Property
 

Anyone here own extra property, or a cottage, or a summer home or anything like that?

There's a cute tiny little cottage I saw for sale and I'm seriously debating looking into buying it. It's about 45 minutes away, on a lake. I have to do further research regarding condition, location, etc.

But then I wonder - will it just be a big pain in the ass? :shrug: I know real estate almost always increases in value over time, but will it really be worth it?

Thoughts? Advice?

the only thing I can say is I have a friend that has a vacation house in the country and all she does is complain about it b/c it takes a lot of time to keep it up, extra yard to cut and clean, double the appliances to replace and overall maintenance.

^ Great. Thanks. :thumbsup:

JK - that's what I'm concerned about. The place def. needs some TLC, but I need more info on it before I make any moves. It's cheap as hell, though...

yeah. if you've got the money and time to do it, go for it, cause, like you said, it will increase in value. if you can fix it up and keep it for a year or so you may be able to make a good bit off of it.

Buy it now, unless you plan on dramatically increasing your income in the future.
Although I hear the Market right now is expensive, and it's going to come down a bit. I was just talking about this last night. My friend bought her house for about 140,000, then with the new rooms it was about 170,000 about...7 years ago? Now it's worth half a mil.
So, you can repair that thing for the rest of your life when you have some extra cash, and may be able to rent it out as well - I say look at the market trends and try to buy it. :shrug: By that I mean unless it is way overpriced right now (which is possible).

do you guys ever watch flip this house on a&e? it's amazing what they can do with places in need of a little tlc.

yep. I love shows like that.

like amber said too, Paula, maybe you can rent it out and have a little cashflow.

That's what I'm thinking. Of course, it's really small (700 sq. feet - just a cottage) and I have to find out if it's really ON the lake, and make sure that lake is not the polluted lake of death. :laugh:




LOVE those shows!

Be careful with the whole idea of property flipping though. Some areas are easier to do that in than others. In suburban Chicago, for example, it's not as easy to property flip as it is in, say, the San Fransisco Bay area. Some markets don't respond (in price) to upgrades as quickly as others do. In San Fran buyers have more money to burn, and they value style and upgrades more than folks in other areas, etc.

So, if this place you're considering is in an area where people don't buy and sell often, if it's not a "hot" market, you're not as likely to make a big profit by flipping. Not that you're considering flipping, but even if you have to resell in a couple years that's something you'll want to consider. Maybe find out how much comparable places (and places with nice upgrades) have sold for in the past couple years in the immediate area where you're considering buying.

Is this lake anywhere near Rochester - because then you have your answer on whether or not it the polluted lake of death :p

700sq feet IS tiny...that's smaller than my apartment!!!

Yeah, I'm really thinking more of a summer cottage for us, maybe rent it out a few weeks a year too. I know it has electricity & indoor plumbing (don't laugh, I've seen some advertised that don't) and it has a stone fireplace. It also lists "other heat/cooling" which I would hope is a furnace, but for all I know could be a kerosene space heater. :laugh:


You know it, baby! A lot of lakes here are pretty gross, but not literally deadly. I'd just like to prepare before I get typhoid or hepatitis, you know?

Well Paula you aure work hard. From that standpoint you certainly deserve something like this.:nod:

I can't afford one house, let alone two :(

House prices here are ridiculous - you can't buy anything at all for less than £100K and the average is nearer £200K - and when you only earn £20-25K then you've had it. Lots of people here are buying in Europe instead, so I'm hoping to do that. I could work till I'm 150 years old and still never afford a place here. Damn country :distress:

But if you can afford it, I think an extra place is a great idea - especially if you rent it out and perhaps get an agent to deal with collecting rent etc - minimum hassle. That way, it could act like a little pension.

It's the curse of a small land mass my friend.:(

I have a second home and I have never regretted it. If the plan is to keep it as a second home then, yes, be sure you can afford the maintenance costs on both homes. Have you thought about offering as a weekend/weekly rental? Sorry, but I do not recall your location. Is there a lot of activity on the lake?

Too true - a small land mass that everyone wants to come and live on! :rolleyes: Nowhere near enough houses here for everyone who wants one, and they can't build them fast enough - but then with more houses, they are wrecking the countryside, so it's not a good situation.

Youve told me about your place. It sounds really nice.:nod:

My mom and dad purchased a cottage in Cape Cod before my sister and I were born. THey never have regretted it. We have a lot of land to build on so the property is worth a lot. I take my friends down there every summer. We belong to a private beach and its a really fun time. BEachin it all day, cookout, and jumping off bridges. My grandmother also owns a house on a lake in NH (WHICH I LOVE). The whole family goes up there every year a few times each summer.

