half used soap, shampoo and conditioner in the shower because that’s how often you’re gonna be there. If you can’t do that but don’t rent it out, it’s a vacation home. If you can’t do that but do rent it out, it’s an investment property.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same answers here but will mention a tip. If you find a handyman or cleaning person you really trust there, I’d lean into that relationship. So reassuring to know I have someone I can call to swing by in a pinch. We would pay for their time, of course.

+1. It is very, very useful to have someone nearby who can check on the house and make small repairs, or at least meet repair people.

Definitely turn the water off in the winter. A unusual cold front can come through and freeze pipes, even with the heat on. I learned the hard way. I wouldn’t trust a wifi based system with sensors. I’ve had systems like that go off line while we were away and they couldn’t be reset remotely.

We are only 90 minutes away so could head there in an emergency. We never shug the water off, though we probably should in winter, because why not…