Educate me on owning a second property

[Rubberdown]

So, we are thinking of buying a second property as a weekend place. I feel like o don’t want to spend more than 175k and I don’t want to spend that.

My job is very stressful for me and we have quite a bit of extended family drama so it would be great to have a place to go to get away from it all. We used to spend every weekend out at the family farm but that piece of property is no longer something we can use.

We also have a 3 year old and I’d like a nice place to go and make some memories with him.

I am afraid of another thing to take care of and maintain constantly.

Alternative is to buy a different house that lends itself to having a shop so I can work on my old cars which I really miss doing. Also we just don’t have enough room or storage and with a 3.5 year old it’s pretty danged messy. No dedicated play rooms or anything like that.

My current house will be paid off in a couple years. We could sell, or get some of our equity out of it, keep the house as a rental, and purchase a new home. If we buy another house hopefully it will be right up the road so that may lend itself to having the rental property.

Advise me all of you that have experience with this.

[snipermedic]

Wait till it’s paid off world is crazy. Rental property is alwAys a good thing.

[Tony Pic]

If you do purchase a second home or property, what you need to consider is how far you are willing to drive to get there. That is a huge factor. Because if you have to spend 5 hours getting there and 5 hours back. You kill a whole day in travel, plus road expenses and travel danger.
It might be a good time to start planning a retirement property. Your budget should be able to buy you a good chunk of land. Nothing is getting cheaper.

[PROD49]

Buyers market right now and interest rates are low. We love having a second property BUT it is something else just to take care of. I find myself hunting less on a hunting property I own vs a lease.

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[bowhntrmatt]

I have a small place down at the coast we use on weekends. Nothing fancy, but a nice place to stay. Upkeep isn’t bad, I have a neighbor that mows for me and We knock out little projects when they arise. The place gets used quite a bit between us and friends/family that want to stay there.

But it sounds like you are outgrowing your primary residence. Might be better in the long run to do your second option. Figure out how much you can rent your home out for, do a cash-out refi leaving yourself a couple hundred in cash flow, and invest in a larger home that has your shop on it. Then your getaway is right out your back door.

[Nova]

Maybe a lake house?

[Charlie]

If you do purchase a second home or property, what you need to consider is how far you are willing to drive to get there. That is a huge factor. Because if you have to spend 5 hours getting there and 5 hours back. You kill a whole day in travel, plus road expenses and travel danger.
It might be a good time to start planning a retirement property. Your budget should be able to buy you a good chunk of land. Nothing is getting cheaper.

Good advice here. When I was looking for property about 10 years ago, a buddy advised me to find something relatively close to home. I had been looking north of Del Rio at the time (about a 3 hour drive from home) because the land is more affordable. He said "The longer distance will deter you from going as often. Find something closer, even if you have to buy fewer acres because it might be more expensive per acre." I bought property that is 2 hours from home, which allows me to make a day trip occasionally. Another thing to remember is that prices continually increase on real estate. Buy something now, and eventually you can sell it for more and do something else with that money.

[Man]

We have a second place on the coast 11 acres. The strict HOA rules have kept us from being able to do anything with/enjoy the property. No camping, No mobile homes, $250K house minimum, no hunting, no animals, no nothing! Been out there 3 times in the past 8 years. The wife bought the place just before we met so I had no say so in the purchase. Not sure what she was thinking and sure wish she would give it up already so we can purchase some property that we can actually enjoy.
sorry for the rant. Good luck on your property search!

[Throwin Darts]

I have a ranch, place, farm, or whatever TBH is calling it these days with a cabin on it. I'd keep the drive as short as possible or you won't be using it enough to justify it. We used to be 2.5 hours from it and it was too far with the amount of trips we made. We now live 1.5 hours away and that is about the max I'd want to get from it.

I'd think about taxes. With a second, non-homestead, property those taxes can get away from you quick.

Another problem I have is getting out there and only doing work and not stopping to enjoy the place. After 3 years I'm slowly getting better at that. I got to where I have everything I need out there so that I'm not spending any time packing to head out there. We can just get in the car and go. I'm also about to hire out the mowing and the cleaning as well so I don't have to mess with that when I get there either.

[Tbar]

When I was a kid every Friday night grandad, mom, dad, my brother and I would go out to the "property." It was a very memorable part of my childhood.

Years later when my wife and I had kids we continued the tradition. We built a cabin carrying just the amount of materials that we could use that Saturday and Sunday. Took 2 years. Lots of memories for the kiddos.

Like you I had a very stressful job..........going out to the property was my psychiatrist. There was always something that had to be done. Shredding fields, cutting firewood and building things etc.


Our cabin that we had when I was a kid.




The cabin my wife and I built.

[Shakey Head]

With kids that age, try to find something within 2 hours. In a few years, your saturdays will be filled with kids sports. A place you can get to afterwards and back Sunday afternoon will be critical to your continued use during the never ending kids sport seasons.

We are using ours to teach our kids how to work with their hands, take care of property, etc. I still look for small victories and victories are becoming more frequent.

[Outback]

I'm in south Houston and my friends that have beach houses in the Galveston area seem to spend way more time and energy on upkeep than actually enjoying them. Most don't seem to use them very often and the ones who rent them don't seem to make much money. Their friends use them often! So, I would not do a beach house. It sounds so much better than it is. When I go to our family ranch (5 hours away), I spend as much time working on it than I do hunting it. But, working on it is therapeutic. If upkeep and repair isn't therapeutic for you, you might prefer just scheduling more vacations. It would be much cheaper. If you plan to rent it out while you aren't using it, make certain it will rent.

[Atfulldraw]

When I was a kid, I thought it would be cool to have several houses.

Now as an adult, we have three houses....and that is approximately three more than I want.

All we did for the last two weeks was mow grass and work on the houses in Texas, and now we are headed to Florida to work on the house there

[dfkoon]

I had a lake house. It was a family place that got expanded from a simple less than 100 sf to 3k+.. When my son was young we spent a lot of time there. Making it bigger put a burden of maintenance. Plus (and this was on Texoma) drougths and floods made it difficult to enjoy. Turned from pleasure to work. Only time I went up there was to work as my son grew older. I miss the place, but honestly would enjoy acreage more.

[Rubberdown]

Keep em coming y’all.