Go back at night and see if the lake "glows". :nod:

I would imagine any type of decent place in London would be at least 500,000 or more to buy.?:distress:

Depends what you mean by decent, but... yeah :distress:

Then there's the taxes :(

Oh I can imagine. I heard texes there are quite outrageous on some things.

Council Tax is one of the biggest ones - every homeowner pays it depending on the value of his house. The average in London is around £1150 ($2100) per house per year, and it goes up by around 4-5% every year.

Plus you'll have to pay to park your car outside your house - maybe £50 per year, plus it's £8 per day to drive into London - the congestion tax - they want you to use the bus or the train. It's an expensive business, living in London :distress:

What, no free parking?:lol:

Only on a Monopoly board... where you also go to prison on a regular basis :nod:

Very true.:nod:

What you do, Paula, is find a fellow NY friend to go in with you on it and then you just alternate weeks at the place and share all the maintenance and what not! Deal? lol!!

If its a deal, buy. Buy, buy buy. But then, I am a property addict.

I have a few things to add:

try and see the property at its worst, such as during a rainy season (which may be hard to do now that summer is coming) so you can see if there are any leaks etc

get yourself a real estate agent you TRUST and get THEM to find out about the property, how long its been on the market, what the hangups are etc...they know ALL the dirt about places and sometimes, even the dirt about the owners!

Take along a friend who is a contractor or handyman and do a walk thru of the place so they can spot the problem areas, and have that info handy when you sit down to bargain. maybe there's a reason the price is so low...if its been on the market a long time, I'd be wary. The old saw about "if it sounds too good to be true, it usually IS" is usually RIGHT.

guess Im the cautious type, eh :lol:

Is that a hint, sweetie? :D

It's not really all that low a price for the area. Real estate is mega cheap up here, esp. in rural areas. But I know what you mean. We bought our house (a real fixer upper)about 6 years ago, so we've been through it before. We may take a drive out there this weekend & check things out.

Buy it. Cuz you're not that far away and I want to visit you at your lake house!

Oh wait, was this about you? If it is that cheap, just buy it. My mother has a second home and she's always loved it. The investment will also be worth it, she bought her place for $60,000 in '89 and it is now worth about $175,000.

My aunt has a small house on a lake. She bought it around 1978, for $19,000. It's now worth about $250,000.
Talk about a KICKASS return on your investment!

yes'm!!!!!! lol Our credentials: My hubby is a real fixer-upper kind of guy. We have no kids ... one dog and a 2nd most likely on the way. :)

sheesh I feel like I am trying to proposition you or something! :lol:

I am just kidding about it all ... but it is kind of a fun idea, don't you think?

Well. We took a ride out there with Mark's friend Tony(who happens to be on the zoning board for that town, as well as having lived there all of his life) this past weekend. It's about 40 minutes away. We weren't able to get inside obviously, but we checked out the area & the exterior of the place (along with a couple of others we happened upon while we were there.)

The pros. Cute. Really, really cute. Double lot, and the land is nice & level. Neighbors kind of close on one side, not close on the other. Tony seems to think that the septic system should be up to date, and the stone fireplace is solid. Not right on the lake, but across the gravel road from it, easily within walking distance. The lake is not the Hepatitis Lake of Death. It's not a sparkling clear babbling brook, it's a muddy rural lake. Think Friday the 13th movies. :laugh: You won't die if you swim in it, but some girly-girls may not want to go in. I am not a girly-girl, so it's all good.

Now, the cons. It needs work. Nothing we couldn't handle ourselves (and by "we" I mean my husband, my dad, my brothers-in-law...) but it would take time & a bit of cash. New roof for sure, decorative touches inside (that's where I come in) and we have to evaluate some issues that Mark noticed. There's no basement, it's on blocks. He thinks the main joist looked a bit cocked, but for all we know it could have been that way for the last 50 years & may still be structurally sound. We need to have a closer look & if we wanted to make a move, obviously have it inspected.

We're going back out this weekend with the realtor to have a look see inside at this place, as well as another nearby. I'm excited. :)

oooh Paula ... sounds like there are some possibilities !!! I can hear FM playing in the background now as you (or whoever ... me, maybe?) paint, spackle, hammer, saw, and whatever else there is to do when you fix up a house!