Buying/Renting a vacation home in the U.S.A.?

Stephen7287

Hi, I’m 21 years old and have lived in Dublin my whole life. Lately I’ve been thinking of buying or renting a holiday home in the United States since I’ve wanted to live there all of my life but this way I can atleast visit once a year. I just wanted to know if anyone on here has done this themselves and if it’s even worth doing. If I was to rent or buy a small apartment how much would it cost me? My ideal location would be somewhere down South, maybe Alabama. I’d plan on doing this in the next 5 years or so as I basically just landed my first full time job recently. I wouldn’t be looking for anything particularly nice looking, just as long as I can actually visit the country (Hell! A mobile hole would do) I’m currently earning €20,000 annually, €4,000 is going on car insurance and I’m giving my parents €800 per month this leaves me with 5-6,000 to save.

whomitconcerns

So you have 5k a year after bills to live on and you want to buy a holiday house? Keep saving and maybe in 10 years time look again

dennyk

Have to admit I got a good chuckle out of this; never would have figured on seeing a kid from around these parts whose fondest wish was to live in a trailer in Alabama. :pac:

Seriously, though, buying a vacation home is usually a silly idea even for folks who can afford it, and you definitely can't afford it. Owning a vacation home ties you down to always visiting the same spot, which would get old pretty fast (especially if it's in ****ing Alabama, of all places...). Far better to just stay in a hotel or rent a place whenever you want to visit the US. If you did want to move there long-term, you'd want to explore a bit and visit different regions in any case, I'm sure.

El Tarangu

Stephen7287 wrote: »

Lately I’ve been thinking of buying or renting a holiday home in the United States since I’ve wanted to live there all of my life but this way I can atleast visit once a year.

Why don't you just visit once a year, without buying a holiday home? This requires a lot less initial outlay, and you could go to a different place every time that you visit.

If you owned a holiday home that you used for, say one month a year, you would still be incurring costs for the 11 months it was lying empty.

eeloe

Stephen7287 wrote: »

Hi, I’m 21 years old and have lived in Dublin my whole life. Lately I’ve been thinking of buying or renting a holiday home in the United States since I’ve wanted to live there all of my life but this way I can atleast visit once a year. I just wanted to know if anyone on here has done this themselves and if it’s even worth doing. If I was to rent or buy a small apartment how much would it cost me? My ideal location would be somewhere down South, maybe Alabama. I’d plan on doing this in the next 5 years or so as I basically just landed my first full time job recently. I wouldn’t be looking for anything particularly nice looking, just as long as I can actually visit the country (Hell! A mobile hole would do) I’m currently earning €20,000 annually, €4,000 is going on car insurance and I’m giving my parents €800 per month this leaves me with 5-6,000 to save.

House prices in the states, along with utilities, and property taxes, will come to a LOT more than the 5-6k per year you have available to make such an investment.

Just go on Holiday to the US once, or twice a year...instead of buying a house over there...no point paying your parents 800 a month rent, when you'd be paying a mortgage on a house that it would cost you 1k to fly to.

TeaBagMania

Have you been to the states?
IMHO the whole south east portion of this country is a s**te hole, you should visit first... really
If you heart is set on a mobile home in Alabama don't forget to bring your cousin\wife

Rented Mule

I say this without a hint of irony/sarcasm.

Keep saving your money and then buy something when everything crashes.

Do you research and find a State that doesn't have/has a low Real Estate tax. As mentioned in another thread.

If you do end up purchasing something, I would recommend that you find someone to manage it for you while you're away. You can Air BnB it, or lease it and help turn a little bit of money along the way.

It's not an insane idea, but the one thing you'll need to remember is that "you never own real estate, it owns you".

Good luck in whatever choice that you make.