Second/Vacation Homes

[frorider]

Pain in the ass.

5.5 hour drive to our condo.
Just under 10k a year operating expenses.
Probably use it 25 days a year.
Cheaper to rent.

Mammoth I assume. My friends there say HOA fees vary widely & can be ridiculous there.

[Mazderati]

Woe is he who has a vacation home.

[XXX-er]

Nobody has related any good stories about the local handyman you inevitably need to employ at some point

A local character/ handyman originally from costa rica told me " here in the valley I'm that guy that I would have been employing back in Costa Rica "

[Buzzworthy]

Woe is he who has a vacation home.

That’s what I get out of this thread too. Imagine bitching about a vacation home.

[plugboots]

Nobody has related any good stories about the local handyman you inevitably need to employ at some point

There used to be a few and then things went apeshit, and nobody wants to work, and you can’t get anybody, and generally they suck.
I mean, the three plumbers in my area. Their voicemail just says “don’t call me”.

[singlecross]

Nobody has related any good stories about the local handyman you inevitably need to employ at some point

I’m that guy. Work for myself and live in an area with lots of second homes but deal mostly with people’s boats and docks because Marine = Double $$. If they complain, I drop them as clients because there is so much work and few people to do it. Pain in the ass, drop them. Late payment, drop them. All my clients now are nice, pay on time, and often give a little cash bonus.

[TWINS]

Good guess ?
Just doing the math a second home in Mammoth doesn't work unless the owner has lots of cash to burn.
Or do STR's .
I'm an exception as we haven't done that yet. Everyone is renting their units to justify the cost.

First world problems.

My friends roll up and rent in the village.
Catered, easy everything, underground parking etc.
Definitely cheaper than owning unless you spend alot of time here.
STR's are destroying the community. Not a fan.

[Ted Striker]

Woe is he who has a vacation home.

That’s what I get out of this thread too. Imagine bitching about a vacation home.

I rode the jet stream. I hit the top. I'm eating steak and lobster tails.
The sauna's drafty. The pool's too hot. The kitchen stinks of boiling snails.

The tax man's coming. The butler quit. This ain't no place t be a man.
I'm going back to where I started. I'm flashing back into my pan.

[irul&ublo]

There used to be a few and then things went apeshit, and nobody wants to work, and you can’t get anybody, and generally they suck.
I mean, the three plumbers in my area. Their voicemail just says “don’t call me”.

There’s real time. There’s contractor time. There’s Caribbean time…soon come mon…and then, there’s Truckee Contractor time.


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[lifelinksplit]

There used to be a few and then things went apeshit, and nobody wants to work, and you can’t get anybody, and generally they suck.
I mean, the three plumbers in my area. Their voicemail just says “don’t call me”.

I don't actually completely disagree but in a thread of second homeowners the whole "nobody wants to work anymore" trope is one of the most tone deaf things I've heard lately.

Maybe the fact that you can't find anyone to work on your vacation home might force some people to learn some skills or think twice about buying a 2nd home in certain areas. ( not saying you specifically plug).

Meh. Count your blessings y'all.

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[dan_pdx]

Kind of had my eye on this dry cabin on 80 acres with a view, but it went pending. I'll have to find something else to daydream about: https://www.redfin.com/WA/Klickitat/...home/191043219

[old goat]

We used a handyman a couple of times when we first bought the house but if we can't do it ourselves it needs someone licensed. In our 70's we should probably be thinking of finding someone to get the pine needles off the roof.

[plugboots]

I don't actually completely disagree but in a thread of second homeowners the whole "nobody wants to work anymore" trope is one of the most tone deaf things I've heard lately.

Maybe the fact that you can't find anyone to work on your vacation home might force some people to learn some skills or think twice about buying a 2nd home in certain areas. ( not saying you specifically plug).

Meh. Count your blessings y'all.

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We kinda do it backwards, (but this will change soon), which means we thought outside the box at the time. We live in the “vacation” area and have the smaller place near the city. When we moved here in 2006 there was competition to do our remodel. The plumber’s kids played soccer with my daughter, etc., so he couldn’t screw up. He wanted our biz. I could go on. COVID/WFH changed it all. The upside is I’m handy and can fix almost anything, but I don’t want to. I wanna pay somebody, (while I ski). (I’m almost 65.)
I’m not someone who believes in luck exactly, but I believe in preparation and making unemotional decisions. That said, yeah I’m having fun, and I get it. But I also worked my ass off when I was the age of the folks who I’m trying to hire.

