Vacation Home/Rental

[IrishLion]

It feels like it's been a while since we got a "Koon Wants Advice But Not Really" thread.

This is nice.

 

[gkIrish]

It feels like it's been a while since we got a "Koon Wants Advice But Not Really" thread.

This is nice.

The good old "Koon wants confirmation" thread

 

[koonja]

I want advice from people who have actually done it.

I've counted 3 in this thread, the rest is a bunch of arm chair experts making jokes.

 

[ACamp1900]

I want advice from people who have actually done it..

"How do I find the clitoris" thread coming in three,... two,...

 

[wizards8507]

I want advice from people who have actually done it.

Then you're building confirmation bias into your question. The reason most of us haven't done it is for the list of all the stupid reasons we already laid out.

 

[irishnd31]

Where is brick? Id bet he would help.

 

[RDU Irish]

I think Brick and Koon are the same person. Can a mod consolidate all of their threads under one "About a Wooden Spoon" thread?

Anyone looking to make a buck on a beach property needs to be a patient vulture who is not afraid to put in reno work. Otherwise I agree with the sentiment that you better expect to lose money which is OK relative to the utility you will glean personally. Pretty hard to do that from more than a couple hour drive away, IMO.

I'm not sure I see so many thinking they will make piles of money as much as they want to make it more affordable for themselves. And then they fall slave to the rental income bending over backwards to accommodate any rental income at the expense of enjoying the place themselves.

 

[RDU Irish]

Then you're building confirmation bias into your question. The reason most of us haven't done it is for the list of all the stupid reasons we already laid out.

LOL - "stupid reasons" - if you enjoyed the beach as much as Disney you might look at the amount you spend there every two months and see a more cost effective way of doing it that would allow you to do it even MORE often. Or is that stupid?

 

[IrishLion]

Honestly Koon, you should get a lake house in Michigan.

Still gonna be cold there in the winter, but you could still go do outdoor winter activities at a residence that isn't your normal one, and consider it a getaway.

In the summer, you've got a badass vacation spot that you could rent out when you weren't using it if you wanted to.

And perhaps most importantly, it would be within a reasonable distance for visiting and upkeep and whatnot.

 

[Irish#1]

I don't want to be too specific on the interwebs, but on a barrier island that's part of the SOBX that's considered family oriented. It's not a spring break destination by any means, so you're essentially only getting families renting the places, but that doesn't mean some of the renters aren't rather wasteful or careless. Even some of my extended family has caused damage to a rental property in the area. One friend's family house is supposed to be their family vacation home, but gets rented to cover expenses. Lots of custom carpentry work. Really nice house. Rents for close to $20k/wk during peak season. People still damage it each year and clearly leave doors open for extended periods of time with the a/c at full blast. They've grown to accept that fact. Family says they roughly break even on it financially. Somewhat how they planned it though.

He's afraid Koon would rush down and buy it out from under him. lol

 

[wizards8507]

LOL - "stupid reasons" - if you enjoyed the beach as much as Disney you might look at the amount you spend there every two months and see a more cost effective way of doing it that would allow you to do it even MORE often. Or is that stupid?

We have two beach houses in our family and I spend more time camping in the mountains than I do at Disney, so nice try. Both beach houses and the camper are debt-free. I'm not anti-vacation home by any stretch of the imagination. I'm anti-THIS-particular-plan because of the below...

Honestly Koon, you should get a lake house in Michigan.

Except Koon is broke! He shouldn't be buying jack shit houses any place.

It's not like he's sitting on half a mil and looking to park it somewhere. He's looking at second mortgage that he might be able to cash flow (except for the fact that he had never factored in the cost of a management company as evidenced by the fact that he had never even heard of such a thing until it was pointed out to him here). He's a dual-income household that's one layoff away from complete financial ruin and bankruptcy if he goes through with this.

Not the chicken sh!ts like wiz who give advice out of their mom's basement.

I'll bet my next bonus check that I make more than you and your wife combined. Fight me.

 

[greyhammer90]

The good old "Koon wants confirmation" thread

Thanks but I only want advice from someone who has previously bought an olivewood spoon.

