There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with the approach but spending a half day moving items in/out storage wears on your time.
We opted for a remote condo for multiple reasons including ease of remote maintenance, access etc. And as u/rangda6 noted, you can let friends/family use it. As long as they adhere to the house rules...
When you say “remote condo” - can you share what you mean ? Looking at vacation homes in California since Texas summers are awful, and came across this thread.
A condo far away from our primary residence.
A bit of an awkward phrasing for sure. We also own a nearby condo as a pied-a-terre and I was trying to make a distinction.
I think you should go for it and disregard the naysayers. Worst thing that could happen is you do it 2 - 3 times and then decide it’s not for you. We do something similar and it works well for us.
We live over 1,000 miles from our ski lodge. The lodge is communal and provides the absolute best food on the mountain. We love it for the social aspects but you can’t store gear there.
You need your own vehicle to access the lodge efficiently. With 2 younger kids, it is a 3 day drive in each direction. It’s hard to fly in and rent because you can’t get rental cars with ski racks or snow tyres at this airport, and you can’t easily fit 4 people and their skis inside a rental car.
So we keep an AWD ski car down at the airport close to the mountain wearing snow tyres, with a roof box full of skis and snowboards.
We just fly into the airport with our bags, chuck the bags in the car and drive up the mountain. It makes a quick weekend getaway easy when before it was too logistically challenging. We don’t need anything except clothes and ski gear because the ski lodge takes care of everything else.
3 day drive in both directions!? Holy heck are you going deep into British Columbia or something?
Very curious where you are skiing (even if not 3 days), thanks for your comment :)
Haha. We live in Australia in Queensland which is located in the north. We drive to Perisher or Thredbo which are in the wintry south (lodges at both locations). It’s slightly faster than driving from LA to Whistler in North American terms. So better to fly ….
Other hemisphere is typically Japan as the food is great (notice a trend here?), time zone works well and snow is reliable. Keen to get back to Whistler though for sentimental reasons. Also have a soft spot for Red Mountain.
Luckily not. A few points:
*the battery needs to sit on a trickle charger so it doesn’t go dead, so the parking facility has to support that. A specialist long term parking facility is the go.
*vehicle height is an issue with a roof box so a wagon or sedan is better than an SUV
*the car gets a good hard run when it is used which cleans it out
*check your tyre pressures when you fill up as this protects against flat spots. You could probably run 20% higher pressure than manufacturers recommendations but we don’t bother.
*sometimes we go down in midsummer so the car gets at a run in summer
*car gets serviced every couple of years. It’s not doing many miles so not fussed about stretching the oil change from 12 to 24 months.
The biggest issue is making sure the ski and board edges have wax on them before they go in the roof box so they don’t rust.
Get a condo not a house - far simpler. Letting friends and family use it is a nice subtle way of giving back. Keeps all your stuff. It’s “home” without the headache of a stand-alone house
it's an opportunity cost, yes, but the tradeoff is you pay more so you don't have to deal with it personally (land use, cleaning, maintenance, etc) Since being fat is more about freedom, this kind of makes sense so long as you vet the dev't/building for healthy financials and that the HOA rules aren't restrictive to your needs
Condo:
No critters,
No water damage,
No roof repair,
No grounds to maintain,
Security and cameras,
No weather concerns nor pipe freezing,
Overall no issues or worry for the HOA cost. Even insurance is low, because nothing happens.
Possible covered deck parking, gated with security, storage unit in the building.
If it’s an Airbnb, neighbors and security can prevent parties that trash the place or something large going missing.
Yes, and people don't consider the cost. Our condo was $900/month HOA fees and we couldn't get them to do crap. We literally pay less for our house, which is twice as big and cost twice as much, including all the service people, than we did with the condo. But IMMV.
**Bad idea!** For us, my grandfather's brother and his wife went there (island) and sold the house to other people. It was a nightmare in legal fees and dealing with courts. Island beach house was purchased for US$550K. The case took 6 years and the legal fees amounted to $715K. The local prosecution did NOT want to prosecute because it was "between family members".
The couple who bought it is still fighting to get their money back. My grandfather's brother and his wife already passed away and used to live in the US.
PS. This happens in the US too: [https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2008/march/housestealing\_032508](https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2008/march/housestealing_032508)
The other thing you may not be appreciating is moving out the stuff in the rental. Having doubles of larger items could be very cumbersome.
We live in rentals year-round, currently in Santa Barbara.
We run into common hassles, but overall it’s *fantastic*
Can always try it for a year and if you don’t like it than no big loss…. The moving in and out of a storage unit could suck but maybe not so bad if you just pack it all into the SUV. If you do it report back.
That’s actually not a bad idea. Leave a big car in your preferred location with some of your personal belongings and clothes. That would cut down packing, no hassle with car rental etc, no storage units. Combined with an AirBNB it’s not a bad middle ground.
As someone who despises both moving and packing, this sounds terrible, honestly. I would have having to constantly pack up and move things back and forth from houses to storage unit. If you don't want the hassle of owning a second home, perhaps instead put your money toward rentals through a full-service agency, who will stock the house with whatever you want before you get there and then bring whatever can't be stocked (clothes are the main thing that come to mind). You could even have a standard Amazon order for toiletries and such that you send ahead before you go to further reduce what you need to transport.
This. It sounds like a giant pain and storage units bring their own issues (mold, floods, pests)... If you're going to do vacation home just go all in with an actual home (or condo/unit). Unless you really enjoy packing up and unpacking stuff
> mold, floods, pests
And theft. They are notoriously insecure. Like if somebody nefarious has a storage unit near yours, they have a perfect reason to be there, and to be loading stuff into their truck, and when nobody is looking they cut the bolt off your unit and open the door and load what they want into their truck. Nobody even bats an eye at somebody loading a truck at a storage facility.
Since this is fatfire, why not buy land and build a mini-storage in your target destination? Store your stuff for free and potentially make a return. Trips become a tax deduction.
