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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,652
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@drizzellla , I could see DH going for a shared cabin with man friends.  He knows three guys who own one and, for them, it works out.  LM

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,034
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

We have a second home.  It's a beach home and is about 3.5 hours away from our CT home.  We do not rent it out.

 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,106
Registered: ‎03-28-2010

@barb40 wrote:

I do not mean this to be a nosy ?

 

I would love to have a beach home someday...(sigh...)😉

 

My questions really are...

 

1)  What is a good distance between homes...As in , easy to travel to?

 

2)  Better to have a house, condo, apartment?

 

3)  Good idea (or not) to buy w/ friends, relatives...share costs?

 

4)  Better to own, or also rent out to others, for income?

 

Thanks for any ideas, suggestions, information you may be willing to share!


We didn't have a second home "per say."  When I married my husband, we moved to California.  Leaving behind a beach house in NJ.  We did have a friend and my MIL looking in on the house every once in a while.  That didn't last long.  Friends got tired of doing it and my MIL had other things she'd rather do.  And, I know, it's really not their responsibility.  Needed roof repair due to a leak.  MIL handled most of it (finding someone, etc.)  Turns out they did a lousy job and leaked worse.  So much so we ended up with mold.  It was too costly to fix (over $50k) so we decided to tear the house down and put contents in storage.  Still had property for years after that and taxes were insane.  Was paying more in taxes without a house on it than with.  Ended up fighting it in court and got a lawyer, we won and got our taxes lowered.  But then kept getting letters from NJ/township about cutting the grass on the property, keeping it up, etc.  We didn't have grass, it was all stone.  After we won the tax battle in court, they would always find something to complain about.  Never once in the 10 plus years prior.  I know our circumstance is a little different, having to move and stuff.  But, I wouldn't want a second home.  You really have to be in it...live it in...maintain it....watch it.  After this tax season, my husband and I discussed how it work would work having a second home tax wise.  With the max for property taxes being $10k, are people with second homes finding they can't claim anything on their second home?  Going in with friends and relatives is not a good idea.  I would never consider that.  Too much can go wrong, too much can happen.  In the experience we had being so far away, I would say being as close as possible to second home is a wise decision.  Being able to check on it, maintain it, etc.  I think renting out is a nice way to help expenses, but I would make sure bills could be paid without the need of renting it out.  I personally don't like the idea of strangers in my home.  Too much can happen and who knows what you're legally required for.  We had a small, two bedroom home (single level) down the shore.  Even when living in NJ, it was a lot to maintain.  So, deciding on house, apartment, or condo is really a decision for where you are in your life at the moment...which can change.  Younger, we could do all the work required to maintain that home.  Now, I don't want to deal with yardwork, fixing a driveway, repairing floating dock, etc.  We now live in the Southeast and many families in our neighborhood have second homes, mostly in Florida.  It's a lot of work for them, some rent out and they're always going back and forth.  Sometimes with little trailers to move stuff.  One of friends have a beach house and just remodeled the entire house and then a hurricane hit.  Thankfully it didn't do a lot of damage, but did enough (like flooding).

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,294
Registered: ‎11-03-2018

We bought a vacation home in Michigan, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from us, several years back.  We do not rent it out. 

 

We bought it with my parents.  We use it quite often in the summer. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,242
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

I don't want a second home to worry about and deal with the up keep. 

I live in a top vacation destination, although, I leave for my vacation.

 

I also don't have the time!

Valued Contributor
Posts: 735
Registered: ‎03-25-2010


My best friend and her husband bought a condo in Lewes, DE (about 3 hrs away from Northern VA where they live) - they rented it during summer which paid for the whole years mortgage - they would go down Labor Day through Memorial day on weekends or sometimes stay a little longer.

 

She then sold her Townhouse that she had before they were married and decided to use that money to get a Townhouse in Lewes, DE (sold the Condo in under a week) - again they rented it out during summer which paid for almost the whole year's mortgage. Sometimes we would do a girls weekend and go stay (it had 3 bedrooms, slept 6).

 

Well her husband got restless and decided that Lewes, DE was getting too croweded (one new housing area is putting up close to 2,000 houses); so they sold the TH and now have bought land in NC but home won't be built until Sept or Oct of this year (which is going to be close to an 8 hr drive away); husband claims this will be there retirement home - plus this one will have an oceaview which the on in DE did not. Land is high enough it wasn't affected by storms that came through last summer.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,576
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

No 2nd home, just our RV which we love.