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We maintained homes in CO and AZ for several years (Winter in Tucson is great!), but the hassles of having two sets of everything led us to downsize and we now live year round in AZ. During the summer months we escape the heat in a RV. It has its limitations, but it’s simpler and less expensive than maintaining a second home.
I can see a hassle of maintaining multiple houses, but maintaining multiple small condos for me has not been a hassle; it has been a whirlwind of joy :-). I thought of an RV, and I agree that RVing seems like a cool life, but I CAN'T drive a vehicle that big. Maybe if they develop self-driving RVs in my lifetime - I would definitely be in the market for that!
One idea that I've been batting around is once we downsize into a retirement community and into a paid off home, possibly buying a second home in the same community to use in an Air BNB type of capacity. We could reserve some weeks for our kids/future grandkids to come visit us. That way we wouldn't be on top of each other trying to cram into a small house over the holidays.
I'm batting it around but not convinced that's the way to go for us. If we ever did a rental for investment income it would be good to live near it so that we could maintain and manage it. But, again, I don't really want to spend our days running back and forth, maintaining two properties. So we likely would not do this. It's fun to consider the possibilities, though.
Another idea - buy an RV and do some traveling. You can get a brand new travel trailer for around 20K.
It's a fine idea, but see my post above. I can't drive a house-sized vehicle. Only if that trailer is permanently grounded - but I like to live in large cities, where a permanently grounded trailer likely doesn't exist, or if it does, it will be be taxed exorbitantly as a second home (ie, if the megatax for second homes doesn't get blocked in San Francisco, it will likely rapidly sweep all other major cities in the US too), so we are back to the square one..... To me, the only solution to assuring the rhythm of change of scenery seems to be buying a second condo in some other country, ie, where people show no signs of desire to go insane. Specifically I am thinking of Bangkok, but the DISTANCE! Traveling between Boston and Bangkok 6 times a year really does give me a pause - it seems it would lead to total exhaustion, as much as I normally love travel.
A food gift of some sort. What sort depends on the person. Do they like cheese, fruit, etc. I once sent a friend who was from a predominantly Jewish town in NJ but had moved to DC a gift of real bagels from Brooklyn with cream cheese and black-and-white cookies because she missed them. She could only find supermarket bagels there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnrgby
It's a fine idea, but see my post above. I can't drive a house-sized vehicle. Only if that trailer is permanently grounded - but I like to live in large cities, where a permanently grounded trailer likely doesn't exist, or if it does, it will be be taxed exorbitantly as a second home (ie, if the megatax for second homes doesn't get blocked in San Francisco, it will likely rapidly sweep all other major cities in the US too), so we are back to the square one.....
I don't think you're a NYC person, but there is a permanently grounded trailer park within the limits of NYC, on Staten Island! I was surprised when I stumbled upon it during the Goethals Bridge replacement.
Just FYI.
The second article is about the idea of mobile home parks in cities.
I don't think you're a NYC person, but there is a permanently grounded trailer park within the limits of NYC, on Staten Island! I was surprised when I stumbled upon it during the Goethals Bridge replacement.
Just FYI.
The second article is about the idea of mobile home parks in cities.
Well, it would also have to be a mobile home park safe from crime. And also, it would have to be safe from exorbitant taxation of second homes. Not sure these two forms of safety can be assumed in Staten Island... plus Staten Island is somehow not what I have in mind when I say I like large cities :-). Re whether I am a NYC person, I actually always was, but then I became unsure of that. NYC has lost its positive uniqueness among the cities, while it has acquired many negatives.
If I were to replace San Francisco as a second home city with something else in the US, it would be a desert city with good transport connections. But what guarantees that second homes won't be effectively prohibited (ie, taxed prohibitively) at the level of the US, if they get effectively prohibited at the level of San Francisco? I am a person to whom learning comes easily; I need only one exposure to something bad in order to learn to avoid it :-).
We are doing just the opposite of most snowbirds - spending 9 months of the year in Tennessee and returning to northern Maine just for the insufferably hot June-July-August timeframe. Wife loves the heat in mid-summer but I simply can't bear it.
Money$ is the biggest factor for a second home, or just an extended winter stay in a warm, sunny climate. We find that one of the two places should be owned free and clear. If both are, all the better.
I am seriously thinking about renting an apartment in the city where my daughter lives, about 350 miles from where I am right now, to see if I would like it there and to focus on finishing the long-abandoned Great American Novel in my computer.
I don't want to sell my condo here until I know for sure that I'd be OK living there. Homeless Brother will benefit, as he is currently staying here and can continue to do so while I sort all of this out.
Currently I live on a sufficient pension, still paying a mortgage comfortably. I work part-time, but that's not really necessary. I went back to work as a way to manage the grief of loss I experienced earlier this year, but it's not something I want to do forever.
I am 65 and four months. My SS FRA is 66 8 months. So, the idea is to collect SS earlier, as in NOW (or more realistically, perhaps in the Spring). The SS money of $3K less taxes would cover the rent and expenses for the apartment as well as that of a better vehicle as discussed in the "auto" thread, and the pension would continue to cover the mortgage/taxes and savings and so forth it does now.