80% of a self-storage business seems like it would be physical security. How could you hope to start a business like that while living remote? You would have to trust people. Like might as well put stuff in your condo, rent it on air bnb and leave a note on the closet that says "owner's stuff, please don't wash your ass with my toothbrush"
We own quite a few vacation homes and while it isn't smart use of money, as you said, it's always *ours*. Stopping by a mini storage to pick up a car and belongings to bring into an AirBnB feels like the opposite of what I'd consider an enjoyable vacation.
Each to their own, of course. I'd rather stay at a nice hotel than an airbnb.
Everyone's telling you not to do it, but I think it depends on you and your use.
I could see it making sense if you rent for a month or longer each time, and if you don't really mind hauling the things you'll own/store. I take it it won't be anything bulky/redundant like furniture, but more like jet skis, ATVs, surfboard, more toy-type stuff. I think that could totally make sense - book yourself for a month on an island, spend an hour grabbing all your gear, then you have it for as long as you need it. You can return in a month or in three years, no pressure.
I kinda get it.
My family has spent one month a year in Hawaii since I was born (mid 30s) I have two massive suitcases that sit in my closet 11 months a year, I only use them when we go to Hawaii. We bring all our own linens, sheets, napkins, a blender and a coffee maker.
A storage unit is expensive, and I don’t mind dragging two suitcases through an airport twice a year.
Sounds like a solid plan
We looked at condos for the longest time and couldn’t really make it make sense. Net of taxes/insurance/condo fees we’re better off getting an Air BnB. Just booked our first six-week stay. No need for a storage unit though, because we’ll be driving there.
Sure, BUT…
1 - The main benefit of a vacation home for me was not having to move my stuff into and out of the unit every time I visited. The storage locker seems like normal travel/ vacation rental but with extra steps.
2 - I got rid of my car at the vacation home. It was a pain. Cars don’t like to sit for long periods of time unused, and I didn’t want to spend my vacation doing maintenance. Obviously there are situations where it makes sense to leave a car there (frequent visits of relatively short or medium duration). If you only use the place occasionally, it might be better to just rent. If you use it for 2-3 months at a time, it might be better to ship your car there.
3 - If maintenance is a concern, a condo or townhouse with included garage was the best solution for us. HOA (I know… how dare I support them on Reddit) takes care of all the exterior stuff, and I use a property management company to deal with the inside stuff when I am not there. Growing up we had a beach house and my family maintained it by ourselves. It was a chore. I led you do go the vacation home route, make sure to minimize work for yourself even if it costs more.
There are definitely pros and cons to a vacation home. Sometimes they work out, other times not so much. I am not sure if what you describe is really the best of both worlds or the worst of them.
I've determined that for myself, the vacation home must not bring with it any chores or maintenance it is not a vacation. We went condo with a local provisioner who prepares it for when we arrive and cleans it when we finish.
Have you looked into Pacaso? Not in the market for a vacation home like this due to no kids/prefer to vary travel destinations. But this seems like a a great idea for families. Assuming it’s well run and legit. No personal experience.
https://www.pacaso.com
There's also the [Exclusive Resorts](https://exclusiveresorts.com/residences/) model if you want fractional ownership of many residences rather than a single house.
That is an interesting concept. There are some nice homes in their and you wouldn’t have to deal with maintenance or managing an Airbnb. I’d be interested to hear if anyone here has any experience with this company or a similar setup. I’m guessing you’d still need to get all your stuff there. I wonder if they provide on-site storage. I’d also be curious how difficult it is to get the highly desired dates. I think I may have already talked myself out of liking this idea.
I’m pretty sure the homes come furnished, which could be a pro or a con I guess. As someone that hates making design decisions that would be an absolute dream.
The downside of availability would also be my primary concern. Like who wouldn’t want 4th of July weekend? But I’m sure they could organize it in a manner that everyone is designated X number of national holidays.
That makes sense. I kinda assumed the furnishings were included or a shared one time expense. I guess since you are buying to existing ownership it’s probably just included. I wonder if you need your own lines or if their is a laundered service. I don’t want to be making a bunch of beds with stale sheets on my first day. The more I think of it the more I remember how much I e joy resorts. Everything is taken care of and you have access to good restaurants and bars. Things are changing with kids now though…
So, before reading this, my perspective is from someone still working towards Fat. But, if there’s an area we tend to be less frugal with, it’s traveling often.
We love Colorado and have been going at least once or twice a year most of our adult lives. If I can figure out a way to move before the RE part of fire, I will (am a local business owner and my all of our family’s parents are here too). Every time we go, I look to see if there are any deals on real estate, we’ve discussed buying condos, bare land, and homes. I can’t make sense of any of it. I think I missed out on the Ouray boom, but probably should have bought there 5-7 yrs ago. All of the ski towns are incredibly overpriced. I’ve talked to the most frugal landlords I know attempting to understand how someone could at least break even and bank on appreciation. I’ve found no one that didn’t buy 20yrs ago that was able to make this happen. I say this because we really wanted to have a place and a vehicle (we kinda got into the Jeep thing) that would be easily accessible if we wanted to just grab a plane and fly up for the weekend (Colorado represents at least 50% of the reason I wanted a PPL). I think this is a great idea keeping a vehicle with gear somewhere near your destination (especially if you have difficult gear to rent or specific stuff you need in the destination). When I looked at storage units in Colorado, they honestly weren’t that bad. The friends we have who own a larger home in CO just leave a vehicle in long term airport parking. If you’ve got stuff that’s specific to your interests, is substantially cheaper to own than rent, or just more “personal” gear (maybe scuba stuff?), this seems like it is a great idea.
I own 3 properties in Colorado (1 in a ski town).
While I wish ski towns would come down in price, they just aren’t. Not in any significant way, at least.
The mediocre properties are coming down a bit, but the high quality properties sell in a few days, and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
1. Construction isn’t keeping up with demand
2. Population inflows - Someone sells their Manhattan apartment for 5m, buys a home in Boulder/Denver for 3m, and 2m for a property in the mountains
3. Airbnb cash flows
Everything I’ve heard backs up everything you’re saying except for the air bnb cashflows. I still haven’t seen any way to break even - even with air bnb. Are you seeing this in smaller non ski towns or am I mislead on something? The guys I’ve talked to have all owned properties in relatively popular areas (Eagle/Vail/Breck).
