What you could do is buy a house at the beach and rent it through most of the summer, except a couple of weeks when you and/or family go down. Then, when you’re ready to retire you’ll already have a place almost paid for.
Yeah, that’s what a lot of people do with the Jersey Shore. Apparently, hurricane Sandy knocked down or damaged a lot of houses there, so people are building many new houses and driving up property values.
Before I bought my current house I actually put some offers at the beach that luckily fell through. Most of them were destroyed in Sandy.
The unfortunate thing about the Jersey Shore is many of the homes are either complete tear-downs or you have to raise them X amount of feet to meet the new FEMA guidelines for flood tables. So you’re looking at dropping north of 500k for a bare lot to then build on, or north of 750k for somehting you will probably have to dump another 100k into just to make it legally livable and insurable… And this is for a simple 2 bedroom that’s barely a step up from a Bungalow.
As for buying something and renting… it’s been a thought. But in reality the summer rental market was shit this past year unless you were offering some SERIOSULY low rent (and no matter what Chris Christie says in the TV commercials, most of the Jersey Shore is still in ruins. I still go to the shore a lot and all the bartenders and restaruants I’ve been going to for years tell me the same story… no one is comiing down). And the initial cash outlay for something that is somewhat desireable to rent out would be pretty large as well (Remember, a halfway decent property is north of 750k). I would want to finance as little as possible as it would not only be a jumbo mort. but also not my primary residence. Everybody loves to talk the property game, but in reality a lot of times you are forced dealing with deadbeats… I am slow to dive in as I see all my friends go through hell with all their properties. Sure, I can outsource the property management… but then I’m eating into my bottom line. “Building Equity” is great and all, but I don’t want to leverage myself to shit while eating into my monthy cashflow too much. And when push comes to shove, I’m not trying to build Me.Inc, I just want to look at the ocean when I day-drink at 8am when I’m 50.
Is Jersey shore your only option? I guess if you’re in NYC it’s LBI, Montauk, Seaside, etc…or you’re looking at like Fire Island or something. I can say from experience that south of the Jersey shore the rental market is strong. By April you’re booked for the summer, only renting to families and professionals over 30. I haven’t looked since 2011 though.
I guess the point is that when you’re 50 and you want to move to the beach…what’s your plan? I mean, you could move somewhere remote, but otherwise you have to buy a place anyhow. It’s true there are not just one, but many paths. Now go make some money.
Well, the people I know who rent beach homes do tend to spend a lot of time taking care of the houses. So maybe if you don’t have time, it’s not worth it. Also, it seems like property values have gone up a lot in recent years, along with new costs like flood insurance. So maybe the value proposition is not as good as it once was.
Watch out for Fire Island. -Edited-
^ no homo
Dude, wtf?
Born and raised at the Jersey Shore. No place I’d rather be… (in the US, at least)
Plan after 50? NOT pulling 12 hours days with a 2 hour commute. Thats about it.
If I can sit on my ass and draw 155k a year from a 5mm-10mm nestegg conservatively (1.5 -3%…100k in today’s $ adjusting for 3% inflation). I’d putz around town doing odd jobs and be that lovable nuisance, just like my dad now.
My aunt/uncle have a house on fire island, its actuallly a really nice area if you are comfortable with your sexuality.
Real talk.
For igor
I repect the fact you’ve twice bumped a thread where you come off as a homophobic asshat.
That’s not normal courage. That’s a special kind of internet courage.
And the bigotry is only perserved through your valient quote
wtf
“Give a man a mask and he’ll tell the truth, give him a username and he’ll act like a total twat”- Sid Lowe
Same goal,
Only I’d like a small townhouse in a rural part of thailand near the beach I can spend the winters tanning and training muay thai. Then come back to vancouver the other 8 months of the year to make money, hike and lay on the beach.
Lay on the beach in Vancouver???
Vancouver has decent beaches, the only problem is that it’s too cold to go into the water, even in the middle of summer.
yep, this is across the street from my apartment and if I stand up I can see it out my living room window. Theres 3-4 beaches within a 15 minute walk.
http://www.stay.com/vancouver/attractions/4863/english-bay-beach/
The water is actually quite nice in July/August, but the better swimming is at wreck beach which is a nudist beach about 20 minutes drive from downtown.