Yep - we can never move now

[Scarpozzi]

How about this. If you buy real estate, you can take a vacation every weekend without really going anywhere. We have our main house, but also have other property that's paid for. My cabins aren't much, but people sometimes use my party cabana and leave free beer in it. We still take a few vacations each year, but are basically living it up every chance we get....grilling and boating. We also have a few gardens out here that provide us with food (peppers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, beans, onions, squash, etc). You can't do that if you rent.

 

[Red Squirrel]

^

That's pretty much my thought process. Make your own property nice so that you can enjoy it then you don't even need to go on vacation to enjoy yourself. Though I get the appeal of people wanting to see different places. It's just not my thing personally.

Downside with the acreage I bought is there's no water though, very hard to find that, despite all the lakes we have here. But I can still make it nice over time and I may even look into renting out cabins. That turns into lot of red tape though insurance and liability wise.

 

[highland145]

Yeah, have to remember all the same bills that come with home ownership still need to get paid, it's either you that pays them, or the landlord. If the landlord pays them, it will be part of rent, they have to at least break even but ideally they are trying to make at least a bit of profit.

This. After property tax, insurance and income tax about 6 months of the rent is mine assuming no repairs... Here in podunk SC, 2br/2ba 1450sqft...$1350. The furnished rental is $1700 (same but 1100sqft) but it's my stuff in it and I pay the utilities/internet/sling tv.

 

[MrSquished]

i would totally lock in one of those mortgage rates

but that would mean i have to buy a house now, which would be true lunacy

i bet i'm still renting an apartment when i'm 50

Do you plan on buying and staying in the home for a loooong time? Is there anything that might make you have to sell sooner than later - like a job change or a desire to just live somewhere else? If you are going to stay long term, it might be worth it to not give up on buying just yet - I think the market will correct itself but nobody knows. However, as long as you are planning to live there long term and have little risk of having to sell in a worse market, then just do it.

 

[purbeast0]

^

That's pretty much my thought process. Make your own property nice so that you can enjoy it then you don't even need to go on vacation to enjoy yourself. Though I get the appeal of people wanting to see different places. It's just not my thing personally.

Downside with the acreage I bought is there's no water though, very hard to find that, despite all the lakes we have here. But I can still make it nice over time and I may even look into renting out cabins. That turns into lot of red tape though insurance and liability wise.

Kind of hard to go SCUBA diving in clear water and seeing tropical fish anywhere within 1000 miles of my property.

I've thought about purchasing property in the Caribbean but for the time being that ain't happening. Would rather just rent places when I want to go somewhere and we're not locked to just one island.

 

[Ajay]

This. After property tax, insurance and income tax about 6 months of the rent is mine assuming no repairs... Here in podunk SC, 2br/2ba 1450sqft...$1350. The furnished rental is $1700 (same but 1100sqft) but it's my stuff in it and I pay the utilities/internet/sling tv.

This is the bane of home ownership. Fortunately, it's usually simple stuff I can do or get my bro to help. Other times- ugh, I need to hire a professional..

 

[Scarpozzi]

Kind of hard to go SCUBA diving in clear water and seeing tropical fish anywhere within 1000 miles of my property.

I've thought about purchasing property in the Caribbean but for the time being that ain't happening. Would rather just rent places when I want to go somewhere and we're not locked to just one island.

That's how I feel about those places too based on accessibility. If you owned a jet AND lived in Miami, it might make sense to have a place on one of the islands. Unless you're rich enough that it doesn't matter.

In my local airport, we can't even get good connecting flights to mainland cities without layovers. It makes flying suck. That's why I prefer the close-to-home cabin. That and taxes are $833/year.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Bought this house and property in '98, paid cash.

Property taxes are roughly $300/year. Correct, no typo. Three Benjamins.

Neighbors are cows. Mooo.

 

[purbeast0]

That's how I feel about those places too based on accessibility. If you owned a jet AND lived in Miami, it might make sense to have a place on one of the islands. Unless you're rich enough that it doesn't matter.

In my local airport, we can't even get good connecting flights to mainland cities without layovers. It makes flying suck. That's why I prefer the close-to-home cabin. That and taxes are $833/year.

Yeah thankfully I can get to most caribbean islands directly since I am near a SW hub and a United hub.

 

[MrSquished]

It's funny, I'm not big on travel, but I always thought it would be fun to build an RV. Like do a bus conversion kinda deal. The actual build process would be fun, and the idea of making a vehicle that is basically a homestead on wheels seems appealing. I could see myself travel more if I can essentially bring my house with me. I still want to keep a property I own though, I like the idea of having a home base, and a place to keep all my toys and do hobbies etc. Maybe one of these days that will be one of my ongoing projects though. A full EV bus/RV build would be pretty awesome. Have retractable solar panels on both sides and basically just drive and find a place to park and camp there for a few days at a time while it charges, then go to next destination.
I feel doing a long duration transcanada highway trip in such an RV is something that would be pretty cool.