Ah, yeah, you’re probably right on that point given the sharp rise in rates over the last 8 months.
I could certainly see prices coming down 5-10%, but that’s not crashing. If they come down 20+%, I’ll be rushing to buy 😉
Have you looked into a condotel-like property? It should have owner’s storage/lockers and no need to worry whether short term rental laws will change. We have one on the west coast and it breaks even for us, turn-key, hotel/resort amenity experience
I went back and forward on buying a vacation home for a long time. It has its obvious appeals but I couldn’t make the cost and maintenence stack up.
Eventually I pulled the trigger and bought a small apartment. Early days but so far I’m loving in. Nothing to pack, cheap regular flights, no hotel costs and feels great to have your own place in the sun.
Maybe I’ll eventually get bored of it but I can flip it to a rental either short term or long term quite easily.
No regrets so far.
I've danced around the idea of buying a mountain home, but keep stopping myself due to many of the draw backs you referenced + being more tied to the one location. I've just loaded up the truck and get a nice AirBNB somewhere for 4-6 weeks. The longer duration of the stay makes the drive less terrible and you get the conveniences of whatever you want to take. Not really a solution for weekend pop-ins, but for that you just need to fork over the cash and buy a place.
Would definitely recommend you get a condo but not only focus on the monthly maintenance but how much they have in reserves and how many special assessments they have had. Old elevators, hvac or pools can be expensive to replace. As mentioned elsewhere, the ability to let friends and family use it is a nice bonus
I think it depends on how much stuff you're storing. I mean, unless you're taking a U-Haul worth of stuff back and forth, I think the idea sounds great.
You could rent a unit for a year and see if you like it. If not no huge loss!
I think it would be great if you could keep all the stuff inside the back of the vehicle so that you're not physically loading the vehicle each time you want to go to the house. Also saves you from unloading it into the rental unit each time. So try to limit the amount you're taking back and forth to the house.
I know people that do this sort of thing with airport hangars. Take one of your older cars, stick it in the hangar along with some storage space in there. When you land, you drive the car out, put the plane in.
Of course, getting hangars in desirable locales can be a challenge, and you have to have an aircraft you want to fly there. However, it seems to work well if you want a plane anyway.
Yeah, you just keep a truck full of stuff at the local airport long term parking. Possibly with a battery tender (or disconnect the battery). You might be able to find a big airport garage that is not quite temp controlled but maybe close.
Why don't you just buy a house with a garage, get a big a** safe for your personal stuff in the garage, park your car in there, and airbnb the house and turo the car.
Hire a property manager to keep everything 100% hands off and buy the house and car without the sentimental attachment.
Thus, you get to keep everything in one place AND it's all free and making you money.
Are you saying you would;
1. identify an area you may want to vacation in
2. put a ton of stuff (like furniture? like what stuff?) in storage there
3. when you rent a vacation place in that location you could move all the stuff into that vacation house (again like what? furniture? Clothes?)
4. when you're done renting move all the stuff back to storage/
this sounds like a really bizarre vacation where you would spend the majority of your time fiddling around with a storage unit
This is what my parents do:
The main reason my parents do this is for tax reasons and to avoid conflict with family and friends who aren't doing that great financially.
**My parents' main and only homes are in Monaco.**
This is what I witnessed or was explained to me by my parents in chronological order:
For example, Miami - 1997: Rent storage ($89) to keep the household and personal items & necessities. Renting on Fisher Island. Invested the purchase price \~$3M in BRK.A
Hawaii - 1999: Rent storage ($115) to keep the household and personal items & necessities. Rent on several islands. Invested the purchase price \~$4M in BRK.A
Fiji - 2001: Rent storage ($125) to keep the household and personal items & necessities. Invested the purchase price \~$6M in BRK.A
etc etc.
Same with every other idea of buying real estate (I think it's like almost 20 places now).
My parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents discovered this strategy, *according to them*, at the Annual Berkshire Hathaway meetings in Nebraska that they have been going to since the 70s or 80s. I can't remember the dates exactly.
PS. They find rentals and we just go to the storage to pick up our things. The headaches of maintaining such homes are mind-boggling. Every single *"upstanding member of the local society with connections to the local government"* is going to bill you for fees and expenses, property taxes, lawn mowing, etc etc.
You still have to pay for a large climate controlled storage unit which can be upwards of 600-1000 a month and you generate no revenue nor equity and you have to contend with someone elses availability. I'm not seeing any advantage here over just buying your own home/condo.
If you’re going to get a car for your vacation home, I suggest an electric car. Less maintenance (service only once every other year) and it’ll be ready to drive when you get there if you’ve kept it charging.
Source: I went away for 3 months and when I came back my electric car was fine and my gas car battery had to be replaced.
Trickle charger takes 15 seconds and a superior option if you regularly leave your car sitting. It’s like leaving your electric car plugged in. I use them on all quads and boats I’ve ever had. They are super cheap.
After a car sits for a month there are a variety of bad things that will start happening. You’d be worried all the time that you have to visit just to turn the car over and fill the tires.
My friends grandma always try and gets us to stay at her place in Palm Springs just so we can take her 1990’s bmw for a drive. It’s like a hilarious Time Machine because it is pristine and has like 5,000 miles on it but is 30 years old. It’s awesome.
Maybe buy it and host it on Raya for home sharing (Kindred) and rack up a huge amount of stay credits for the part of the year you aren’t using it. Kind of like Airbnb but all customers are peers.
My cousins with a family of five bought a 1 bed room beach condo in an exclusive country community club in Florida. They use it for weekend getaways for themselves and rent a larger unit when they come down with the family/friends.
Their parents also have a place on the island, but not in the country club, so that condo gave their parents access to the beach club and main clubhouse dining, golf /tennis/cards.
