<p>My husband and I are thinking of getting a 2nd home. We are in our mid 40’s and empty nesters. We are from Iowa and want to leave a lot in the winter to somewhere warmer. We are considering the Ozarks and Branson area. Ideally, we would like somewhere warmer in the winter but we want to be able to drive there. Also, we love playing in the water and would love to go there in the summer also. </p>
<p>We believe we could look at it as an investment if we don’t love it or use it often. We could try it and sell it in 5 years.</p>
<p>Or, we could just travel for a couple of weeks at a time. But, I will need a pet friendly place because I want to bring my Maltese as often as I can. That isn’t always easy. We prefer to drive because 1) Omaha doesn’t have a lot of direct flights 2) sometimes flying, because of the connecting flights, is only slightly faster 3) I haven’t flown with my Maltese and haven’t investigated how it works. Any insight is appreciated.</p>
<p>Where would you go? Would you nix the idea of an investment and see more of the world and maybe pull the trigger after a favorite place is found. We could miss the opportunity to buy at lower prices. Do you have a bucket list of places that are warm that you can share with me?</p>
<p>I, personally, would travel rather than being tied to one place. My in-laws rent a place for 2-3 months every winter. That would work better for me. One year, I might want to be in Florida, the next winter Savannah or Hawaii or a foreign trip. Your dog is small and that makes travel easier. I have seen little dogs like that under the seats on airplanes. If you do buy, can you get a place with a caretaker? Something will break when you are in Iowa!</p>
<p>We prefer the idea of a vacation home. A “home” is more relaxing and familiar and feels more like a “get away” - if it’s a drive away, you can choose to go for short periods (weekends) or longer at your own leisure without as many complications (booking flights, hotels, etc.) If you still want to travel, you could think about renting out your vacation home a few weeks of the year - even if just to friends/family - so you can pocket some extra $$$ to take a trip or two outside of the vacation home time.</p>
<p>I can’t help you much with drivable places near Iowa that has water also available. I do hear of people here (Ohio) liking to drive to the Tenessee for summer vacations and they talk of lakeside homes with water recreation.</p>
<p>Some people go for the motor home at this point - that way you can drive places, take the dog, and go to whatever area of the country suits the weather/activities/children needs of the moment.</p>
<p>Personally, I would like to travel some before getting a second/retirement home. Just drive or fly someplace and park it there for a week or so, taking day trips to see the sights, dine out, golf, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t have much advice for you, but my parents use a VRBO type situation (vacation rental by owner) to rent the same condo in Florida every summer. They’ve been doing it for 20 years, so it is their home away from home without being responsible at all for it. When we kids were young we would go for two weeks at a time, now my parents go for three months or more at a time. It is a bummer in that we can’t just get up and go drive there for weekends whenever we want, it is far away and we book the condo every year a year in advance to secure availability, but I wonder if something like that might take care of your itch to travel without the hassle of maintaining a second property. This is probably what we will end up doing as it is more practical than buying a second property, and it leaves the freedom to travel elsewhere without paying for a property we’re not using. I say let somebody else worry about taking care of the property you want to vacation in, unless maintaining another house is something that really appeals to you.</p>
<p>You should do what you want if you have the funds, but don’t look at a vacation home as an investment that you could later sell at a profit. Resale in leisure or retirement areas like Branson does not appreciate as quickly (sometimes not at all). Figure in all of your costs for furnishings, maintenance, property taxes etc. Don’t count on rental income to pay the costs of holding the property.</p>
<p>When I retire I would like to do the same…have a warm-weather spot where I can take my dogs 3 or 4 months a year. I think the economics of renting may work out the same, with more freedom, than being tied to one place that, once I’m gone, my kids are likely not going to want to be saddled with and may have trouble selling.</p>
<p>Here’s a thought. Get in your car and drive as far south as you’d find reasonable. Head towards a lake, since oceans are obviously too far away. Stake out the area: could you afford a home in these parts? Would you want to live here? What would you do with your free time in this area (golf? take classes? go water skiing? garden? etc.)</p>
<p>Deciding whether you’d prefer to travel or settle down to a 2nd home is very individual. It also depends greatly on where that 2nd home is. Could you rent there for awhile before you buy? While you’re taking a look at your bucket list, did you list the places where you’d like to travel? Could any of those become a 2nd home? Could you do both?</p>
