House Away from Home: Pros and Cons to Owning a Vacation Home
Summer is the best time for a little getaway. Whether you’re packing up the family for a cross-country road trip or heading out to the lake with friends, it’s always nice to kick back, relax, and get away for a little while. While you’re laying out by the pool, sitting around the campfire, or otherwise enjoying the peace of vacation life, you may start to think about how great it would be to own this slice of vacation paradise.
Vacation homes come in many shapes, sizes, and locations, and the idea of having a home-away-from-home can be quite tempting, but there are some things to consider. After all, purchasing real estate can be an expensive investment and you want to be sure you’re making the right choice.
Why You Shouldn’t Consider Owning a Vacation Home
You Have Wanderlust
Wanderlust is loosely defined as a desire to continually roam and seek out new places. If the thought of returning to the same place year after year sounds boring or undesirable to you, owning a vacation home may not be the best choice. Unless you have a plan to rent out your home, it typically doesn’t make sense to own a vacation property if you’d rather visit new locations.
You Don’t Vacation Often
If you’re planning to use your vacation home as a seasonal residence- a place to spend summers or winters away from your regular home- it might be a great choice, but if you’ll only use it for a week a year, you may want to simply rent and save yourself money and hassle.
You’re Not Financially Ready
Owning any home is expensive. There’s maintenance, upkeep, taxes, and sometimes Homeowners or Condo Association (HOA or COA) dues. The burden gets even harder to bear with a vacation home as you’ll most likely need to hire someone for things you may take for granted in your standard home. From lawns that need to be mowed to inspecting for damage after a storm, you’ll need to have boots-on-the-ground which likely means you’ll need to pay someone for this service if you can’t do it yourself.
Why You Should Consider Owning a Vacation Home
You Enjoy Consistent Vacations
Maybe you like knowing your neighbors well or maybe you want your kids to have the same “up north” experiences you had while growing up. If you’re planning to use the property many times a year, owning can be more affordable than renting and can build equity for the future.
You Have a Plan to Rent It Out
Depending where you’re planning on buying, you may be able to recoup the cost or even make a profit by renting out your home to other vacationers. Properties on the water or near big-name attractions can command impressive nightly or weekly rates and sites like AirBnB make it easy to find people interested in renting. Make sure you find out any rules about renting or subletting before purchasing a property and have a plan as to who will handle any cleaning or maintenance.
You Want Another Citizenship
Buying a vacation home over a certain dollar value can fast-track your path to citizenship in some countries. This can be useful for those who are worried about the political climate in their home country, are interested in staying in another country for many years, or whose travel can be limited by their country’s passport restrictions. Learn more about Citizenship by Investment here!
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It’s great that you elaborated about how by renting your vacation house, you can recoup your investment and make a profit out of it. We’re thinking about purchasing a vacation cabin, so we’ll have a place to vacation, and we’ll rent it during the year. But we weren’t completely sure about it because we’re worried about it not working out for us. After reading your piece, I think it could be a good investment for us, and we’re definitely going to consult a professional first. Thanks for your information about owning a vacation home.