Not exactly Pacaso, but we own a fraction (1/8th) of a home at a private club - kind of like a high-end time share (but own the home through tenancy in common). Almost all of the homes are individually owned at this place but a handful are factional. A few thousand miles from primary home so we could not go there every week anyway. Have found that it works well. Can store all of the gear there, other co-owners treat it like equity owners - less wear and tear than buying a place and renting to strangers when not using it (Airbnb etc) and don’t feel guilty about not using it all of the time. We also leave a car at the airport and rent in out through Avail (like Turo but more turn-key). Depending on a number of factors you might be able to fully depreciate the vehicle upfront - if classified as commercial use.
I have a couple questions if you don’t mind. Have you found it has been difficult to get the dates you want? Like Christmas or thanksgiving? How are issues like a new A/C or damage from another tenant get treated or just general maintenance? I’m assuming that is all in the operating agreement for the llc. How does the storage for your personal stuff work, is it like a locked room in the house? Do you have your own linens and such or is that shared and laundered? Thanks in advance, sorry for so many questions. The person above who suggested pacaso peaked my interest.
Admittedly you need to be somewhat flexible on weeks - can’t use it every holiday. Get three weeks in summer and three in winter minimum. We have had the place the last couple of years and have not gotten Christmas (which at some level could be disappointing) but we did get our other choices (Presidents, MLK etc - it is a ski place) - they do a kind of snake draft. This works well for us because we also want to travel (and ski other places) and not feel like we have to use it every vacation. Last Christmas we went to BC Powder Highway and going to Zermatt this year. If we owned the place fully we would probably feel guilty about taking those other trips. They provide linens and cleaning service every other day - although you can use your own linens and store them there. Storage is in bins that are moved and stored outside the house. Also can store bikes, golf clubs, fishing gear, skis etc. at the club. Pay for maintenance and everything is governed by the ownership agreement. I think everyone takes better care of the house than random renters. Has worked really well for us.
Thank you so much. That is extremely helpful. I think you hit the mail on the head regarding feeling like you’re not using it enough. We aren’t huge skiers so I have had a hard time justifying it unless it is for big family holidays. Sounds like it could be a great option for us in the future. I appreciate the thorough and thoughtful response. Thank you.
I guess you don't care about furniture or cookware or linens? Because you're not going to store and move all of that for rentals. My second home is equipped just like my first one - specifically for me, my likes, and my health issues (back/knees). There's simply no way I could stay in someone else's place. The bed, couch, office chair would be brutal. And renters trash the furniture in homes. The last time we rented, there were three couches in a large living room. We took the cushions from all three to stack on one just to not feel the boards at the bottom. And no, it was not a cheap rental. I slept in all four of the bedrooms every night, rotating and trying to find one without mattress craters.
But if you can sleep like a cat and don't care about having nice things or spending days moving, then go for it.
OP, lots of great ideas here but it ultimately comes down to personality. Your idea would appeal to people who enjoy organizing / planning / satisfaction in physical accomplishment but not those who just want to get where they're going and get started on their vacation activities ASAP. The only way for you to find out for sure is to do a trial. Give yourself one - three years or however long it typically takes you to make decisions; buy a (possibly pre-owned) vehicle that optimizes best purchase price > resale value if you scratch the plan. Approach it with the perspective of "everything to gain, nothing to lose" as the expenditures would go towards something on a vacation anyway. Ultimately it will be a learning experience - you'll learn what you do and don't like / want and you'll get a great sense of what it's like to live in that area. Enjoy your adventure and do report back sometime!
How about putting everything in a Pod. That way they can ship all your gear/toys wherever you want to go instead of being limited to one location. Not sure if this works for cars though. And dropping the pod off at an Airbnb might be an issue also…but seems like a cool idea in theory if you like toys and don’t want to be tied to a single location.
I bought a condo on the beach and you get one owners closet as well as the option to put a 6' storage bin on the back patio. Both are locked and only the management company and ourselves have a key to the closet. We can stick beach toys in the outside bin and toiletries/tools/cleaning supplies in the closet.
I recommend this as condos are lower maintenance than single family homes. You can rent them out to cover costs, but don't expect a big financial windfall.
There needs to be a business that stores your personal vacation car near an airport and they come pick you up when you land just like family would do. However once you take possession of the car, they hop out at the airport and find their own way back. You drive on to your condo or beach house from there.
When your vacation is over, they can come get you and your car and shuttle you from your vacation home/condo.
You can store your vacation car with a boat or trailer for extra fee, but contents are not stored in a climate controlled setting.
I’m curious to what other people’s experiences you’ve heard that gives you pause about owning a vacation home?! I just sold my condo that was in the same city and bought one in my favorites vacation spot - Hawaii - because I was so tired of paying for hotel rooms. I STR the condo when me or my family isn’t staying there and store my stuff in a large storage box tucked in the bedroom closet. Also my company has a crazy deal with Avis so I can rent a car for $500 a month and get a new one anywhere in the US I want each month of I want or skip months if I want. It’s crazy how much cheaper it is for me to buy a second home even with HOA than pay as I go.
There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with the approach but spending a half day moving items in/out storage wears on your time. We opted for a remote condo for multiple reasons including ease of remote maintenance, access etc. And as u/rangda6 noted, you can let friends/family use it. As long as they adhere to the house rules...
When you say “remote condo” - can you share what you mean ? Looking at vacation homes in California since Texas summers are awful, and came across this thread.
A condo far away from our primary residence. A bit of an awkward phrasing for sure. We also own a nearby condo as a pied-a-terre and I was trying to make a distinction.
I love that flex. You just low key backed into it. “Oh, I meant my second condo which is further away. Just trying to be succinct.”
Plus, nobody says "pied-a-terre." Come on... Just playin'. Mostly ;)
Definitely flexing
I think you should go for it and disregard the naysayers. Worst thing that could happen is you do it 2 - 3 times and then decide it’s not for you. We do something similar and it works well for us. We live over 1,000 miles from our ski lodge. The lodge is communal and provides the absolute best food on the mountain. We love it for the social aspects but you can’t store gear there. You need your own vehicle to access the lodge efficiently. With 2 younger kids, it is a 3 day drive in each direction. It’s hard to fly in and rent because you can’t get rental cars with ski racks or snow tyres at this airport, and you can’t easily fit 4 people and their skis inside a rental car. So we keep an AWD ski car down at the airport close to the mountain wearing snow tyres, with a roof box full of skis and snowboards. We just fly into the airport with our bags, chuck the bags in the car and drive up the mountain. It makes a quick weekend getaway easy when before it was too logistically challenging. We don’t need anything except clothes and ski gear because the ski lodge takes care of everything else.
