Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Did anyone buy their retirement home initially as a 2nd home? We are contemplating buying ours (pre-retirement) in a resort-like community, and using it as a second/weekend home, until we retire in a couple years. Then we would sell our primary home, and move into the 2nd home as our primary residence (or possibly snowbird). The new place is half the value, and about a quarter the size of our current home.
Did anyone else do this? How do you feel about the decision in hindsight? Our primary home is paid off, and we can definitely afford To do this, although we'd probably need to take out a mortgage to avoid raiding retirement savings. Our main "cause for pause" is going back into debt.
What have others done, and would you do things differently if you had it to do over?
We did not buy a 2nd home pre-retirement simply because we knew we would relocate very far away from our employment (from VA to AZ). We worked long hours and my partner had his own business. We were lucky to get away for long weekends the last 5 years we worked (in the end it paid off as we retired at ages 50 and 51). We did not want a 2nd home we had to worry about being vacant, and we did not want to become landlords.
Oddly, in retirement, we have had two homes in vastly different places (AZ, Mexico, FL) for the past 10 years. Of course we can flit from one home to the other without worries about work or business.
Did anyone buy their retirement home initially as a 2nd home? We are contemplating buying ours (pre-retirement) in a resort-like community, and using it as a second/weekend home, until we retire in a couple years. Then we would sell our primary home, and move into the 2nd home as our primary residence (or possibly snowbird). The new place is half the value, and about a quarter the size of our current home.
Did anyone else do this? How do you feel about the decision in hindsight? Our primary home is paid off, and we can definitely afford To do this, although we'd probably need to take out a mortgage to avoid raiding retirement savings. Our main "cause for pause" is going back into debt.
What have others done, and would you do things differently if you had it to do over?
be very careful doing this . tax laws changed and buying a 2nd home or rental and then making it a primary is subject to new rules .
if you decide to sell the home you made a primary down the road the tax free exclusion is prorated over the time of total ownership. you could end up with a tax bill .
We did not buy a 2nd home pre-retirement simply because we knew we would relocate very far away from our employment (from VA to AZ). We worked long hours and my partner had his own business. We were lucky to get away for long weekends the last 5 years we worked (in the end it paid off as we retired at ages 50 and 51). We did not want a 2nd home we had to worry about being vacant, and we did not want to become landlords.
Oddly, in retirement, we have had two homes in vastly different places (AZ, Mexico, FL) for the past 10 years. Of course we can flit from one home to the other without worries about work or business.
You bought after retirement and then sold, then rebought somewhere else?
I've thought about the same thing the OP is thinking but because we don't what will happen a year from now much less 5 years we didn't. I told DH that I wouldn't mind just renting in different parts of the country. If we really like a place then stay put. If we buy we could end up in a place I thought I would like but don't. I'm stuck where we live now. I do NOT like where we live now but we are still here because of our parents. We were looking at a house in FL but then Mom fell ill so that plan got nixed, now his dad is not doing too good (maybe one day I'll get out but that means bad news that we don't want).
we tried to do this . but as we got closer to retirement we realized that while we loved the area the 2nd home was in, all the things becoming important to us in retirement it lacked .
it lacked a big choice in doctors ,specialists ,medical facilities .
it lacked a good public transportation system if we couldn't drive .
things to do in the area were growing stale already after 5 years of part time life .
there was no where to work for decent wages if i wanted to do some work in retirement .
in short it just ended up not our idea of where we wanted to retire 5 years after buying it .
You bought after retirement and then sold, then rebought somewhere else?
I've thought about the same thing the OP is thinking but because we don't what will happen a year from now much less 5 years we didn't. I told DH that I wouldn't mind just renting in different parts of the country. If we really like a place then stay put. If we buy we could end up in a place I thought I would like but don't. I'm stuck where we live now. I do NOT like where we live now but we are still here because of our parents. We were looking at a house in FL but then Mom fell ill so that plan got nixed, now his dad is not doing too good (maybe one day I'll get out but that means bad news that we don't want).
After retirement we sold our East Coast home and moved to AZ. 5 years after that we bought a home in Mexico, also keeping our AZ home. 5 years after that we sold both the AZ home and the Mexico home because we had to move back to the East Coast to care for my failing FIL and we bought a home in FL. After he died, we bought another home in Mexico and currently own the FL home and the Mexico home.
Did anyone buy their retirement home initially as a 2nd home?
If you can afford to own two homes... good for you.
Beware of over-extending and/or being over mortgaged.
Quote:
We are contemplating buying ours (pre-retirement) in a resort-like community,
and using it as a second/weekend home, until we retire in a couple years.
Then we would sell our primary home, and move into the 2nd home as our primary residence
(or possibly snowbird).
I'd say likely to.
At least until the costs to keep up two homes and/or the travel becomes too much.
I'm planning to do the same thing but the second home will be out of state and not in a resort town, but ideally only about 6 months to a year at most before retiring. My reasons are:
-the town I'm moving to is relatively small and there may not be very many houses to choose from unless I give myself a gap of several months to pick up a house when it comes on the market.
-I don't want to sell my current house and then have to rent for several months while looking for another house to buy. I want to retire, sell my house and then move into the other house.
-buying a house a few months to a year ahead of moving will give me some time to get the new house ready to move into.
-I'll have the new house for only a short period of time (less than a year) with a mortgage and then pay that mortgage off when I sell my current primary residence.
Plans do change but this is how I see it happening right now.
For us, having two homes has allowed us to see if we really love it here vs. talking ourselves into loving it because there is no longer any choice.
We bought at the bottom of the housing bust and with the arrival of a second grandchild. We kept both houses and snow birding was an easy non-decision.
In hindsight, we should have sold the NY home a year or two ago, but we have finally decided to put it on the market next spring. We have used that house less each of the past five years. Having both houses allowed us time to decide if this move was right for us. It also allowed us to migrate things from one house to the other slowly. I had the advantage of time and distance to help in donating or tossing many of our possessions, keeping this house clutter free.
It's been the equivalent of how to take a band-aid off: a quick rip or a slow peel. Either one will get the job done, it comes down to personal preference, finances and circumstances.
Remember a resort community may not be an ideal retirement community. I would rent in the community for the time you are there to make sure it will work as a retirement community.
No problem with owning two homes as long as you have someone to take care of the homes when you are not there. Look for a home watch type service and full landscaping vendors before you buy. Both locations.
I would vote no. Primarily because I would not want a vacant home to worry about. Second and maybe more important is that you do not know the community as a home- food shopping, medical, seating at restaurants, vacation traffic problems etc.
Once you know the community will meet your needs, I can see buying a few months before the move and owning two house to make the move easier. I actually did that but you still need to have someone maintain the home when you are gone. I had no problems.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
