Also keep an eye on fees. Details at that 3 season NH link show HOA $145, (I assume monthly, year round) and taxes $2k - that’s lower than a lot of other larger, year round condos.
@abasket yes, it sounds like a lot of money for that much space. Location, location, location. One of my kids has a studio in NYC that is similar in square feet that costs WAY more than that (MORE than double it)!
From time to time we have thought of buying a vacation home, and I always come out opting to save the money to go into the general vacation pool. At $250k, you will need to tie up $50k in a down payment and your annual mortgage payments will be $11k±. Add tax, insurance, utilities, routine maintenance you are probably at $15k+ a year (plus the occasional big capex years for roof, heaters, plumbing, major appliances, etc…). Yes, you are slowly building equity but $15k represents a lot of nights at nice hotels/resorts and you can go somewhere different each time. The other issue with vacation homes are all the request from friends and relatives to “use” your vacation home. Hard to say no, but now you have additional wear and tear. You could try to rent your home when you are not using it, but now you have another kind of hassle, even if you use a management company.
For us at least, it seems better to “rent” than own. Best yet, be the friend of the person who owns!
Lots of great ideas and links. I am enjoying looking at them. I know someone mentioned warmer climate but I travel to Florida for business a lot. It is just too hot for us, but I usually extend the trip to get in some beach time. I like the cool fall and spring days up here. I have been keeping an eye just outside the Cape Cod area for years. I know the bridges are going to have major work so the traffic is going to be a nightmare for a while. BKSquared - I do understand your point of view. When we purchased our current home 20 years ago, we chose a lower priced home so that we can have extra $ to travel and we have done so much of it. We still have lots of places on our list but started thinking more and more about getting a weekend getaway. Probably pandemic and low interest rates is nagging at me. Also, maybe that can eventually be our retirement home.
If you have time and you want to avoid that last three hours, the thing to do is take the Garden State Parkway to the end by Cape May, and take the ferry over to Delaware–it puts you just a few minutes drive from Rehoboth. Might not take any less time, but a leisurely ride across the Delaware Bay beats traffic any time!
Look in Plymouth Massachusetts. Just off cape but nice. There are some ponds with houses nearby. And you don’t have the headaches of dealing with the bridges to get on Cape.
HOw far are the Poconos? Woodloch is wonderful and there are townhouses in your price range: https://www.woodloch.com/
Look at the towns of Poultney and Wells VT. They boarder Lake St. Catherine. About 3 1/2 hours from Bethel, CT.
surfcity, this is actually a great idea. These are monthly rentals from September on.
Five hours is a lot of driving if you are thinking of weekend trips.
We just got back from Cape Cod and always makes me think about a home there, but homes within walking distant to water are too pricey. Also love the Berkshires. Like BKsquared I still come out on the side of renting, not owning, to be able to go lots of different places. OTOH, having a place to go to without having to work at it would be nice.
We have friends that have homes in Sullivan County, NY. Both have ponds on their properties and the prices are low. There has been more economic development in the last few years, but still not a lot of restaurants or things to do. Maybe too close to Putnam Cty.
To me the ideal distance away from a weekend vacation home is no more than 2 1/2 hours. If you are doing a several months thing (like people with Florida homes), longer would work.
I was thinking the same about driving distance. 3 hours away max.
We lived 5 hours away from my bil’s cottage, it was too hard for even 3 day weekends. It was difficult to get up there but we had young kids at home.
Now we live 1 hour 15 minutes away and that’s kinda short. We’d rather stay home but going to the family cottage doesn’t hold the appeal that it did when we had kids at home. But we have lots to do here and can go for day trips when it’s a little over an hour.
3 hours. Not so close that it feels like home. Not so far that it takes all day to get home.
But then, I don’t think I’m the one to talk about a cottage. Lots of work when I have lots of work to do at my primary house.
If you want a lake home you don’t want Wilmington NC. That is beach territory and there is a LOT of upkeep and extras (hurricane insurance) that go along with having a beach house.