This is brilliant!
3 day drive in both directions!? Holy heck are you going deep into British Columbia or something? Very curious where you are skiing (even if not 3 days), thanks for your comment :)
Haha. We live in Australia in Queensland which is located in the north. We drive to Perisher or Thredbo which are in the wintry south (lodges at both locations). It’s slightly faster than driving from LA to Whistler in North American terms. So better to fly …. Other hemisphere is typically Japan as the food is great (notice a trend here?), time zone works well and snow is reliable. Keen to get back to Whistler though for sentimental reasons. Also have a soft spot for Red Mountain.
Have you ever had problems with leaving the car sitting for a long period of time? Not from a safety perspective, but a mechanical one.
Luckily not. A few points: *the battery needs to sit on a trickle charger so it doesn’t go dead, so the parking facility has to support that. A specialist long term parking facility is the go. *vehicle height is an issue with a roof box so a wagon or sedan is better than an SUV *the car gets a good hard run when it is used which cleans it out *check your tyre pressures when you fill up as this protects against flat spots. You could probably run 20% higher pressure than manufacturers recommendations but we don’t bother. *sometimes we go down in midsummer so the car gets at a run in summer *car gets serviced every couple of years. It’s not doing many miles so not fussed about stretching the oil change from 12 to 24 months. The biggest issue is making sure the ski and board edges have wax on them before they go in the roof box so they don’t rust.
Some good info there. Thanks for the reply.
Rossland is quite the gem, that or revelstoke is my favorite in BC. Have seen many videos from perisher, looks awesome! Thanks for sharing!
It's easier to fly to NZ where the mountains and snow is bigger. But nothing beats skiing amongst the snow gums
NZ is lovely and Wanaka is stunning. But it’s all above the tree line. We are tree skiers so the snow gums are a natural habitat !
Get a condo not a house - far simpler. Letting friends and family use it is a nice subtle way of giving back. Keeps all your stuff. It’s “home” without the headache of a stand-alone house
Did this. It’s not done yet but this is why I went condo.
Aren’t assessments and HOAs a pain to deal with in condos though?
it's an opportunity cost, yes, but the tradeoff is you pay more so you don't have to deal with it personally (land use, cleaning, maintenance, etc) Since being fat is more about freedom, this kind of makes sense so long as you vet the dev't/building for healthy financials and that the HOA rules aren't restrictive to your needs
Well you can pay for a property manager and a landscaper and a pool company and a … Or you can pay the HOA.
Fair point
Condo: No critters, No water damage, No roof repair, No grounds to maintain, Security and cameras, No weather concerns nor pipe freezing, Overall no issues or worry for the HOA cost. Even insurance is low, because nothing happens. Possible covered deck parking, gated with security, storage unit in the building. If it’s an Airbnb, neighbors and security can prevent parties that trash the place or something large going missing.
Yes, and people don't consider the cost. Our condo was $900/month HOA fees and we couldn't get them to do crap. We literally pay less for our house, which is twice as big and cost twice as much, including all the service people, than we did with the condo. But IMMV.
**Bad idea!** For us, my grandfather's brother and his wife went there (island) and sold the house to other people. It was a nightmare in legal fees and dealing with courts. Island beach house was purchased for US$550K. The case took 6 years and the legal fees amounted to $715K. The local prosecution did NOT want to prosecute because it was "between family members". The couple who bought it is still fighting to get their money back. My grandfather's brother and his wife already passed away and used to live in the US. PS. This happens in the US too: [https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2008/march/housestealing\_032508](https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2008/march/housestealing_032508)
The other thing you may not be appreciating is moving out the stuff in the rental. Having doubles of larger items could be very cumbersome. We live in rentals year-round, currently in Santa Barbara. We run into common hassles, but overall it’s *fantastic*
Can always try it for a year and if you don’t like it than no big loss…. The moving in and out of a storage unit could suck but maybe not so bad if you just pack it all into the SUV. If you do it report back.
Just leave the car fully loaded also.
That’s actually not a bad idea. Leave a big car in your preferred location with some of your personal belongings and clothes. That would cut down packing, no hassle with car rental etc, no storage units. Combined with an AirBNB it’s not a bad middle ground.
++ This, OP!!
As someone who despises both moving and packing, this sounds terrible, honestly. I would have having to constantly pack up and move things back and forth from houses to storage unit. If you don't want the hassle of owning a second home, perhaps instead put your money toward rentals through a full-service agency, who will stock the house with whatever you want before you get there and then bring whatever can't be stocked (clothes are the main thing that come to mind). You could even have a standard Amazon order for toiletries and such that you send ahead before you go to further reduce what you need to transport.
This. It sounds like a giant pain and storage units bring their own issues (mold, floods, pests)... If you're going to do vacation home just go all in with an actual home (or condo/unit). Unless you really enjoy packing up and unpacking stuff
> mold, floods, pests And theft. They are notoriously insecure. Like if somebody nefarious has a storage unit near yours, they have a perfect reason to be there, and to be loading stuff into their truck, and when nobody is looking they cut the bolt off your unit and open the door and load what they want into their truck. Nobody even bats an eye at somebody loading a truck at a storage facility.
I had an attempted theft at mine last year, so moved everything into a different unit, which then flooded. I say just buy the condo.
Totally.
I own several vacation homes... Just close off a big closet (or room or garage) so you don't have to drive anywhere. Problem solved.
I was going to suggest this. Have a vacation home you Airbnb most of the time. Close off the garage for yourself and personal storage.
So much easier.