 

[NorthDakota]

If you're convinced yourself on going this direction, also consider Orange Beach, AL. We rented a condo there a few years ago. Nice beach and not as busy as Destin, FW and PC but the units were renting well.

We rented a home in Destin when our middle son got married. It wasn't on the beach, but it was across the street, so it took 2 minutes to walk to the beach. Prices aren't quite as high as being directly on the beach. Newmann Daley manages a lot of the homes in the area. They can tell you what their fees are.

I will defer to Lax and the others on the investment strategy, but will say to stay away from a condo and only go the house route. That way you have control.

Not a bad spot. Gonna swing by there for an hour or two this weekend.

 

[RDU Irish]

We have two beach houses in our family and I spend more time camping in the mountains than I do at Disney, so nice try. Both beach houses and the camper are debt-free. I'm not anti-vacation home by any stretch of the imagination. I'm anti-THIS-particular-plan because of the below...


Except Koon is broke! He shouldn't be buying jack shit houses any place.

It's not like he's sitting on half a mil and looking to park it somewhere. He's looking at second mortgage that he might be able to cash flow (except for the fact that he had never factored in the cost of a management company as evidenced by the fact that he had never even heard of such a thing until it was pointed out to him here). He's a dual-income household that's one layoff away from complete financial ruin and bankruptcy if he goes through with this.


I'll bet my next bonus check that I make more than you and your wife combined. Fight me.

Camping is for the poors but I guess you can't squat rent free on family land all the time. I do agree with the bolded in spades. Was hoping this could be salvaged in to an interesting thread about beach houses and vacation rental experiences.

 

[koonja]

We have two beach houses in our family and I spend more time camping in the mountains than I do at Disney, so nice try. Both beach houses and the camper are debt-free. I'm not anti-vacation home by any stretch of the imagination. I'm anti-THIS-particular-plan because of the below...


Except Koon is broke! He shouldn't be buying jack shit houses any place.

It's not like he's sitting on half a mil and looking to park it somewhere. He's looking at second mortgage that he might be able to cash flow (except for the fact that he had never factored in the cost of a management company as evidenced by the fact that he had never even heard of such a thing until it was pointed out to him here). He's a dual-income household that's one layoff away from complete financial ruin and bankruptcy if he goes through with this.


I'll bet my next bonus check that I make more than you and your wife combined. Fight me.

This is ~15% accurate by my estimation. I'll be the source of truth.

Didn't you also try to steer me away from my first rental investment, that I cashed for a tax free net of $71,000 after 3 years? And I did that just for sh!ts and gigs.

You're fired.

 

[wizards8507]

This is ~15% accurate by my estimation. I'll be the source of truth.

Didn't you also try to steer me away from my first rental investment, that I cashed for a tax free net of $71,000 after 3 years? And I did that just for sh!ts and gigs.

You're fired.

Weren't you a grown man with three roommates at the time?

 

[koonja]

Weren't you a grown man with three roommates at the time?

Yep.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Weren't you a grown man with three roommates at the time?

With a basketball trophy on the mantle in the apartment.

 

[ACamp1900]

With a basketball trophy on the mantle in the apartment.

"For almost dunking"

 

[Ndaccountant]

This is ~15% accurate by my estimation. I'll be the source of truth.

Didn't you also try to steer me away from my first rental investment, that I cashed for a tax free net of $71,000 after 3 years? And I did that just for sh!ts and gigs.

You're fired.

You should take some of that and repay Verizon for the educational expenses you fleeced them on.

 

[NCDomer]

Seems to be very common. You can buy your dream vacation home and rent it out to cover expenses; but you aren't going to make any money on it, dealing with renters will be a constant headache, and you'll only be able to use the property off-season. Still a pretty good deal for most people, but not the "can't miss" investment many seem to expect going in.

People need to have realistic expectations. The overall strategy seems ok if you accept that you're acquiring the value of an asset by having others live there and pay off the mortgage. One of my family properties was used as a rental until they retired. No real frills to the place. Once they retired, they remodeled it into what they wanted.

Separately, I'd use some caution when buying coastal properties. Don't buy in areas that are prone to flooding because that can cause a continual remodeling effort and a drag on costs. My family always looked at topography maps and visited any areas coastal areas after some storms to get an idea of where damage seemed to occur before buying anything.

