who has two houses?

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oaktree
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Re: who has two houses?

Post by oaktree »

awomanwithahammer wrote: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!


Wow, that sounds like such a lovely arrangement!!! Very inspiring. Do you have pictures of your cabins?
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oaktree
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Re: who has two houses?

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Kashka-Kat wrote: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).


I am the same way, very few places actually feel like home when I see them in person. I felt that way immediately with my farmhouse, and I felt that way when I arrived at this cabin. I didn't see the inside except through the windows, but it's not that big. The realtor messed up and went to the wrong address (hours away) so I would have to arrange another visit to see the interior. After labor day, it should get pretty quiet up there.
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awomanwithahammer
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Re: who has two houses?

Post by awomanwithahammer »

Yes, I have some pictures. I'll have to find them, though!
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Lily left the valley
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Re: who has two houses?

Post by Lily left the valley »

That seems lovely. The only thing I'd weigh in was later life medical needs due to the distance mentioned to (I guess?) the nearest wherever, but that's always on my mind given my family's stellar gene pool to pull from. :lol:
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Sow's Ear Mal
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Re: who has two houses?

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I have a second house. Very old, in need of major structural work, and a 17 hour drive from here. Its purchase is one of my greatest regrets. We were romantic, thought we could be it's saviours. Not possible from this distance. Major foundation, roof problems, and theft, and wildlife inhabitants. Considering a sensitive hand-deconstruction and salvage at this point. It's a hole in my heart.

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Re: who has two houses?

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I have three. The one I live in, one I'm almost done with that will be sold or rented and one that will be a rental.

Originally, the Cottage was not meant to be our full time house-we were going to live at the Old House and rent the Cottage (vacation rental) and stay here weekends when it wasn't rented. That lasted through us actually closing on the Cottage having spent a lot of time here over the summer (we were allowed by the PO to clean up the place while under contract). The Old House (now sold, was a rental then sold to the tenants) was about 45 minutes from the Cottage-not sure how I'd feel about owning a property hours from where I live, although we've talked about picking up a little cabin in the Adirondacks.

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oaktree
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Re: who has two houses?

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Lily left the valley wrote:That seems lovely. The only thing I'd weigh in was later life medical needs due to the distance mentioned to (I guess?) the nearest wherever, but that's always on my mind given my family's stellar gene pool to pull from. :lol:


This is a good thing to consider and one reason why there are so many homes for sale in northern michigan right now. I recently drove through the "tunnel of trees", which is probably the loveliest coastal road on Lake Michigan, and every third house was for sale.
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oaktree
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Re: who has two houses?

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Sow's Ear Mal wrote:I have a second house. Very old, in need of major structural work, and a 17 hour drive from here. Its purchase is one of my greatest regrets. We were romantic, thought we could be it's saviours. Not possible from this distance. Major foundation, roof problems, and theft, and wildlife inhabitants. Considering a sensitive hand-deconstruction and salvage at this point. It's a hole in my heart.


Wow so brave...17 hours is far, and that sounds tough. Thank you for sharing this with me...it makes me think on this hard.
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oaktree
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Re: who has two houses?

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eclecticcottage wrote:I have three. The one I live in, one I'm almost done with that will be sold or rented and one that will be a rental.

Originally, the Cottage was not meant to be our full time house-we were going to live at the Old House and rent the Cottage (vacation rental) and stay here weekends when it wasn't rented. That lasted through us actually closing on the Cottage having spent a lot of time here over the summer (we were allowed by the PO to clean up the place while under contract). The Old House (now sold, was a rental then sold to the tenants) was about 45 minutes from the Cottage-not sure how I'd feel about owning a property hours from where I live, although we've talked about picking up a little cabin in the Adirondacks.


Sounds like many big undertakings! You are tackling more than I think I can handle at this stage in my career...thank you so much for sharing this with me! It is really helpful.
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eclecticcottage
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Re: who has two houses?

Post by eclecticcottage »

Here's what we have considered looking at properties not within 30-45 minutes of where we live:

Who is going to do regular things like mow? A missed weekend or two because of "life" leads to really tall grass quickly!

If there is work to be done that has to be contracted out, who will supervise/would we be able to be there for an extended period to do so? Also, how will we locate a good contractor?

Would we be able to find someone to check on it when not in use (ie, winter for a summer home)? I know plenty of people close up and hope for the best when they come back, but pipes break, windstorms happen, etc.

I don't want to discourage you, but that's what we worried about when considering a property outside of regular check in range. We've talked about vacation rentals a couple hours from our house (one we could use in off times/rent when we didn't want to use it), but we would have to find a service that could clean/prep for new renters plus keep up on mowing and check on it when needed, say, after a big storm. Plus keep out the mice and critters lol. We have yet to find such a place.

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