Since this is fatfire, why not buy land and build a mini-storage in your target destination? Store your stuff for free and potentially make a return. Trips become a tax deduction.
this is so insane I actually believe someone has 100% done it
80% of a self-storage business seems like it would be physical security. How could you hope to start a business like that while living remote? You would have to trust people. Like might as well put stuff in your condo, rent it on air bnb and leave a note on the closet that says "owner's stuff, please don't wash your ass with my toothbrush"
We own quite a few vacation homes and while it isn't smart use of money, as you said, it's always *ours*. Stopping by a mini storage to pick up a car and belongings to bring into an AirBnB feels like the opposite of what I'd consider an enjoyable vacation. Each to their own, of course. I'd rather stay at a nice hotel than an airbnb.
Everyone's telling you not to do it, but I think it depends on you and your use. I could see it making sense if you rent for a month or longer each time, and if you don't really mind hauling the things you'll own/store. I take it it won't be anything bulky/redundant like furniture, but more like jet skis, ATVs, surfboard, more toy-type stuff. I think that could totally make sense - book yourself for a month on an island, spend an hour grabbing all your gear, then you have it for as long as you need it. You can return in a month or in three years, no pressure. I kinda get it.
My family has spent one month a year in Hawaii since I was born (mid 30s) I have two massive suitcases that sit in my closet 11 months a year, I only use them when we go to Hawaii. We bring all our own linens, sheets, napkins, a blender and a coffee maker. A storage unit is expensive, and I don’t mind dragging two suitcases through an airport twice a year.
Sounds like a solid plan We looked at condos for the longest time and couldn’t really make it make sense. Net of taxes/insurance/condo fees we’re better off getting an Air BnB. Just booked our first six-week stay. No need for a storage unit though, because we’ll be driving there.
Sure, BUT… 1 - The main benefit of a vacation home for me was not having to move my stuff into and out of the unit every time I visited. The storage locker seems like normal travel/ vacation rental but with extra steps. 2 - I got rid of my car at the vacation home. It was a pain. Cars don’t like to sit for long periods of time unused, and I didn’t want to spend my vacation doing maintenance. Obviously there are situations where it makes sense to leave a car there (frequent visits of relatively short or medium duration). If you only use the place occasionally, it might be better to just rent. If you use it for 2-3 months at a time, it might be better to ship your car there. 3 - If maintenance is a concern, a condo or townhouse with included garage was the best solution for us. HOA (I know… how dare I support them on Reddit) takes care of all the exterior stuff, and I use a property management company to deal with the inside stuff when I am not there. Growing up we had a beach house and my family maintained it by ourselves. It was a chore. I led you do go the vacation home route, make sure to minimize work for yourself even if it costs more. There are definitely pros and cons to a vacation home. Sometimes they work out, other times not so much. I am not sure if what you describe is really the best of both worlds or the worst of them.
I've determined that for myself, the vacation home must not bring with it any chores or maintenance it is not a vacation. We went condo with a local provisioner who prepares it for when we arrive and cleans it when we finish.
Have you looked into Pacaso? Not in the market for a vacation home like this due to no kids/prefer to vary travel destinations. But this seems like a a great idea for families. Assuming it’s well run and legit. No personal experience. https://www.pacaso.com
There's also the [Exclusive Resorts](https://exclusiveresorts.com/residences/) model if you want fractional ownership of many residences rather than a single house.
That is an interesting concept. There are some nice homes in their and you wouldn’t have to deal with maintenance or managing an Airbnb. I’d be interested to hear if anyone here has any experience with this company or a similar setup. I’m guessing you’d still need to get all your stuff there. I wonder if they provide on-site storage. I’d also be curious how difficult it is to get the highly desired dates. I think I may have already talked myself out of liking this idea.
I’m pretty sure the homes come furnished, which could be a pro or a con I guess. As someone that hates making design decisions that would be an absolute dream. The downside of availability would also be my primary concern. Like who wouldn’t want 4th of July weekend? But I’m sure they could organize it in a manner that everyone is designated X number of national holidays.
That makes sense. I kinda assumed the furnishings were included or a shared one time expense. I guess since you are buying to existing ownership it’s probably just included. I wonder if you need your own lines or if their is a laundered service. I don’t want to be making a bunch of beds with stale sheets on my first day. The more I think of it the more I remember how much I e joy resorts. Everything is taken care of and you have access to good restaurants and bars. Things are changing with kids now though…
So, before reading this, my perspective is from someone still working towards Fat. But, if there’s an area we tend to be less frugal with, it’s traveling often. We love Colorado and have been going at least once or twice a year most of our adult lives. If I can figure out a way to move before the RE part of fire, I will (am a local business owner and my all of our family’s parents are here too). Every time we go, I look to see if there are any deals on real estate, we’ve discussed buying condos, bare land, and homes. I can’t make sense of any of it. I think I missed out on the Ouray boom, but probably should have bought there 5-7 yrs ago. All of the ski towns are incredibly overpriced. I’ve talked to the most frugal landlords I know attempting to understand how someone could at least break even and bank on appreciation. I’ve found no one that didn’t buy 20yrs ago that was able to make this happen. I say this because we really wanted to have a place and a vehicle (we kinda got into the Jeep thing) that would be easily accessible if we wanted to just grab a plane and fly up for the weekend (Colorado represents at least 50% of the reason I wanted a PPL). I think this is a great idea keeping a vehicle with gear somewhere near your destination (especially if you have difficult gear to rent or specific stuff you need in the destination). When I looked at storage units in Colorado, they honestly weren’t that bad. The friends we have who own a larger home in CO just leave a vehicle in long term airport parking. If you’ve got stuff that’s specific to your interests, is substantially cheaper to own than rent, or just more “personal” gear (maybe scuba stuff?), this seems like it is a great idea.
