Summer home in Cape Cod to rent out for eventual retirement (Boston: rental, house)

[MMS02760]

Originally Posted by jks1985

Also look into Southern RI. There is commuter rail into Boston from North Kingstown, and I actually like the beaches there better (Narragansett, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown)


Also, you can rent out the place to URI students (if you dare) during the winter.

A lot of summer home owners in Narragansett and South Kingstown-RI rent out their homes from Sep 1st to May 31st to URI students. It basically helps pay off the mortgage and pays for taxes and insurance. It makes great sense as these properties would otherwise go unused during these months. URI only has on campus housing for roughly half its undergraduate student population of some 13,000 (excludes grad students). This results in thousands of students living off campus nearby. There is even a term for this arrangement - living "down the line". My family did this with our home decades ago for several years. We were somewhat selective with whom we rented to and only had issues a few times with tenants. The best option was to rent to a more mature grad student if possible.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Seaheart33785

Thanks for the responses so far. I have heard Portsmouth,NH mentioned on other threads, I will have to look into that. Also, Plymouth sounds like another good option to investigate. We did a trip to ME a few years ago, flew into Portland and drove up the coast stopping in Kennebunkport and Bar Harbor (which I really loved, but seems too far away to get to and to have a bigger city to visit if desired). I do love Boston, but it is not necessary to go there. I think my husband and I like the idea of a charming small town accessible to a bigger city. Portland would thus be a good option as well. Until we retire, it would help to rent out for income, so off season rental possibilities are attractive too. I’m having fun dreaming about this!

I lived in Portsmouth NH for a decade. You're not going to buy anything but a shack on a tiny lot for $600K in Portsmouth.


At your price point, you might take a glance at the Massachusetts South Coast. Commuter rail is supposed to show up in four years which makes Boston very accessible for a retiree. You're not going to find Main Street Falmouth but Marion, Mattapoisett, the Padanaram part of South Dartmouth, and Westport Point are in your price range. You'd have to decide for yourself if you're OK with having the blight of New Bedford and Fall River nearby. There's a much bigger market for off season 9 month rentals in those places than on the Cape where most things sit empty.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by jks1985

Also look into Southern RI. There is commuter rail into Boston from North Kingstown, and I actually like the beaches there better (Narragansett, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown)


Also, you can rent out the place to URI students (if you dare) during the winter.

This. The beaches there are nice, there are small towns, and there are things going on. It doesn't have that Cape Cod feel to it but it is a nice area. Most people live there year round. I find that the Cape empties out during winter--I knew people who built their retirement home there and even then, they could only take one or two boring winters before relocating.

I got my master's at URI and didn't find it to be a zoo like some other colleges. My niece just got her master's there recently and she would have been a perfect and quiet tenant. I remember driving to Providence without too much trouble and if you drive westward, you're on the CT shore.

[skeddy]

Scituate, quaint little coastal town with a walkable downtown, beaches, beautiful harbor, last stop on the commuter rail line (Greenbush) - 1 hour to Boston. Cape is too quiet in the winter, depressing for many.

[Seaheart33785]

Originally Posted by MMS02760

A lot of summer home owners in Narragansett and South Kingstown-RI rent out their homes from Sep 1st to May 31st to URI students. It basically helps pay off the mortgage and pays for taxes and insurance. It makes great sense as these properties would otherwise go unused during these months. URI only has on campus housing for roughly half its undergraduate student population of some 13,000 (excludes grad students). This results in thousands of students living off campus nearby. There is even a term for this arrangement - living "down the line". My family did this with our home decades ago for several years. We were somewhat selective with whom we rented to and only had issues a few times with tenants. The best option was to rent to a more mature grad student if possible.

Very interesting idea, I never would have thought of that!

[Seaheart33785]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

I lived in Portsmouth NH for a decade. You're not going to buy anything but a shack on a tiny lot for $600K in Portsmouth.


At your price point, you might take a glance at the Massachusetts South Coast. Commuter rail is supposed to show up in four years which makes Boston very accessible for a retiree. You're not going to find Main Street Falmouth but Marion, Mattapoisett, the Padanaram part of South Dartmouth, and Westport Point are in your price range. You'd have to decide for yourself if you're OK with having the blight of New Bedford and Fall River nearby. There's a much bigger market for off season 9 month rentals in those places than on the Cape where most things sit empty.

I did some investigation into Portsmouth and I do see that properties are more expensive than some other areas I’ve looked at, but it sure does look like a special city. I’ll have to at least make a visit!

[Seaheart33785]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

Have you considered Maine (or possibly Portsmouth, NH)? I'm not an expert, but it seems like many of the Maine beaches are easier to access than some of the Cape beaches. They might be less expensive, although I'm not certain. You could still reach Boston if you needed it, but if you have access to a city like Portland, ME, there are plenty of ME beach towns that are not far from there. That would provide more of the restaurants and other activities you might want.

I do like Maine, definitely a consideration.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by skeddy

Scituate, quaint little coastal town with a walkable downtown, beaches, beautiful harbor, last stop on the commuter rail line (Greenbush) - 1 hour to Boston. Cape is too quiet in the winter, depressing for many.

You won’t get a house walkable to downtown for $600k or less.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by skeddy

Scituate, quaint little coastal town with a walkable downtown, beaches, beautiful harbor, last stop on the commuter rail line (Greenbush) - 1 hour to Boston. Cape is too quiet in the winter, depressing for many.

I can't recall much of a downtown living on the south shore there or at least enough to validate a trip. Hill for Nantasket on the other hand..

Quaint little downtown shops are usually seasonal. Seasonal means drug use and selling in the off season or its just a hobby of a retiree. If you don't sell on the internet you really can't budget for that.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Seaheart33785

I do like Maine, definitely a consideration.

It’s a really short summer. The ocean is very cold. The banana belt of New England with warmer water is the southern coastline of Cape Cod starting at Chatham and extending west into Connecticut. Even then, June is still cool if you’re right on the coast but it’s still warm water in the fall.