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We would like a simple place in a warmer climate for two months out of the year - February and March.
I really HATE those months in the North, and as I get older I can't take them. We want something inexpensive - nothing fancy but comfortable. I don't want to regret it.
But between Christmas and Easter, I am looking for a place.
After renting in Florida for 4 years, we bought a 2nd one down there.
The only 'hassle' (so far) has been having property to take care of, be it one place or two.
Once a place is properly closed up we generally don't give it much thought....when we're here'
we're here...when we're there, we're there.
Seriously considered selling this 'north' one due to health issues and did just list it but then reconsider every other day so will probably not be too amenable to lower offers.
we always wanted to live a more rural life having spent all our lives in nyc. i have all the wrong hobbies for nyc. fishing ,hunting , four-wheeling , snow shoe hiking.
almost 6 years ago we bought a 2nd home in the pocono mountains to try out that kind of life on a regular basis.
after 5 years we realized it wore thin on us.
we began to dis-like the really bad winters and we found all the reasons we thought we would like a more rural life were not as important as the reasons we no longer wanted to retire to a rural life.
no public transportation if you cannot drive, you need to drive everywhere even for a quart of milk.
while we had 2 big hospitals 30 minutes away overall medical resources were just lacking.
you had little choices for everything.
after we did most things in the area it was like " okay now what do we do?". summers were no problem but winters there was little to do on a daily basis.
church dinners and high school football games is not my idea of fun during the winter.
the prospects of finding decent work or any work are slim if you needed to go back to work for anything.
the amount of work you had to do maintaining the house and all the chores was way more than i wanted to do after a while.
the lack of all the things we have to do here in nyc was the deal breaker. even though we rarely went to manhattan or took advantage of all the things here once we were going to leave it behind we realized how great it is.
we can pop on the subway and see a broadway show every week if we wanted.
we couldn't just see the kids or grandchildren anytime we wanted .
so we went full circle and found what we thought we wanted in retirement really wasn't after all so we sold the house and are staying put for now.
Not sure the example of someone who isn't retired yet is very helpful. However, we do have a second home. DW and I always hoped for the day we could have a place down in southern Utah where we could go in the winter. Our dream came true about four years ago when real estate prices and interest rates dropped sharply. Our second home is in Ivins, Utah a suburb of St. George. Its literally next to a red rock canyon, a large outdoor theater, and a state park. I wanted lots of hiking trails and there are miles of them going in every direction. Some day we may sell our home in northern Utah and move there full time. However, right now, I love spending holidays there and traveling between the two. I admit sometimes we do get nervous though being absent from our second home for long periods of time.
I have had two second homes at different times. It can be wonderful to have the get away place. Hire someone to come into the home a day or two before you arrive and clean everything. Hire another person to care for the yard. With these two chores out of the way you'll have time to really enjoy!
Previously owned a second home as a get away from NYC. It was well to the north in serious snow country and I eally enjoyed it year round.
Have to say it was in a community which provided complete management services including maintenance, upkeep, and if I desired, rental arrangements.
Unknown to me at the time, in the waning days of AIG's high flying shenanigans they 'encouraged' their senior execs to buy some development homes which they had built in the same town. This created demand at seriously inflated prices across the area. I sold into the fluff and have never looked back.
I miss it, but have moved along. Given the structure of the community it worked well for me. I am not sure a 'stand alone' home in a hostile environment like that would be something I would find desirable, but having the place looked after, and well cared for, made it pretty nice.
Yes...Home on the ridge of Eagles Nest Mtn here in far western NC: ~ 5,000 ft elevation, million buck views, 3 1/2 acres of woods, great little town of Waynesville, NC down below us. Moved in days after 9-11 from NY, in 2001, (coincidental in timing).
Winter house in SW FL: great escape, Zone 10A vs 5b, very different life style, (burbs golf community), smaller but OK. Have had it since 2005.
Both house are mort free, but there are increased costs, obviously, in having 2 homes, and it is becoming a slightly increasing pia each year: even though we are 'skilled' now, with the 'logistics' and TTD list(s) at 2 joints, we are older by the year.
I can see picking one place sometime down the road, but don't know 'when', and don't know 'which home' it would be. But, no regrets in having two: the change of place, location, lifestyle, climate, and another set of friends has considerable advantage and benefit, for us.
And, we can afford both comfortably, so why the hell not. YMMV...
GL, mD
We would like a simple place in a warmer climate for two months out of the year - February and March.
I really HATE those months in the North, and as I get older I can't take them. We want something inexpensive - nothing fancy but comfortable. I don't want to regret it.
But between Christmas and Easter, I am looking for a place.
Any suggestions?
We have similar opinions regarding the Feb-Mar period. Feb is the true killer month for us. So far (in our 7th year of retirement) we've done Costa Rica for 1-1.5 months multiple times, Hawaii for 1 month, and more recently have stayed in North Myrtle Beach in Feb., which we'll repeat. Its nice to take our dog with us in the US.
Cost-wise, Hawaii is not an inexpensive option, as well as pricy airfare. CR is relatively inexpensive at around $1K/month inclusive, with airfare around $600PP from MD.
We experienced the same rental price in North Myrtle Beach, NC. $1K will get you a decent ocean front 1 bedroom for that on a monthly basis. (NOTE: If you do a CR rental, be sure its all inclusive, utilities can be pricey.)
Our weather/temperature preference has morphed in that we've found we don't necessarily need optimum (60-80) temps as experienced in CR, just give us something in the upper 40-70s and we're fine. Good luck.
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Second Home