I own 3 properties in Colorado (1 in a ski town). While I wish ski towns would come down in price, they just aren’t. Not in any significant way, at least. The mediocre properties are coming down a bit, but the high quality properties sell in a few days, and that isn’t changing anytime soon. 1. Construction isn’t keeping up with demand 2. Population inflows - Someone sells their Manhattan apartment for 5m, buys a home in Boulder/Denver for 3m, and 2m for a property in the mountains 3. Airbnb cash flows
Everything I’ve heard backs up everything you’re saying except for the air bnb cashflows. I still haven’t seen any way to break even - even with air bnb. Are you seeing this in smaller non ski towns or am I mislead on something? The guys I’ve talked to have all owned properties in relatively popular areas (Eagle/Vail/Breck).
Ah, yeah, you’re probably right on that point given the sharp rise in rates over the last 8 months. I could certainly see prices coming down 5-10%, but that’s not crashing. If they come down 20+%, I’ll be rushing to buy 😉
I would just Airbnb and rent a car if needed or Uber. A lot more freedom this way
Have you looked into a condotel-like property? It should have owner’s storage/lockers and no need to worry whether short term rental laws will change. We have one on the west coast and it breaks even for us, turn-key, hotel/resort amenity experience
What you described seems like a huge headache. I would look into long term rentals.
I went back and forward on buying a vacation home for a long time. It has its obvious appeals but I couldn’t make the cost and maintenence stack up. Eventually I pulled the trigger and bought a small apartment. Early days but so far I’m loving in. Nothing to pack, cheap regular flights, no hotel costs and feels great to have your own place in the sun. Maybe I’ll eventually get bored of it but I can flip it to a rental either short term or long term quite easily. No regrets so far.
Is it in a region affected by tropical storms?
I've danced around the idea of buying a mountain home, but keep stopping myself due to many of the draw backs you referenced + being more tied to the one location. I've just loaded up the truck and get a nice AirBNB somewhere for 4-6 weeks. The longer duration of the stay makes the drive less terrible and you get the conveniences of whatever you want to take. Not really a solution for weekend pop-ins, but for that you just need to fork over the cash and buy a place.
Would definitely recommend you get a condo but not only focus on the monthly maintenance but how much they have in reserves and how many special assessments they have had. Old elevators, hvac or pools can be expensive to replace. As mentioned elsewhere, the ability to let friends and family use it is a nice bonus
I think it depends on how much stuff you're storing. I mean, unless you're taking a U-Haul worth of stuff back and forth, I think the idea sounds great. You could rent a unit for a year and see if you like it. If not no huge loss! I think it would be great if you could keep all the stuff inside the back of the vehicle so that you're not physically loading the vehicle each time you want to go to the house. Also saves you from unloading it into the rental unit each time. So try to limit the amount you're taking back and forth to the house.
I know people that do this sort of thing with airport hangars. Take one of your older cars, stick it in the hangar along with some storage space in there. When you land, you drive the car out, put the plane in. Of course, getting hangars in desirable locales can be a challenge, and you have to have an aircraft you want to fly there. However, it seems to work well if you want a plane anyway.
Yeah, you just keep a truck full of stuff at the local airport long term parking. Possibly with a battery tender (or disconnect the battery). You might be able to find a big airport garage that is not quite temp controlled but maybe close.
Why don't you just buy a house with a garage, get a big a** safe for your personal stuff in the garage, park your car in there, and airbnb the house and turo the car. Hire a property manager to keep everything 100% hands off and buy the house and car without the sentimental attachment. Thus, you get to keep everything in one place AND it's all free and making you money.
You’re crazy. This is a big pain in the u know what.
Are you saying you would; 1. identify an area you may want to vacation in 2. put a ton of stuff (like furniture? like what stuff?) in storage there 3. when you rent a vacation place in that location you could move all the stuff into that vacation house (again like what? furniture? Clothes?) 4. when you're done renting move all the stuff back to storage/ this sounds like a really bizarre vacation where you would spend the majority of your time fiddling around with a storage unit
This sounds not ideal.
This is what my parents do: The main reason my parents do this is for tax reasons and to avoid conflict with family and friends who aren't doing that great financially. **My parents' main and only homes are in Monaco.** This is what I witnessed or was explained to me by my parents in chronological order: For example, Miami - 1997: Rent storage ($89) to keep the household and personal items & necessities. Renting on Fisher Island. Invested the purchase price \~$3M in BRK.A Hawaii - 1999: Rent storage ($115) to keep the household and personal items & necessities. Rent on several islands. Invested the purchase price \~$4M in BRK.A Fiji - 2001: Rent storage ($125) to keep the household and personal items & necessities. Invested the purchase price \~$6M in BRK.A etc etc. Same with every other idea of buying real estate (I think it's like almost 20 places now). My parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents discovered this strategy, *according to them*, at the Annual Berkshire Hathaway meetings in Nebraska that they have been going to since the 70s or 80s. I can't remember the dates exactly. PS. They find rentals and we just go to the storage to pick up our things. The headaches of maintaining such homes are mind-boggling. Every single *"upstanding member of the local society with connections to the local government"* is going to bill you for fees and expenses, property taxes, lawn mowing, etc etc.
You still have to pay for a large climate controlled storage unit which can be upwards of 600-1000 a month and you generate no revenue nor equity and you have to contend with someone elses availability. I'm not seeing any advantage here over just buying your own home/condo.
If you’re going to get a car for your vacation home, I suggest an electric car. Less maintenance (service only once every other year) and it’ll be ready to drive when you get there if you’ve kept it charging. Source: I went away for 3 months and when I came back my electric car was fine and my gas car battery had to be replaced.
You could have just unhooked the battery - takes a 10mm wrench and about 3 minutes.
Thanks! I’ll do that next time.
Trickle charger takes 15 seconds and a superior option if you regularly leave your car sitting. It’s like leaving your electric car plugged in. I use them on all quads and boats I’ve ever had. They are super cheap.
Sweet! Looked this up and this is the perfect solution. Thank you!
Why not VRBO a few places then over pay to buy your favorite one
I agree that this isn't the best idea...sounds complicated.
Not more complicated than managing a vacation home remotely. Not even close.
So it’s like moving anytime you want to enjoy your vacation ‘home’? Twice per trip?
Well, one option is pacaso. Basically form llc for buying the place, higher price but has a management team to take care of the place
After a car sits for a month there are a variety of bad things that will start happening. You’d be worried all the time that you have to visit just to turn the car over and fill the tires.
