Everything you ever wanted to know about how to be a snowbird (long-term, move)
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Ah, of course. I was wondering why I found every topic on my list except that one. Fair enough, if it's covered in another forum then there's no need to worry about it being in the retirement forum index. I have more than enough other how-to topics anyway, so I don't mind letting this one go.
As for "snowbirding" in general... this is seasonal migration to warmer weather.
If you can't afford to maintain TWO homes (however modest each may be)... you can't snowbird.
And owning an RV is the same (or worse!) than having a second home.
Not necessarily. One does not need to own and maintain two homes in order to snowbird. Renting a seasonal residence is much cheaper and more practical. You can easily find a place where your one monthly rental payment not only covers the cost of housing, but includes all utilities, including Internet and cable TV.
No maintenance costs....no property tax.....no homeowners insurance...no worries about property damage when you're not there.....not to mention the advantage of being able to snowbird in different locations each year.
I would never own two homes, but I can foresee spending a significant amount of time in another city or country every year or so.
We snowbird to Barefoot Bay, Florida during Jan, Feb and Mar. Renting is much cheaper than buying a second home.
Exaxctly. We're going to Florida (Miami Beach) for three months later this year ourselves. And not only is renting cheaper, you can even save money on expenses you would have incurred at your primary residence. For example, we're saving about $500 on our Internet/cable/phone package in las Vegas by having it turned off while we're away. We'll also save even more than that on our regular utilities (electric, water, etc.) since we'll only be billed for minimal charges while gone.
We have been snowbirds for a month or two in Costa Rica going on 8 years. Renting is way simpler than owning for our preference. The biggest issue for us previously was obtaining reliable house/pet sitters and some concern regarding any extended power outages. We've managed to resolve those requirements and no longer have any concerns being away for extended periods.
A whole house backup generator with automatic fuel resupply (propane) takes care of the possibility of pipes freezing in a power outage (we visit CR in Jan-Feb and here in MD those can be very cold months.) We offload our pet to family members and routinely pay their costs as guests in CR for a week on a rotating basis as payback for pet care & checking on the house periodically.
Financial affairs are all done online and other than missing a jury summons (which the Court will not take umbrage at as long as you can prove you were abroad) or an IRS notice (highly unlikely if one doesn't cheat), our affairs at home have been a non-issue.
Other than temporarily relocating a few items of value with family or to a SD box, there really isn't anything in our home of value we worry about. We do have a rather decent home security system and its easier for crooks to go elsewhere. So far we've never had a problem.
The OP also posed the topic of RVing - we purchased a comfortable RV shortly after beginning retirement and toured the US & Canada for most of two years (with periodic short stays at home). It was a grand experience and one I'd encourage anyone to try if they are so inclined. It also cured our interest in full-time RVing as a lifestyle. We enjoyed it but sold the RV at the conclusion of our adventure.
Our plans for the foreseeable future will include the CR snowbird gig and 2 to 4 international trips per year. Its convenient to leave MD winters and high summers and go someplace where the weather is more appealing. If your summers are a bear - try a trip to Iceland. We just returned and the highest temperature there was mid 60s, wish we were still there.
I agree Madman...I've run numbers on both the RV option and the seasonal rental option. Pretty sure we can do the seasonal rental option for a month. Could also do the RV thing, but it would much more of a cash hog, chewing up the cash for other traveling we want to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda
Not necessarily. One does not need to own and maintain two homes in order to snowbird. Renting a seasonal residence is much cheaper and more practical. You can easily find a place where your one monthly rental payment not only covers the cost of housing, but includes all utilities, including Internet and cable TV.
No maintenance costs....no property tax.....no homeowners insurance...no worries about property damage when you're not there.....not to mention the advantage of being able to snowbird in different locations each year.
I would never own two homes, but I can foresee spending a significant amount of time in another city or country every year or so.
But snowbirding and RV'ing are not synonymous. In fact, practically speaking, these two lifestyles should be discussed separately, since the issues are so different. With some overlap like, how to close up your house in the fall, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caladium
Ah, of course. I was wondering why I found every topic on my list except that one. Fair enough, if it's covered in another forum then there's no need to worry about it being in the retirement forum index. I have more than enough other how-to topics anyway, so I don't mind letting this one go.
See above--snowbirding is not RVing.
We are Canadian snowbirds. New ones, just one year in. We have special issues like visas to the US, length of time outside of the country still maintaining gov't health care, out-of-country medical insurance issues, home-ownership and tax issues.
But the issues of buying and maintaining two homes, closing up your homes, the issues of hurricane and flood insurance, renting or owning, hoa fees, ideal locations, driving back and forth on the highways, best cars for snowbirding, it's endless.
For example, cars. We have always owned small cars, since we live in a big city and rarely drive except in the summers when we drive 5 hours to our summer cottage a few times a year, and drive around while there. We have a small Subaru Impreza wagon, which has been perfect for us--good room for hauling and packing, room for passengers when necessary, or a dog or cat.
But now we're driving the Interstates twice a year. We've gone up and down twice within the last year. I'm thinking that a long-term goal for us would be to replace our Impreza with something a bit larger, but not a behemoth gas-guzzler. It would still have to be fairly small. Probably not a minivan or SUV (husband likes cars with a fairly low suspension.) We drove a brand new 2013 Taurus rental recently (based on a Lincoln), and loved the inside--very comfortable, wonderful controls, quiet, roomy. But much too big for us, and a gas guzzler. So the search is on, over the next couple of years, to replace our wagon with something else. Will need to have space, for now, for a cat carrier (cage, really.) But can't be too big, since it still has to fit in our parking spot in the garage here in the city.
We are Canadian snowbirds. New ones, just one year in. We have special issues like visas to the US, length of time outside of the country still maintaining gov't health care, out-of-country medical insurance issues, home-ownership and tax issues.
But the issues of buying and maintaining two homes, closing up your homes, the issues of hurricane and flood insurance, renting or owning, hoa fees, ideal locations, driving back and forth on the highways, best cars for snowbirding, it's endless.
Works for me--if we can get a detailed discussion going on practical issues like that, then I'm delighted to put this thread in the index. And more important, it will be helpful to everyone considering that lifestyle.
Just a tidbit:
Our current BC/BS plan has some coverage abroad. However, I always take out a short term medical travel policy as backup whenever we leave the US. Its really inexpensive and can be had with provision to return you to your US medical facility of choice. That provision was extremely important when we were under an HMO (which also had no international coverage provisions).
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