 

[Irish YJ]

People need to have realistic expectations. The overall strategy seems ok if you accept that you're acquiring the value of an asset by having others live there and pay off the mortgage. One of my family properties was used as a rental until they retired. No real frills to the place. Once they retired, they remodeled it into what they wanted.

Separately, I'd use some caution when buying coastal properties. Don't buy in areas that are prone to flooding because that can cause a continual remodeling effort and a drag on costs. My family always looked at topography maps and visited any areas coastal areas after some storms to get an idea of where damage seemed to occur before buying anything.

agree on the flooding issue. topography mapping is pretty easy to come by these days, but a quick call to an in-area insurance guy can give you great/quick feedback as well. i'd do both for anything you look at seriously.

also, "life proof" any property close to water. tile the floors as much as possible. the porcelain wood tiles are great looking if you want the wood look/feel. hardwoods, cheap shit, and carpet will be a revolving expense. same goes with counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom. If you can limit things to a fresh coat of paint every once in a while, it's very manageable. and second-hand / craigslist is your best friend when it comes to furniture and decorating. folks are always turning over very nice furniture in beach areas as they buy and sell properties.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Honestly Koon, you should get a lake house in Michigan.

Still gonna be cold there in the winter, but you could still go do outdoor winter activities at a residence that isn't your normal one, and consider it a getaway.

In the summer, you've got a badass vacation spot that you could rent out when you weren't using it if you wanted to.

And perhaps most importantly, it would be within a reasonable distance for visiting and upkeep and whatnot.

Where in Michigan? I'd like to book something for the family and this thread seems ready for a hijacking.

 

[Circa]

Look for my leprechaun tattoo on the shoulder. I'm always sleeveless.

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[BleedBlueGold]

This is ~15% accurate by my estimation. I'll be the source of truth.

Didn't you also try to steer me away from my first rental investment, that I cashed for a tax free net of $71,000 after 3 years? And I did that just for sh!ts and gigs.

You're fired.

Good work. I did something similar with my first house. I was still single so I accepted two friends as tenants. Had them sign a lease and everything. Worked out great. Over two years, I generated about $24k in rental income (that I used to pay off my student loans) and when I sold after being in the house for 5 years I made another $20k (unfortunately this was during the housing crisis so my timing wasn't ideal or I would've made a lot more).

Real Estate can be a great investment. Just don't build a house of cards.

Also, Wiz isn't wrong about duel income families. Unless you guys live on a single income (most don't), if one of you were to lose a job, this new beach home would destroy you. You can sell it at a loss to me when you're ready.

 

[Irish#1]

Honestly Koon, you should get a lake house in Michigan.

Still gonna be cold there in the winter, but you could still go do outdoor winter activities at a residence that isn't your normal one, and consider it a getaway.

In the summer, you've got a badass vacation spot that you could rent out when you weren't using it if you wanted to.

And perhaps most importantly, it would be within a reasonable distance for visiting and upkeep and whatnot.

Minnesota is the land of a 1,000 lakes.

 

[NorthDakota]

Minnesota is the land of a 1,000 lakes.

Ten thousand.

 

[NorthDakota]

Good work. I did something similar with my first house. I was still single so I accepted two friends as tenants. Had them sign a lease and everything. Worked out great. Over two years, I generated about $24k in rental income (that I used to pay off my student loans) and when I sold after being in the house for 5 years I made another $20k (unfortunately this was during the housing crisis so my timing wasn't ideal or I would've made a lot more).

Real Estate can be a great investment. Just don't build a house of cards.

Also, Wiz isn't wrong about duel income families. Unless you guys live on a single income (most don't), if one of you were to lose a job, this new beach home would destroy you. You can sell it at a loss to me when you're ready.

One of my coworkers flips houses down here on the reg. He's very wealthy now.

 

[Irish#1]

Ten thousand.

There you go. Even more reason to buy a cabin closer to home.

 

[wizards8507]

One of my coworkers flips houses down here on the reg. He's very wealthy now.

Anecdotal evidence is fun.