Do you have one? Do you want one? If you have one, how often do you use it? Is it what you expected it to be when you bought it? Would you do it again? What would you do differently? What took you by surprise?
I kind of want to buy a vacation home, but, clearly, I'm on the fence...
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I think one of those swanky RVs would be the best vacation home.
To me, anyway.
Could go anywhere.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
Do you have one? Do you want one? If you have one, how often do you use it? Is it what you expected it to be when you bought it? Would you do it again? What would you do differently? What took you by surprise?
I kind of want to buy a vacation home, but, clearly, I'm on the fence...
I would love to have one, but barely have time to care for the house I do have. I'd like one that a management company rents out for me when I'm not using it and takes care of the maintenance.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I think one of those swanky RVs would be the best vacation home.
To me, anyway.
Could go anywhere.
When my aunt & uncle retired they bought this amazing RV & did just that. They ended up meeting a lot of people who were doing the same thing. They'd often run into each other in different camp sites. They did it for years until the gas prices skyrocketed. They sold it & bought a little retirement house. They really enjoyed it.
My parents had one an hour from their main home. It was a beautiful home in Lake Arrowhead, with a view of the lake. They felt compelled to stay there. Every. Weekend. They felt if they were paying electric, phone, etc., that it was a waste to not be there. It drove them crazy. After a year, they sold it. They never rented it out, but we were all free to use it whenever.
My grandparents had a place in Big Bear, 2 1/2 hours away. They had it for years. We loved it. They loved it. THey never rented it out.
My cousins have a beachhouse. It's been in the family since we were kids. They have a management company that takes care of it, and my cousin maintains the rental schedule to make sure it's available for the immediate family use. We get to use it whenever we want, off season. We're going in October.
I wouldn't mind having a beachhouse or a cabin, but I don't like the idea of strangers staying in it. I want my own dirt and germs in it. The closest beach is 4 hours away, so I'm not sure how much we would use it. And I haven't found an area within an hour or two where I would like to own a cabin on a lake.
We have a small cabin about 2 hours north of here up in the foothills. Use it in the summer, a total of about 14 days a year. Really enjoy it, but would think about buying if I had it to do again. The expenses mount up..... Taxes, management fees, electricity base, septic tank maintanence, etc. etc. Still, it is nice to know that we have a place like that.....
I am thinking of buying something, has to be near a body of water. I would prefer the ocean but am open to a lake. I want it to be my retirement home and in the mean time a vacation spot. I wouldn't mind renting it out if having a mgt company was feasible and would plan to do a total rehab on it before I retired so I would be retiring to a "new" place.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
What surprised me was the cost.
Not just the property taxes and school taxes, but snow removal in winter, grading the road, needing a new hot water tank, septic tank needs replacing, trees needing to be trimmed....stuff like that.
It really adds up.
Our property taxes are only $200 a year. And we have a semi HOA. That pays for our water and road maintenance, plus the pool and dock upkeep. I think that's $300 a year. We pay a kid $50 a month during the summer to take care of the yard. Every time we go there, everything has been taken care of...
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America guarantees equal opportunity, not equal outcome...
Many people enjoy them--but if you are going to put the money into one--you need to use it.
I know quite a few people who buy them--but then barely get away to use them, maybe once a year.
Someone who owns one once told me if you can't commit at LEAST half your weekends throughout the "season" to it, then it's not worth it. "Season" being whatever it is the vacation home is for--water recreation, skiing, beach season, whatever.
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
The school and property taxes are a pittance, but everything else adds up. I'd do it again, though. There's fishing, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, etc. It's a good sized lake.
The school and property taxes are a pittance, but everything else adds up. I'd do it again, though. There's fishing, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, etc. It's a good sized lake.
Is that the whole lake?
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America guarantees equal opportunity, not equal outcome...
The school and property taxes are a pittance, but everything else adds up. I'd do it again, though. There's fishing, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, etc. It's a good sized lake.
I don"t have one. Sure it would be nice, but in reality, i would feel like it is another house to take care and maintain, worry about, pay to improve and on and on. I like to keep my life pretty simple. We usually rent a house on vacation and that works for us.
Our "vacation home" home growing up was a pop-up camper.
Anytime we were out of school, we took off with it.
Spent lots of weekends in the mountains.
I loved it.
If I had a vacation home, it'd probably be at a beach. Maybe a condo.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I used to daydream about buying one on the Outer Banks. I would totally love to have one but it won't be happening in this lifetime.
When we stayed at a beach house at the outer banks we checked up on a house next door that was for sale and it was selling for close to 3 million dollars.
We would get out of school and as soon as mom got off the bus we would pick up dad from work and head to a campground.
Fort Mountain, Watts Bar, Cherokee, Vogel.
We would ride bikes, go swimming, hiking, fishing.
And was at church Sunday morning.
Three day weekends were the best.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
Our property taxes are only $200 a year. And we have a semi HOA. That pays for our water and road maintenance, plus the pool and dock upkeep. I think that's $300 a year. We pay a kid $50 a month during the summer to take care of the yard. Every time we go there, everything has been taken care of...
See now for retirement if I could that plus a 20 minute drive or so to a small town shopping area with quaint shops would be my dream.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
My parents have a condo at the beach in Florida. They plan on living there half time in a few years. Now, they rent it out 3-4 months a year. But, like others have stated, they feel they must go there when they take a vacation. They could afford to go wherever they want for vacation but they feel like the condo is there waiting.
The plus side - we don't have to pack anything when we go there now. We have toiletries, a swim suit, etc there waiting.
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Out of all the lies I have told, "just kidding" is my favorite !
Our "vacation home" is the single-wide that DH used to live in. Taxes are - get this! - $0.47 a year!!!!! Yep, forty-seven cents! Electric runs about $15 a month, well water, and fishing is a 15 minute drive. Yeah, there are things I'd like to change, but since we're usually only there overnight, there's not much point in making it presentable. I just wish I could find someone to come in and dust/vacuum once a month.
I used to daydream about buying one on the Outer Banks. I would totally love to have one but it won't be happening in this lifetime.
When we stayed at a beach house at the outer banks we checked up on a house next door that was for sale and it was selling for close to 3 million dollars.
That is exactly why I won't ever have a house on OBX. Who knows what the cost is now since any that got knocked down in the hurricanes can't be rebuilt due to erosion. Or at least that was the zoning law last time I heard but that was years ago.
The place that I'm considering is in Puerto Rico. I know, the economy there is having major issues. That makes *some* of the property affordable :) It's a small place, only a bit over 800 sq. ft., and I would probably only use it once a year or so now. When I retire, though, I intend to spend the majority of my time in a tropical location. It is right near the university, and about 15 minutes from the beach. It's feasible that I could rent it to college students during the school year and have it available for myself in the summer, but I'm not sure I want the hassle of renting it. I would have to use a property manager due to the geographical distance if I did. Tech is all on board with buying it, if I choose to do so.