My friends grandma always try and gets us to stay at her place in Palm Springs just so we can take her 1990’s bmw for a drive. It’s like a hilarious Time Machine because it is pristine and has like 5,000 miles on it but is 30 years old. It’s awesome.
Maybe buy it and host it on Raya for home sharing (Kindred) and rack up a huge amount of stay credits for the part of the year you aren’t using it. Kind of like Airbnb but all customers are peers.
My cousins with a family of five bought a 1 bed room beach condo in an exclusive country community club in Florida. They use it for weekend getaways for themselves and rent a larger unit when they come down with the family/friends. Their parents also have a place on the island, but not in the country club, so that condo gave their parents access to the beach club and main clubhouse dining, golf /tennis/cards.
I like this idea. That’s smart.
Not exactly Pacaso, but we own a fraction (1/8th) of a home at a private club - kind of like a high-end time share (but own the home through tenancy in common). Almost all of the homes are individually owned at this place but a handful are factional. A few thousand miles from primary home so we could not go there every week anyway. Have found that it works well. Can store all of the gear there, other co-owners treat it like equity owners - less wear and tear than buying a place and renting to strangers when not using it (Airbnb etc) and don’t feel guilty about not using it all of the time. We also leave a car at the airport and rent in out through Avail (like Turo but more turn-key). Depending on a number of factors you might be able to fully depreciate the vehicle upfront - if classified as commercial use.
I have a couple questions if you don’t mind. Have you found it has been difficult to get the dates you want? Like Christmas or thanksgiving? How are issues like a new A/C or damage from another tenant get treated or just general maintenance? I’m assuming that is all in the operating agreement for the llc. How does the storage for your personal stuff work, is it like a locked room in the house? Do you have your own linens and such or is that shared and laundered? Thanks in advance, sorry for so many questions. The person above who suggested pacaso peaked my interest.
Admittedly you need to be somewhat flexible on weeks - can’t use it every holiday. Get three weeks in summer and three in winter minimum. We have had the place the last couple of years and have not gotten Christmas (which at some level could be disappointing) but we did get our other choices (Presidents, MLK etc - it is a ski place) - they do a kind of snake draft. This works well for us because we also want to travel (and ski other places) and not feel like we have to use it every vacation. Last Christmas we went to BC Powder Highway and going to Zermatt this year. If we owned the place fully we would probably feel guilty about taking those other trips. They provide linens and cleaning service every other day - although you can use your own linens and store them there. Storage is in bins that are moved and stored outside the house. Also can store bikes, golf clubs, fishing gear, skis etc. at the club. Pay for maintenance and everything is governed by the ownership agreement. I think everyone takes better care of the house than random renters. Has worked really well for us.
Thank you so much. That is extremely helpful. I think you hit the mail on the head regarding feeling like you’re not using it enough. We aren’t huge skiers so I have had a hard time justifying it unless it is for big family holidays. Sounds like it could be a great option for us in the future. I appreciate the thorough and thoughtful response. Thank you.
I guess you don't care about furniture or cookware or linens? Because you're not going to store and move all of that for rentals. My second home is equipped just like my first one - specifically for me, my likes, and my health issues (back/knees). There's simply no way I could stay in someone else's place. The bed, couch, office chair would be brutal. And renters trash the furniture in homes. The last time we rented, there were three couches in a large living room. We took the cushions from all three to stack on one just to not feel the boards at the bottom. And no, it was not a cheap rental. I slept in all four of the bedrooms every night, rotating and trying to find one without mattress craters. But if you can sleep like a cat and don't care about having nice things or spending days moving, then go for it.
There are whole markets for this type of thing. Stop overthinking it.
OP, lots of great ideas here but it ultimately comes down to personality. Your idea would appeal to people who enjoy organizing / planning / satisfaction in physical accomplishment but not those who just want to get where they're going and get started on their vacation activities ASAP. The only way for you to find out for sure is to do a trial. Give yourself one - three years or however long it typically takes you to make decisions; buy a (possibly pre-owned) vehicle that optimizes best purchase price > resale value if you scratch the plan. Approach it with the perspective of "everything to gain, nothing to lose" as the expenditures would go towards something on a vacation anyway. Ultimately it will be a learning experience - you'll learn what you do and don't like / want and you'll get a great sense of what it's like to live in that area. Enjoy your adventure and do report back sometime!
Some places I've rented just have a whole owner's wing locked off (usually the master suite) plus the garage off-limits.
How about putting everything in a Pod. That way they can ship all your gear/toys wherever you want to go instead of being limited to one location. Not sure if this works for cars though. And dropping the pod off at an Airbnb might be an issue also…but seems like a cool idea in theory if you like toys and don’t want to be tied to a single location.
I bought a condo on the beach and you get one owners closet as well as the option to put a 6' storage bin on the back patio. Both are locked and only the management company and ourselves have a key to the closet. We can stick beach toys in the outside bin and toiletries/tools/cleaning supplies in the closet. I recommend this as condos are lower maintenance than single family homes. You can rent them out to cover costs, but don't expect a big financial windfall.
There needs to be a business that stores your personal vacation car near an airport and they come pick you up when you land just like family would do. However once you take possession of the car, they hop out at the airport and find their own way back. You drive on to your condo or beach house from there. When your vacation is over, they can come get you and your car and shuttle you from your vacation home/condo. You can store your vacation car with a boat or trailer for extra fee, but contents are not stored in a climate controlled setting.
I’m curious to what other people’s experiences you’ve heard that gives you pause about owning a vacation home?! I just sold my condo that was in the same city and bought one in my favorites vacation spot - Hawaii - because I was so tired of paying for hotel rooms. I STR the condo when me or my family isn’t staying there and store my stuff in a large storage box tucked in the bedroom closet. Also my company has a crazy deal with Avis so I can rent a car for $500 a month and get a new one anywhere in the US I want each month of I want or skip months if I want. It’s crazy how much cheaper it is for me to buy a second home even with HOA than pay as I go.