Anyone regret buying a second/vacation home?

[mja75]

For those of you who've had the opportunity to buy a second home elsewhere, have you regretted it or did it turn out to be as you visualized in your mind's eye?

Not asking for financial advice, I strictly want to hear from those who have/have had vacation homes (not rental properties).

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[drusso]

bump.

 

[BobBarker]

We just purchased one a few months ago. It is a 3.5 hour drive so not that far away. We have been twice but honestly we worked the majority of the time fixing it up. It was already nice but little touches make a big difference. Especially when you are used to a nice primary residence. Ours is managed by a property manager and we get a check every month from her depending on how well it rents.
I don’t think I would advise keeping it for yourself alone unless you and your very close family plan to use it every weekend. Houses do better when they are lived in.

 

[Ronin1]

It was great to have when my kids were young. We spent weeks at a time and almost every weekend. As they got older interest waned. 3 hour drive was my distance limit. Financially after 20 years was basically a wash. Never rented it out

 

[jsaul]

We had a nice high rise condo on doheny in westhollywood LA. We had it for 3 years before kids..we used to go to LA for 3 or 4day weekend every 2months. Mind you we live about a 3 hr flight away. Despite that we were always eager to go. But we found out that it gets tiresome to always having to clean the floors bathroom, do laundry. And all the house hold chores in our vacation house as well. Then we had had our 1st kid we would go way less often. Then we just rented it out for 3 years before eventually selling it....
With monthly hoa fees and property taxes it was a pricey luxury. It would have been less expensive just staying at the 4 seasons or any other top hotel and not worry about doing house chores.


I sometimes wish we still had it. It was a great location and hard to get a great property in that location. I wish maybe it could stay innour family for the kids to have.

 

[Doctodd]

Location location location

 

[BobBarker]

We were going to NW Florida pretty routinely. We were staying at the Greenreef townhomes in Destin. I remember looking at unit 1 with my in laws. It was hurricane damaged but you could walk in. It was like $250k. It is for sale now redone for over $1.5M. The homes in neighboring Destiny by the Sea have gone from $1M entry to over $2M now. I don’t think it is possible for them to cash flow on a mortgage with rent anymore.

 

[Yo GabbaPentin]

I bought a vacation home in the Smokey’s in September. It’s bringing in huge rent and great to use when we want to go up there. So far, it is the best purchase I’ve ever made.

 

[Mister Mxyzptlk]

It was great to have when my kids were young. We spent weeks at a time and almost every weekend. As they got older interest waned. 3 hour drive was my distance limit. Financially after 20 years was basically a wash. Never rented it out

This was our experience as well with a house near Taos, NM. Many fond memories, but when the kids went off to college they completely lost interest. Meanwhile, my eventual ex-wife decided that skiing, whitewater rafting, fishing and horseback riding didn't interest her. When my horse died that was the last straw for me and we sold the house. Nevertheless we had 15 wonderful years there.

 

[BobBarker]

@Mister Mxyzptlk Taos sounds awesome. Not too far from where we are as these things go. I like owning and renting the nice cabin a lot more than the house we have .5 miles from the hospital. So pride of ownership and appreciation have to be considered.

 

[Hoya11]

For those of you who've had the opportunity to buy a second home elsewhere, have you regretted it or did it turn out to be as you visualized in your mind's eye?

Not asking for financial advice, I strictly want to hear from those who have/have had vacation homes (not rental properties).

I dont think youll get anyone to admit they regret it.

Once you sink a big pile of cash into something you are going to rationalize that you love it.

Many of my family members and friends have second homes. Seems like they spend most of the time fixing it up. Seems easier for me to just stay at a hotel when you want to go and go to a bunch of different places. Just my take.. I would not buy a second home but instead plan to spend money on nice hotels and different trips.. and I dont have money for the second home AND the nice trips..

 

[DrSpine]

We had a nice high rise condo on doheny in westhollywood LA. We had it for 3 years before kids..we used to go to LA for 3 or 4day weekend every 2months. Mind you we live about a 3 hr flight away. Despite that we were always eager to go. But we found out that it gets tiresome to always having to clean the floors bathroom, do laundry. And all the house hold chores in our vacation house as well. Then we had had our 1st kid we would go way less often. Then we just rented it out for 3 years before eventually selling it....
With monthly hoa fees and property taxes it was a pricey luxury. It would have been less expensive just staying at the 4 seasons or any other top hotel and not worry about doing house chores.


