Considering a second home, pros and cons please?

[hillyhilly]

We're in the very fortunate position where we could own a second home. We're currently on holiday in Ireland which is very special to me as I have family here and spent my childhood holidays here, however there are of course lots of reasonns not to, what I'm hoping for is some of the best reasons to buy a second home please?
Realistically we'd spend maybe four weeks and half a dozen or so weekends currently but we're only 9 or so years from retirement.
Hearts ruling head at the moment which is not like me!

I'd love a second home but I would only do it if I could afford to pay for the maintenance (gardener, cleaner) and if I had someone I could rely on to check on the property regularly (or could afford to pay for this service too).
I know of someone who didn't know he had a leak at his second home in France until water started pouring out of the windows and a passerby alterted the local authorities.

Pros - you have a nice bolt hole to visit. You can get to know the area. Property prices rise and it is a good investment. Cons - think of pretty much each bill you have for your current house and there will be a similar one. Also check house hold insurance a friend with a second home has a clause that she can not leave it without being stayed in once a month or the insurance is considered lapsed. She loves it though and has had it 8 years - though she admits that occasionally it is an effort to use. Work out what you would spend on upkeep , furniture etc . How many holidays can you get for that? What would you prefer. She uses her 30 plus days a year.

Pros - you have a nice bolt hole to visit. You can get to know the area. Property prices rise and it is a good investment. Cons - think of pretty much each bill you have for your current house and there will be a similar one. Also check house hold insurance a friend with a second home has a clause that she can not leave it without being stayed in once a month or the insurance is considered lapsed. She loves it though and has had it 8 years - though she admits that occasionally it is an effort to use. Work out what you would spend on upkeep , furniture etc . How many holidays can you get for that? What would you prefer. She uses her 30 plus days a year.

We have one, in donegal.. It seemed like a brilliant idea eight years ago.
in reality, while I still like it there we regret it. You get there and because it was empty for weeks it is damp. You start cleaning. With a bit of luck you get the musty smell out by the time you leave.
Since getting it we have spent all our holidays there and the kids are rebelling.
To be honest it got to the point that we "have to" go there. And each time we go it involves extra housework and maintenance.
We are now looking at renting it out and if or when prices ever pick up sell it.

We're considering buying one close to where DH was brought up (major UK holiday destination) but we'll rent it out as a holiday let other than for 4 weeks a year, which will be for personal or family use (I know not everyone could work with this due to having strangers in your house, but financially, it's really worth it). For me, the main plus is not having to rent somewhere else when I go to stay with DH's family which can be £3k twice a year if we go peak season. The main negative is it's one more thing to create admin and stress .

Also, not sure if you're an Irish passport holder currently resident elsewhere. If you keep the house solely for own use, that may count against you in declaring you're not Irish-resident as seen as evidence of permanent ties. That's based on UK tax system, but might be worth checking.

We have one abroad but if I could do it aha in I would buy one in the Uk instead .
When we bought our property we had 1 DD age 1 so frequent cheap flights were no issue. Now we have 2 school age children it's expensive to get there but if we could drive there in a couple of hours we could go much more regularly.
We are hoping to buy another property next year and it will be in the Uk at the seaside no more than 2 hours from home so we could get there Friday evening after school and spend a weekend.

We have one in Thailand and we have a team on site that take care of maintenance etc. it's rented out as a holiday home but tbh every time we have visited, we spend time doing DIY, chasing contractors, taking photos for our website, doing inventories etc. It works as an investment but going there isn't much of a holiday for us.

we have one and I love it - wish I could pick it up and move it to UK. But like mad we 'have' to go there. DH loves it there and always wants to go for hoidays, while DCs and I want to go elsewhere.
But it is an investment so not all bad.

We have one about two hours from where we live (France), beside the sea. It has been fantastic for the dcs as we have been able to spend lots of time here (school holidays in France are plentiful). But the world is a big place and as the dcs get older, there are lots of other places I would like to go to.. and I am beginning to resent the obligation to spend every holiday there. We could easily rent it out, but neither of us want to do that yet. And we do spend a lot of each holiday trying to tame the garden/ fixing leaking taps etc.

Totally agree about all the maintenance and jobs to do.

My parents bought a holiday house about 2 hrs from where we live (abroad) and were delighted with themselves but our hearts sank.

Even more once we were roped in to do a lot of jobs or even admin.

It has been lovely for the DC to have somewhere regular to go, but it's often not much of a holiday for us and we resent it (particularly DH who gets to do most of the DIY).

If you added up all the money they have spent on furnishing it, maintaining it, taxes etc. etc. then they could easily rent somewhere lovely for the same amount of weeks per year and relax.

Although my mum loves having her "own" place, her pictures on the walls, knowing the neighbours etc.

Can't you find somewhere to rent which is really nice, and just book it up for the following year, say 4 weeks and a couple of weekends?

People always say that the nice thing about 2nd homes is that you can just get on a plane (or in a car) and go there, no booking involved, but of course there always is, you have to plan ahead and not have any other commitments during that period etc.

We have a small home in Mullingar, Westmeath but DH inherited that (he is from there originally). It's a good base for visiting his distant relatives and travelling around there.

We stayed somewhere lovely in February and we said we'd love to own it. Then I looked at DH and said what I liked was that it was clean with beds made and fires swept. We left bedding that needed doing, ash filled fireplaces and posted the key through the housekeepers letterbox. We're hoping to book it every February forever.

I am actually looking to buy a holiday home but it'll be local and it'll very much be a business we get to enjoy for weekends out of season.

I used to love the idea, but the older I get and the more I stay in other people's the more I go off it? Yes you can go whenever you want in theory, but how often would you actually go? do you really always want to go to the same place? Do you want to spent your visits doing DIY and maintenance? yes you could rent it out, but that is another matter entirely - the most lucrative weeks are probably the weeks you want to use it yourself and you need to make sure it is cleaned and got ready during changeovers which means employing someone, eating into your profit. I think on the whole unless money is no object you are better off renting somewhere and if you like the idea of always going back to the same place then just rent the same place year after year booking ahead.

Sorry meant to add I don't think having a second home is the same as having a holiday - a holiday is what people you invite to stay have!

You say you're about 9 year from retirement? to make this house purchase worthwhile you'd be still owning the property when you retire. Is that OK with you? Do you intend to move permanently into it?

If you dont think in retirement you'd be using it or wanting the hassle, then I'd say buying a house for 9 years isnt worth it (unless huge capital gain), better to have nice B&Bs or rent villas.

You have to pay Mumsnet for the privilege of asking MNetters for their opinion.

BIWI can you explain please, thanks.

You can't just ask our opinions here. Anyone who wants to do that has to pay MNHQ. Send them an email and ask about it. this is their email address

I didn't realise, just trying to help my daughter. Don't think she will be allowed to pay for her research.
Oh the joys of the internet and all the etiquette.

If you ask MN, they do sometimes allow it, or let you post somewhere specific (can't remember where!). Email them and ask

Thanks

Watching with interest. Although I am thinking of buying in Italy, much of the advice ( Brexit, LePen=BeppeGrillo, tied to one place, maintenance and overheads etc) is relevant...