While there are many individual factors to consider, the math points to a second home as being less than ideal as a pure investment. I’d like to share the story of our second home and why, for us, it was a fantastic investment.
Maintaining one home is challenging. Doubling the property doubles the work. And you need to have lots more stuff. We have too much stuff! A second home means duplicate sets of silverware, flatware, beds, sheets, sofas, etc.
While we had expressed little interest in a second home, this place was within ten miles of our primary home, on a picturesque recreational lake, with a bike path running right to and through the property.
Those of us holding bid numbers realized that there wouldn’t be many of us going home empty-handed. I ended up with the winning bid on one of the last places up for grabs and was able to get one of the units we preferred.
We sold the condo by owner, one of four properties we’ve sold ourselves, for $203,000. That would suggest a profit of over $140,000.
- We learned that we could live in a small space, at least temporarily. - TV is optional. - Less is more. Without all the distractions of home, we had time to just be a family at our second home.