[old goat]

When I've hired tradespeople--a plumber, an electrician--they're usually people who work as subs during the day and do my job after hours. I wouldn't call that lazy.
If it's hard to find someone to work on your house it's because there are more and more second homes and fewer and fewer people who go into the trades and fewer and fewer who can afford to live in vacation areas. If you do find someone expect to pay accordingly.
I do think it's time to start paying someone to oil the house instead of doing it ourselves (ie my wife doing it.)

[fastfred]

years ago when I'd say I'll be gone next week
going to (insert trip) Hawaii Ecuador or Phoenix to ride bikes for two weeks or more people would look at me sideways or say some snide comment relating to me ripping them off and since I"m a trades person I should be charging cheep rates working day in and day out and jump when they say jump while they peck away at a computer all day making top dollar

those days are way long over if they have a second home so should I
no reason why a contractor like me and a work from home partner shouldn't make 500k a year combined

[frorider]

That new Zillow feature that uses third-party to quantify risk (flood, wildfire etc) using climate change models may start impacting valuations of homes and second homes.

[zion zig zag]

That’s what I get out of this thread too. Imagine bitching about a vacation home.

You'll never get that impression from me, I'm stoked to have one house. When you met me more than 20 years ago I was working three jobs, living in a run down house that was converted to a fourplex and didn't have two nickles to rub together for change. I'm not about to be bitching for the luck I've had.

[dan_pdx]

That new Zillow feature that uses third-party to quantify risk (flood, wildfire etc) using climate change models may start impacting valuations of homes and second homes.

Pretty sure that's happening already. There's a nice house, well priced, in the flood zone in Milwaukie (or Oregon City?) that they can't seem to sell. I think everyone is looking at the food map and taking a pass

[old goat]

years ago when I'd say I'll be gone next week
going to (insert trip) Hawaii Ecuador or Phoenix to ride bikes for two weeks or more people would look at me sideways or say some snide comment relating to me ripping them off and since I"m a trades person I should be charging cheep rates working day in and day out and jump when they say jump while they peck away at a computer all day making top dollar

those days are way long over if they have a second home so should I
no reason why a contractor like me and a work from home partner shouldn't make 500k a year combined

Agreed. We had a contractor lined up, a guy we used before and really liked. He took some time off after his last job before starting ours to take a vacation. My wife complained (to me not to him) but I was fine with it. (Unfortunately, when he got back he found that his crew had bailed, so I guess it's not just homeowners that think a contractor shouldn't take vacations.) Anyway he did a great job but it probably didn't pencil out for him because the carpenter he hired turned out to be OCD and took weeks to do one day jobs.

Pretty sure that's happening already. There's a nice house, well priced, in the flood zone in Milwaukie (or Oregon City?) that they can't seem to sell. I think everyone is looking at the food map and taking a pass

Then there's the Florida high rise condo situation.

[heckacali]

There’s real time. There’s contractor time. There’s Caribbean time…soon come mon…and then, there’s Truckee Contractor time.

Amen.

[Conundrum]

Just wrapping up having a contractor build a garage for me. They took numerous vacations throughout the project and it ran a few months longer than they thought it would-some sub scheduling and weather delays thrown in. They did a great job and came in 1% over estimate. They told me when they'd be gone and there wasn't much I could do about it. I still like them and am happy with what they built. We have future work lined up with them. Nothing wrong with people enjoying their lives and making a fair living. The contractor wants me to go raft fishing with him. I told him when the project is done...no need to add more time away from my project. Other peoples' project delays, well, they should go fishing with their contractors.

[irul&ublo]

Just recently sold our second home. I will miss it. Was less than 2 hrs from Sacto to Truckee. But, the 25 g per year I’ll save on taxes, insurance!!!!, HOA fees and upkeep will pay for a couple of stays at Alta or wherever, and then some.


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[dan_pdx]

Then there's the Florida high rise condo situation.

That's a mystery to me for sure. FOMO?

[Buzzworthy]

You'll never get that impression from me, I'm stoked to have one house. When you met me more than 20 years ago I was working three jobs, living in a run down house that was converted to a fourplex and didn't have two nickles to rub together for change. I'm not about to be bitching for the luck I've had.

I’ve known you a long long time and I did not include you in my thoughts when I wrote the above. We built where we are. At that time we were still renting. Buying our first house was still a long way off. I remember that place you worked on, driving your pumped out Suby. I remember you working long fucking hours. I remember trying to smoke you out on those rare occasions.
You’ve done very well and I commend your efforts.

[Buzzworthy]

Pimped. Where’s my glasses?