There's nothing really to hold me here; in fact, until two years ago, the plan was to sell this place and move to Ontario, but that plan died with my fiance. Basically, I feel as though I'm in one of those horror movies where I've been walking for hours in a forest and found myself back in the same place I started. At any rate, because of a very large employer close to inking a deal for a new facility two miles from my home, it may be worth it to hold onto this condo because property values may go up if this deal goes through.
Anyway, that's one idea. The other, not yet fully formed, I will poke my nose into when I take my Christmas vacation to Costa Rica next month. I hear there's a significant expat community there...
Oh, what a wonderful trip that will be to Costa Rica! I used to read blogs about expats there and Panama and even Equador, a long time ago. Please update us on what your trip is like when you return
Last edited by Schuttzie; 11-29-2023 at 09:06 AM..
Well, it would also have to be a mobile home park safe from crime. And also, it would have to be safe from exorbitant taxation of second homes. Not sure these two forms of safety can be assumed in Staten Island... plus Staten Island is somehow not what I have in mind when I say I like large cities :-). Re whether I am a NYC person, I actually always was, but then I became unsure of that. NYC has lost its positive uniqueness among the cities, while it has acquired many negatives.
If I were to replace San Francisco as a second home city with something else in the US, it would be a desert city with good transport connections. But what guarantees that second homes won't be effectively prohibited (ie, taxed prohibitively) at the level of the US, if they get effectively prohibited at the level of San Francisco? I am a person to whom learning comes easily; I need only one exposure to something bad in order to learn to avoid it :-).
My friend lives on Staten Island. She has woods across the street (city or state land), no sidewalks on her road, there's a lake close by, and she's a few blocks from a main road, so you drive through a suburban-looking wooded area to get to her house. You would never know you are really in NYC.
But no, lol, most of Staten Island does not feel as if you are in a large city. It will be the next borough to be heavily developed, though, because it's the last one that isn't.
Pretty sure the Goethals community is safe from crime. It's close to the bridge (Goethals goes from SI to Elizabeth, NJ) so it's more along the lines of a place people would pass commuting and never know it's there, and with the bridge there, there's also a PAPD command. I definitely don't think it's your kind of place, though. Nor mine.
I worked in the city all my life, except for a few years across the creek in JC after our workplace was destroyed, and I always thought I might like to live there, at least for a year. But now, average rents for a livable 1-bedroom for someone who doesn't want five roommates and isn't in their 20s and happy to walk up five flights is around $4,000. That ship has therefore sunk.
My eyes have turned toward Pittsburgh because that's where the kid has landed for now, and it's quite interesting. A city in transition, great healthcare facilities, not that I think about that but at this age I know I am supposed to think about that, and the activities and amenities one expects from a good-size city.
Oh, what a wonderful trip that will be to Costa Rica! I used to read blogs about expats there and Panama and even Equador, a long time ago. Please update us on what your trip is like when you return
I will! It was a tossup between Panama and Costa Rica, because I would love to see the Canal and the museum about building it (there's that guy Goethals again) and the idea of a staying in a city with beaches nearby was appealing. But when I was looking, I was getting some news stories about unrest and whatnot in Panama City, and we are looking for a relaxing vacation to escape from the sadness of Christmas this year, so Costa Rica it is. I will let you know!
I do know from a quick read that apparently CR welcomes retirees as long as they have a minimum of a guaranteed income of $1000 USD from a pension or some other reliable source that they will deposit each month into a Costa Rican bank and withdraw in colones, their monetary unit. That's easy enough.
Since my phone listens to me, I keep getting articles on expats in Costa Rica, so there are things to consider there, like where is a good place to live and practical things to get used to, like regular electrical blackouts. But it doesn't hurt to check into these things.
But you don't need to sell your condo, to avoid the tax you just need to live in it for more than 182 days, so stay in your condo for one more day than you currently do and you don't have to worry about this tax.
But in that case, San Francisco becomes my primary home, which is something I don't want. My ties with Boston are substantially stronger, and it is a far better managed city than SF, there is no comparison. So if I have to choose only one, choosing Boston is a no-brainer. My secondary home can be elsewhere; Boston firmly remains my primary home - I think it has the least problems of all large US cities.
I will! It was a tossup between Panama and Costa Rica, because I would love to see the Canal and the museum about building it (there's that guy Goethals again) and the idea of a staying in a city with beaches nearby was appealing. But when I was looking, I was getting some news stories about unrest and whatnot in Panama City, and we are looking for a relaxing vacation to escape from the sadness of Christmas this year, so Costa Rica it is. I will let you know!
I do know from a quick read that apparently CR welcomes retirees as long as they have a minimum of a guaranteed income of $1000 USD from a pension or some other reliable source that they will deposit each month into a Costa Rican bank and withdraw in colones, their monetary unit. That's easy enough.
Since my phone listens to me, I keep getting articles on expats in Costa Rica, so there are things to consider there, like where is a good place to live and practical things to get used to, like regular electrical blackouts. But it doesn't hurt to check into these things.
Yes, it is wonderful to explore your options! Each country has a bit of different steps they go through to get the ability to live there. I hope you have a wonderful time in CR!
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To me, the only solution to assuring the rhythm of change of scenery seems to be buying a second condo in some other country, ie, where people show no signs of desire to go insane. Specifically I am thinking of Bangkok, but the DISTANCE! Traveling between Boston and Bangkok 6 times a year really does give me a pause - it seems it would lead to total exhaustion, as much as I normally love travel.
Nor mine.