Why Buy a Second Home

Owning a home at all can be really nerve-wrecking for some people, but the idea of a second home can be pure anxiety. We have often debated owning a second home, especially because we have out of state family and feel that sometimes the cost of a vacation rental could be avoided by just buying a home where they live. Obviously this isn’t a reason for many people, but when we consistently drop $1000 on a vacation rental the costs add up over the years.

In 2019 we made 4 trips to see family, granted 2 were very unexpected and were not on the best terms are they were for two funerals, but they were still expensive trips and only 2 weeks apart. The cost could have been avoided if we had only bit the bullet and bought a quaint vacation home.

When debating the costs there are many great online resources such as this great Mortgage Calculator that would tell us to the dollar what many places would cost us per month. Many leaving us with the ability to pay multiple months at a time because the real estate market in the area where my family is from is so affordable and a little off the beaten path.

Obviously we would weigh the pros and cons before jumping into anything like this.

Pros:

The ability to travel to see family whenever we wanted without having to plan around other travelers.

We could let other out of town family use the dwelling when we were not there.

We could store cooking supplies there to limit eating out on vacation. I personally just love to cook even when we are away from home.

Multiple trips per year even during peak travel times.

Cons:

Finding someone to manage the property when we weren’t able to be there including lawncare and other things that happen when you aren’t in a home constantly such as water leaks, etc.

Another mortgage and taxes.

Expenses to “start a home” such as pots and pans and other kitchen necessities. Bedroom furnishings, etc.

Worries that someone would break something when we weren’t there.

Do you own a second home? I would love to hear experiences from people who do especially those who own in another state or even another country. How do you manage my short list of cons? Keep your eyes peeled to Product Review Cafe for more on this topic in the future as we dive deeper into the idea of owning a second home.

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.