I sometimes wish we still had it. It was a great location and hard to get a great property in that location. I wish maybe it could stay innour family for the kids to have.

you probably made out well selling that place. Little spot in WeHo? Must’ve been awesome!

 

[jsaul]

you probably made out well selling that place. Little spot in WeHo? Must’ve been awesome!

it was a high rise condo on doheny in weho. yet it was a great location. and did make out well selling it but I do wish at times we still had it. Like I said to get a place like that in that location is hard thing to come by.

... The one thing I really remember about weho is that it seemed everyone was always on vacation. the people that lived in weho were always just chilling by the pool, eating fancy lunches and working out... and these were on the weekdays!
completely different vibe than what I am used to. but it was great change of pace to be around such chill, laid back people.

 

[Mister Mxyzptlk]

I dont think youll get anyone to admit they regret it.

Once you sink a big pile of cash into something you are going to rationalize that you love it.

Many of my family members and friends have second homes. Seems like they spend most of the time fixing it up. Seems easier for me to just stay at a hotel when you want to go and go to a bunch of different places. Just my take.. I would not buy a second home but instead plan to spend money on nice hotels and different trips.. and I dont have money for the second home AND the nice trips..

You only have your children for a finite time. You can never get that time back.

Before having kids we traveled a lot. When we had our first child it was almost unbearable to leave her home. We took her on a ski trip during the holidays. On New Year's Eve we hired a sitter through the ski resort and went out to party. We didn't even get close to midnight before deciding to go back to our room to be with the baby.

As the kids got older we would do some trips but not overseas. Anyone who has tried to keep a small child busy during a long flight understands what I'm talking about.

The second home served us well for many years. I taught the kids how to ride, fish, and ski, and when they got older and lost interest we sold the house and put the proceeds into our "travel fund" for our empty nester years. A few hundred $K buys a lot of trips.

At this point in my life I wouldn't get a second home because it does anchor you to one spot, but when the kids are young and you have a wonderful 4 season playground it's awesome. Memories are a fine cushion for old age.

 

[DrSpine]

it was a high rise condo on doheny in weho. yet it was a great location. and did make out well selling it but I do wish at times we still had it. Like I said to get a place like that in that location is hard thing to come by.

... The one thing I really remember about weho is that it seemed everyone was always on vacation. the people that lived in weho were always just chilling by the pool, eating fancy lunches and working out... and these were on the weekdays!
completely different vibe than what I am used to. but it was great change of pace to be around such chill, laid back people.

Yes I’m very familiar with So Cal. I lived in Hollywood Hills for a while. Was awesome. Go there all the time, I stay at the Mondrian on Sunset.

 

[Yo GabbaPentin]

I dont think youll get anyone to admit they regret it.

Once you sink a big pile of cash into something you are going to rationalize that you love it.

Many of my family members and friends have second homes. Seems like they spend most of the time fixing it up. Seems easier for me to just stay at a hotel when you want to go and go to a bunch of different places. Just my take.. I would not buy a second home but instead plan to spend money on nice hotels and different trips.. and I dont have money for the second home AND the nice trips..

If we didn’t rent ours out, then I would admit that it’s an awful use of money. A lot of upkeep when you could just use that money to travel to very nice places without being tied down to any one place.

As it stands, we bring in over 10k per month rent. Makes the repairs more tolerable. And when the kids are older, we will either sell or just keep bringing in the rent for retirement.

 

[BobBarker]

@Yo GabbaPentin

how much is a cabin? Post some similar to yours please, and a link to your property managers website

 

[Yo GabbaPentin]

@Yo GabbaPentin

how much is a cabin? Post some similar to yours please, and a link to your property managers website

Property managers are for suckers! I’m not giving 40% to someone who does next to nothing. I live 7 hours away and it’s all easily managed by me.

Cabins are anywhere from 300k-900k depending on size and location. Very very hot market due to the lucrative rental market. We got lucky to find ours.

Just look on Airbnb, Zillow or realtor in Gatlinburg and Sevierville for examples.

 

[Doctodd]

i wouldnt buy anything right now

 

[nvrsumr]

Ski cabin about 90 minutes from home. Investment in my sanity so priceless.

 

[Yo GabbaPentin]

We bought for investment purposes and also as a vacation home since it was amazing. I wouldn’t have bought if it was just for myself. Also factoring in is my refusal to dump much into the stock market. All time high valuations in an all time ****ty environment? No thanks. I may be wrong and market timing but I don’t care.

 

[bpainless]

Great idea while you have children(in the house).