Considering a second home?

If It Causes Stress, Is It Really a Vacation Home?

Excerpts:

EVERYONE needs a place to live, but no one needs a second home. So choosing which vacation home to buy and where should be enjoyable. Still, people routinely buy second homes that end up being less than they expected, or worse.

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Bad neighbors abound everywhere, but they seem particularly bothersome when they are in places where you go to relax. Shouldn’t everyone just be grateful to be sitting in the sun or at fireside near the ski slopes?

The dynamics of second homeownership often conspire against this, said Milton F. Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, an organization that does research on wealthy consumers. “People become slaves to their homes. They buy into the headlines and that makes them pretty miserable with their vacation homes.”

Mr. Pedraza said one common cause of second-home misery was that owners failed to factor in how much time and money were needed to maintain a place from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.

My colleague Ron Lieber recently wrote about answering the tough financial questions that children ask their parents. That made me think that adults buying second homes should ask equally tough questions — of themselves. Why, after all, do you want a second home? What are you going to use it for? Do you have any idea how much it is really going to cost?

While many parts of the country are still struggling with falling home prices, a survey from the National Association of Realtors said sales of second homes were up 7.9 percent last year, compared with a 7.1 percent increase for primary residences. And this is the time of year when people begin to look for the winter rentals that often turn into second homes.

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here’s a look at what you should know before buying a second home

1. It's not an investment:
   
   
   
   • The value of a home can go down. Vacation properties are certainly not immune
     
   • Most buyers underestimated the maintenance costs of a second home.
     
   
   
2. It's less relaxing
   
3. It's time consuming: Since people do not use their second homes regularly, they cannot just walk in as if it were their primary residence. At a minimum, they have to open up the house when they arrive, make sure everything still works and close it down when they leave.
   
4. It's confounding
   

Comments: Both my parents and Kathee's parents had two homes. Kathee's folks had a simple rural home on 2 acres in Phlox Wisconsin and a double wide mobile home in Florida. My folks had a Summer home in Dallas and a simple trailer in Pharr TX. For us we don't want two homes. We want to be one place for all of the year and then perhaps travel 3 weeks out of the year. I don't want 2 homes to take care of! Additionally I don't want to divide my time between two worship communities. I want to have one church in which to serve and worship. It may not be in Plymouth MN. But only one home!