<p>^^Good advice. Maybe spend at least a long weekend or a week in a prospective place before you decide to rent or buy too to see if it fits your needs practically, not just visually.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation to spend a good amount of time in a place before you decide to buy a second home there. Also, if you want your adult kids to visit–it should be a place that they enjoy and will want to visit. We rent our vacation home (lucked out and have had the same renters–nice people–for three years). It pays all of our expenses.</p>
<p>My H is a workaholic and he’ll never retire. The best I can do is try to get him to be less hands-on in the day-to-day work in his company. At that point, I’m hoping we’ll be able to travel more.</p>
<p>My inlaws own a condo in Fl. With the monthly HOA fees, maintenance (interior), insurance and property taxes, they could spend a tremendous amount of time at fine resorts all over the world.</p>
<p>However, they don’t rent this out and so when they (or other family members visit) all that needs to be taken is clothes (and they keep a full wardrobe there, so they don’t even have tor bring much of that.) It is a nice, easy way to vacation.</p>
<p>My dad lives in a small town in Michigan but owns a place in Lake Wales Florida where he goes for the winter to get away from the snow. As long as you can afford it without renting it out it’s a great idea. However unless you are going to be there long enough it can end up to be a pain. My dad also owns a small cabin on a lake in Michigan however it seems every time he is at the cabin he spends most of his time on household maintenance projects…</p>
<p>Ownership does come with significant costs. We prefer to have the disposable income to travel and rent what we feel like rather than any specific spot, tho we may change our minds if our kids finally decide where they are going to settle. If you own a condo or similar, there are maintenance fees or dues, if you own a house, the list of things to fix or repair similarly just keeps growing! I love the ability to go to different places or revisit favorite places instead of being tied to one spot. </p>
<p>One compromise might be purchasing a timeshare, but that has annual fees as well and is generally for a week or two per year. Have read and heard good things about VRBO and airbnb. Have seen folks travel with small dogs in soft carriers under the seat in front of them on planes. </p>
<p>Agree you should have several long stays anywhere you’re considering buying to be sure you want to own a place there.</p>
<p>We’re in a wonderful place that we feel is magical and rejuvenating and we haven’t gotten tired of it. We vacationed here for 10 years before we bought a place, and we’ve owned our place for 6 years. We aren’t here during the off-season and it’s always fun to come back and see what’s new in the summer. I think if you are in a place that you love, you don’t feel tied down. We like to travel, but we can do it in the fall/winter.</p>
<p>Friends bought a teardrop a few years ago and love it.
D takes her 20 lb. dog on flights. The dog need to be sedated (not sure if ALL dogs need to be but this is what the vet suggested). Works ok.
We owned a second home for 10 years. I really miss the property but not the upkeep and repairs. If we ever did have another place it would need to be pretty new and maintenance free. I also would like a situation where someone opens it and gets it dusted and the spider webs down before we arrive. Gets the heat going and so on.</p>
<p>I would second the suggestion to do a VRBO for a few years in different places. You can find something reasonable in just about every location you can think of. Rent for a couple of weeks or months in places of your choosing and get a feel for what it would be like to live there. Invest once you have found the place where you think you would be happy. </p>
<p>We do the VRBO often for vacations abroad or in the islands- we have found with teenagers we appreciate the space of a condo, townhouse or villa. Some locations are surprisingly reasonable when you compare them to what a good hotel would be for a week or two.</p>
<p>We bought a second house near the water in a place we know well. It’s a near enough drive that we can go every weekend—and every weekend feels like we’re on vacation.</p>
<p>We have taken one real trip since we bought this, but mostly we are happy to be able to walk in without luggage (if we chose), and have everything stocked and ready.</p>
<p>I can’t help you with specifics of place as we are on the East Coast. but I will say, we did not buy as investment; we hope to die in this home, many years from now.</p>
<p>I would steer well clear of timeshares…an albatross in so many cases. I’ve used VRBO and have had some great stays. I’d love to spend January-March in a rental house in Watercolor or Rosemary Beach. Have to get these kids through college and then update my 15 year old vehicle before I can even contemplate that.</p>