I'm curious, how do you not like travel? Probably the greatest contribution to the human spirit is how we have made travel easier so we can see and do more stuff on this blue marble we are planted on. Both to see more of mother nature and this amazing planet, which we are slowly destroying, and also to see more of the human condition. While much of humanity sucks, exploring the good stuff is the marrow of life. Seeing culture, art, the food, oh the food, architecture, mixed in with the natural wonders and perhaps even meeting new people, this is one of the most enjoyable life experiences. It's up there with friends, family and love. I'm not saying be a nomad, but no hunger for experiencing this planet beyond the small little area you are in? That's like the biggest downside of being alive hundreds of years ago, almost nobody got to see shit outside their immediate surroundings. They missed so much.

My biggest regret is not having traveled enough. Yet.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm curious, how do you not like travel? Probably the greatest contribution to the human spirit is how we have made travel easier so we can see and do more stuff on this blue marble we are planted on. Both to see more of mother nature and this amazing planet, which we are slowly destroying, and also to see more of the human condition. While much of humanity sucks, exploring the good stuff is the marrow of life. Seeing culture, art, the food, oh the food, architecture, mixed in with the natural wonders and perhaps even meeting new people, this is one of the most enjoyable life experiences. It's up there with friends, family and love. I'm not saying be a nomad, but no hunger for experiencing this planet beyond the small little area you are in? That's like the biggest downside of being alive hundreds of years ago, almost nobody got to see shit outside their immediate surroundings. They missed so much.

My biggest regret is not having traveled enough. Yet.

I would not say I don't like it, it's more that I rather spend money on things I can experience for longer. But it does kinda stress me out a bit too, depends on the kind of trip though. I've been on trips where we had zero schedule and zero places we HAD to be, we just explored. That was actually fun. But trips with a big itinerary are just stressful, constantly having to check the time and figure out where you're going etc. Almost all the trips I've been on I was not the one worrying about any of that mind you, I just followed the others around but even then the whole "we need to be here for this time" thing makes it less enjoyable I find. So many times where I actually wanted to see or do something, but couldn't because we had to be somewhere else soon. I also have paruresis and it's actually gotten worse as I get older, so that does make travel less fun as well.

Basically if I have several grand to spend on a trip, I'd rather spend it on my own property or on something nice I can enjoy for years. Though if money was no object and I had unlimited time off I would probably do a 1 month trip at a cuban resort or something though just to get a break from winter. I tend to get fed up of winter around April so I'd probably just take a trip mid April so I can arrive back mid May when things are hopefully starting to warm up. Something like a resort where you just lounge around would be my kind of trip.

I totally understand the appeal of people who do like to travel though, it's just not that big of a thing for me I guess.

 

[MrSquished]

I would not say I don't like it, it's more that I rather spend money on things I can experience for longer. But it does kinda stress me out a bit too, depends on the kind of trip though. I've been on trips where we had zero schedule and zero places we HAD to be, we just explored. That was actually fun. But trips with a big itinerary are just stressful, constantly having to check the time and figure out where you're going etc. Almost all the trips I've been on I was not the one worrying about any of that mind you, I just followed the others around but even then the whole "we need to be here for this time" thing makes it less enjoyable I find. So many times where I actually wanted to see or do something, but couldn't because we had to be somewhere else soon. I also have paruresis and it's actually gotten worse as I get older, so that does make travel less fun as well.

Basically if I have several grand to spend on a trip, I'd rather spend it on my own property or on something nice I can enjoy for years. Though if money was no object and I had unlimited time off I would probably do a 1 month trip at a cuban resort or something though just to get a break from winter. I tend to get fed up of winter around April so I'd probably just take a trip mid April so I can arrive back mid May when things are hopefully starting to warm up. Something like a resort where you just lounge around would be my kind of trip.

I totally understand the appeal of people who do like to travel though, it's just not that big of a thing for me I guess.

Take trips that don't have firm itineraries. Just get a travel book, and do things at your pace. Those are also my favorite types of vacations, just a list of shit you want to do, without someone telling you where to be, and check them off as you will, judging the time you have left with what you want to do. I feel you on making yourself a nice bat-cave. I have a nice little home base here in my little 2BR condo, pretty nice TV setup with sound system, nice audiophile headphone setup, good gaming setup, all the interior amenities I could want. And I can keep wanting to upgrade all this stuff and put more and more money into it, but it's not worth it as much as traveling. Honestly, I don't need a damn thing more except to see more stuff outside my little area, and a traveling partner to do it with. It's a tough realization to come to.

I understand you may not like cities much, so go to all the natural beauty destinations you can. Alaska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, California - this is stuff you don't even need to leave the continent for. Trust me, you will be happier if you see these things in real life more than just on a 4K television. A couple good trips and you just might get addicted.

Finding the right travel buddy is the hardest part though. I'm not a solitary traveler as much as I like to share the experience.

The only reason I keep my sanity is being near NYC, which is like having an insane amount of stuff to discover and see on a daily basis without having to go far at all.

 

[nakedfrog]

I kind of felt the same way when I got my new house at 2.25% earlier this year. And now that I've lived here for a few weeks, I'm fairly well convinced. We walked down to the lake to swim both days this weekend. I think it's nearly a quarter of a mile away. And seeing the morning sun reflecting off the lake when I'm making my coffee in the morning is pretty nice too

 

[TXHokie]

Ten years ago moved to FL and bought a house a mile from the beach in preparation to retire. House has since doubled in value but not selling. Now if only I can really retire from my job and go fishing all day everyday which is looking like 7 yrs away. Ida is a good reminder this week that it can all go up in smoke if the big one ever hits here and nuke the area.