who has two houses?

[oaktree]

While I was roadtripping through the UP, I came upon a cabin on a beautiful river close to Lake Superior. 1935 (which is very old for up there) on 40 acres, totally unbutchered and in good shape. My current house is already a lot of work for me alone (and affordable), but I'm sooo tempted. It's in a town that's very special to my family and the cabin is historically significant...it was Jim Harrison's cabin (author of Legends of the Fall, etc.), and he often wrote about this place. I loved the place even before I realized it used to belong to him. I thought I might get a second house up north way in the future (post-tenure), but a house with this type of history is hard to pass up...prices are also pretty low up there now because Detroit is still recovering and so many baby boomers are selling their homes up there to move somewhere warmer. It's about 6 hours from where I live, and I wouldn't try to rent it and would preserve it as is. Most of the people I met up there said they bought their houses up there decades ago and are so glad they did, but I also hear others say having a vacation home is a nightmare. I could easily resell my current house if something happened, but a house up north is much less liquid, which is risky. Anybody have any experience with this?

[Manalto]

I'd ask for an explanation for why a vacation house is "a nightmare" and see if those complaints would potentially apply to you.

The place sounds wonderful. You know what to do to keep it in good condition so you can do maintenance or restoration at your own pace.

[oaktree]

I'd ask for an explanation for why vacation houses are a "nightmare" and see if those complaints would potentially apply to you.

The place sounds wonderful. You know what to do to keep it in good condition so you can do maintenance or restoration at your own pace.

Honestly, most of the people I know who say this sort of thing are people who don't want to settle down in a single place and hate home maintenance. I know very few people who would enjoy owning an old house like I do. All my friends think I'm nuts already.

I don't know too much about log cabins, but it was in pretty great shape. If I had tenure already, I'd not hesitate.

[vvzz]

I have two houses in the city and only two streets away from each other. One generates enough income to cover both mortgages. I'm planning to use the house I live in for airbnb/international students, once big restoration projects are done. I strongly believe real estate should generate income.

My problem with vacation cabins is that taxes alone will likely be more than renting a similar place for few weeks a year. And thats not including maintenance costs purchase costs, etc. So its a purely luxury purchase.

[Kashka-Kat]

.deleted

[Manalto]

Oaktree said in the original post that the plan is to leave it as-is.

Here's the listing: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/201 ... isons.html

[oaktree]

I wouldn't change anything...not even to add trails. I think it should be preserved as is. I don't think it needs modernization...it could have some solar panels, I suppose. I think it should definitely qualify as a historic place, but that doesn't seem to help much with taxes anymore it seems. Houses in the UP are never going to make sense from an income standpoint...it's very unpopulated and far away from things. I'm really attracted to the location and the history of this cabin though. In theory, I could spend a lot more than a few weeks there since I can work remotely in the summers.

[Manalto]

Why not? The things we regret most are those we didn't do.

I'd be tempted to paint the white trim a darker color.

[Kashka-Kat]

[quote="Kashka-Kat"]Is it listed and how long has it been on the market?

Deleted - now that I see the listing I realize my input was not relevant! Have you contacted agent and gone to look at it walk around, see how it feels? All I can say is after looking at a zillion houses in my lifetime, there were only a few that gave me a strong feeling of "I could live here" and some of those I still feel pangs of regret that I couldnt or wouldnt make an offer at the time. Sometimes you have to go by feeling and not over intellectualize. (by "you" I am also talking to myself, as I am guilty of over intellectualizing a lot).

[awomanwithahammer]

I actually have 3 houses--my home, the house I'm renovating, and one which actually consists of two acres of land with 2 small log cabins and a barn. The cabins are in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and we bought them as a family vacation getaway. My sisters used to come up and we'd all go camping, but tent camping got old after a while. I found these while they were bank-owned and got them for a great price. We don't rent them because we never know when someone will call and say, "Hey, can we come up for the weekend?" However, we're considering listing them on Airbnb for a couple of months out of the year, just to generate a little income to cover taxes and insurance.

All this is to say, it's really nice to have a place to go where you can relax. Even though our cabins are only a 15-minute drive from our house, it's like going away. I think if you crunch the numbers and think you can swing it, you should do it!