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Anyone have a vacation home off of L.I.? If so, where?
I would love to find a small cabin 2-4 hours off of L.I.
I searched the Poconos a few years ago. I checked on MLS recently. I can't believe how depressed that area became. So many Empty vacant houses listed for 49K - 89k +/- So sad viewing the listings.
I also searched Upstate in the Catskills area. Just as bad, if not worse! I use to visit every year as a kid.
Not into NJ or CT. Absolutely LOVE Maine! However, it's 5+ hours just to get to the southern part.
Maine is awesome, but yes, kinda far. Many NY'ers have property there. It's good if you are in a position to spend extended time there, like if you are a teacher and have 2 months off. Kinda impractical to own and only go up there for short stays.
Upstate NY is massive, there are so many affordable but not depressed or ghetto areas to buy something, and within a reasonable driving distance.
The PA thing is played out. Many people sold or walked away.
Deals can be found in Vermont or NH as well.
Jersey and CT are too pricey.
If you want a place in the middle of nowhere you may be stuck with a depressed area, for me I'd rather have a place near Saratoga...great town, close to the Adirondacks, Lake George, Glens Falls. But, there are often suburban areas.
The flip side is how far away do you want to be if something happens? Just because you only use it for vacations doesn't mean issues don't crop up when you're not there. I used my sister's summer house once over Thanksgiving weekend, when I got there her basement was flooded because of some issue with the boiler. That was fun! But if I hadn't been there to deal with it, who knows when she would have found it and what damage would have been done - she hardly ever went out there in the winter. She also issues with guests, like her in laws who would go out there for a weekend in the winter, set the heat at 75* and then forget about it, causing her oil tank to run dry sooner than anticipated....had to go out and do storm prep for every hurricane...etc etc
Maine is awesome, but yes, kinda far. Many NY'ers have property there. It's good if you are in a position to spend extended time there, like if you are a teacher and have 2 months off. Kinda impractical to own and only go up there for short stays.
Upstate NY is massive, there are so many affordable but not depressed or ghetto areas to buy something, and within a reasonable driving distance.
The PA thing is played out. Many people sold or walked away.
Deals can be found in Vermont or NH as well.
Jersey and CT are too pricey.
I think your best bet is to look upstate.
I just might hold out for Maine until retirement (10 years, Ughhhhh!) for a vacation home.
As previously posted in other post , I go up there 1-2 times per year. Absolutely love it. I thought about just buying the land now , paid off in 10 years , then build a SMALL log cabin on it.
During retirement, I wouldn't care about the 6 +/- drive. To do that drive for a "weekend getaway " is not worth it.
If you want a place in the middle of nowhere you may be stuck with a depressed area, for me I'd rather have a place near Saratoga...great town, close to the Adirondacks, Lake George, Glens Falls. But, there are often suburban areas.
The flip side is how far away do you want to be if something happens? Just because you only use it for vacations doesn't mean issues don't crop up when you're not there. I used my sister's summer house once over Thanksgiving weekend, when I got there her basement was flooded because of some issue with the boiler. That was fun! But if I hadn't been there to deal with it, who knows when she would have found it and what damage would have been done - she hardly ever went out there in the winter. She also issues with guests, like her in laws who would go out there for a weekend in the winter, set the heat at 75* and then forget about it, causing her oil tank to run dry sooner than anticipated....had to go out and do storm prep for every hurricane...etc etc
Yes, it does come with headaches. You have to be able to sleep at night being MANY hours away.
If anyone has a vacation or 2nd house that has an internet connection I would always suggest a basic alarm system (doesn't have to be centrally monitored) that has a flood sensor, freeze sensor and motion sensors. I've been in the situation where my thermostat emailed me that the temperature was dropping because someone turned off the furnace during an inspection, and that would have quickly become VERY expensive due to burst pipes.
If you want a place in the middle of nowhere you may be stuck with a depressed area, for me I'd rather have a place near Saratoga...great town, close to the Adirondacks, Lake George, Glens Falls. But, there are often suburban areas.
The flip side is how far away do you want to be if something happens? Just because you only use it for vacations doesn't mean issues don't crop up when you're not there. I used my sister's summer house once over Thanksgiving weekend, when I got there her basement was flooded because of some issue with the boiler. That was fun! But if I hadn't been there to deal with it, who knows when she would have found it and what damage would have been done - she hardly ever went out there in the winter. She also issues with guests, like her in laws who would go out there for a weekend in the winter, set the heat at 75* and then forget about it, causing her oil tank to run dry sooner than anticipated....had to go out and do storm prep for every hurricane...etc etc
Yes, it does come with headaches. You have to be able to sleep at night being MANY hours away.
I searched. I wasn't planning on spending 500k for a dump with 12K+++++ in taxes.
we sold our second home in pike county in the pocono's in 2012 . prices have been just falling ever since .
after 5 years of owning a vacation home i can say it was a bad idea . for what it ends up costing once you figure in the money tied up in the house we could have stayed at a great hotel every time we went .
we paid cash and it cost us about 10k a year to keep going but that does not include another 10k in income we gave up on the money we bought with .
the harsh winters are an issue to as there are power outages and the heat is down . our monitor would call us 1-,2am to tell us the temperature is dropping in the house .
you also tend to go no where else since the house costs so much ,you feel guilty .
like a boat the happiest day is the day you buy it and the day you sell it .
we sold our second home in pike county in the pocono's in 2012 . prices have been just falling ever since .
after 5 years of owning a vacation home i can say it was a bad idea . for what it ends up costing once you figure in the money tied up in the house we could have stayed at a great hotel every time we went .
we paid cash and it cost us about 10k a year to keep going but that does not include another 10k in income we gave up on the money we bought with .
the harsh winters are an issue to as there are power outages and the heat is down . our monitor would call us 1-,2am to tell us the temperature is dropping in the house .
you also tend to go no where else since the house costs so much ,you feel guilty .
like a boat the happiest day is the day you buy it and the day you sell it .
I take that into consideration all the time!
I can't believe how depressed that area became.
The "Boat" thing, sorta like an RV (which I've considered) same scenario.
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