[ajmat]

I agree with most of the points against a second home. the world is too big to confine yourself.

However, a second home may be worth it in some cases as follows:

You have a group of friends or also part of a community in a place within 4-5 hours away. Conoor is popular for some older Bangalorians. Nandan Nikekani has a sprawling mansion there and many of his friends so they have a good time. What also helped was having an alternate workplace in the middle - Mysore.

You have place on the outskirts and can spend 2-3 days aweek there. My ex-neighbour had a farm there. His workplace was midpoint so he used ot spend the odd night over there as well as weekend. Mind you he had an army of people to oversee this.

Another friend does this but am sure things will change once his child starts proper school

[slicvic]

I have voted NO

But now I have been offered a Beachside property which is a 30 min drive from my house.

Now this does make sense.

The popular beaches near town are a 15 min drive from home, but are too crowded.

If I do buy this property and build a small house there, I would have a house overlooking a beach, I could shower in my own place after playing in the beach.

And best of all, its only a 30 min drive so I could do this every weekend, and even host parties on any day.

What are your opinions on this??

[ajmat]

I forgot to add one more important point about not having a holiday home.

Judging by the hassle of driving on clogged roads during a long weekend and also how the citiy empties out, I find staying at home during a holiday weekend even more relaxing. Eating plances and cinemas are less crowded, traffic is diminished!

[Ricky_63]

Ok here goes. A few years ago, I bought a farmhouse in Pataudi (Haryana) 50 kms by the odo from my house in Gurgaon. I built the place with a lot of passion, 24x7 power & water, concrete road, just off a State highway.

Lying vacant since day 1. Useless investment ( though I can get x 2 today), I have my personal reasons to blame... Airbnb sounds like an option !

I voted "NO" it is a pain in the rear & nothing more...

[SmartCat]

OYO planning to get into managed properties business
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/60373044.cms

In case of OYO's new venture, there is no caretaker. There will be an individual from OYO to help guests with the check-in and later be available for assistance.

The company is running a pilot in Goa and plans to roll it out across the country . All these properties have Wi-Fi, airconditioned rooms, flat-screen TV, pre-stocked kitchen and entertainment such as board games, said an OYO spokesperson. There is no hotel-provided free breakfast as a fully functional kitchen is in place.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Voted No!

I'm not sure I believe in owning a home anymore (that's another thread topic altogether), and here we are discussing holiday homes. A strong no, to that!

[Jeroen]

Interesting thread and quite a few different views whether it makes sense. At the end of the day it is probably a very personal choice and more than financial considerations do come into play.

Our situation is somewhat different having lived abroad for almost eight years away from our home in the Netherlands. But all that time we also had a holiday home in Suffolk, UK. We have owned our current home in the Netherlands for about 23 years, have just sold it and will be moving to a new home in the Netherlands. Our second home as we like to call it we have owned for probably some 15 years.

For us it was part financial, part practical, part emotional, part cultural etc. Lots of different reasons. My wife was born in the UK and we lived and owned a home in Brighton, UK during the early 80's. We sold that, moved to the Netherlands, moved several times and several international posting.

Around the turn of the century with our kids sort of entering teenage years, my wife and I decided we wanted to have a small holiday home in the UK as well. We often go there, we have lots of friends and family and we like to stay in the UK. So we decided on a home in Suffolk. Very easy access for us by night Ferry.

The UK property market has had its ups and downs as well. But in general, it outperforms the Dutch property by a very large margin. At the time we were still contemplating on retiring in the UK at some point in the distant future. With house prices sky rocketing it made sense to make sure to get onto the property market.

For several years my wife held a consultancy post working for the NHS, so she would pop over for long weekends, work on Friday and Monday for the NHS and the rest of week back in the Netherlands doing her regular job. Interestingly enough all travel, including the travel, was tax deductable for Dutch income tax. So a very attractive arrangements.

So we had/have many reasons for having a second home. It's just a small terraced house. A friendly neighbour looks after it when we are not there. We sometimes lend it to friends and families. Also, the neigbour and his wife have lots of family. When they come to visit them, they can use our home as well.

We never have any problems having to clean or repair anything when we arrive. In fact, as it gets used very little, or by friends who make sure it is left in immaculate condition when they leave, I would say it's probably in better condition than our main residence.

Yes, it does cost quite a bit. Council tax, electricity, water, gas, Internet/TV, some regular maintenance etc. We are very fortunate to be able to afford it. We have even invested in a second property in Suffolk which is permanently rented out. The rent easily pays for all the running cost of our second home these days.

And no, we never feel compelled to go to the UK, just because we our second home there. We travel an awfull lot outside the UK and the Netherlands as well.

Some people enjoy having a caravan, or a camper, or a yacht. Financially probably just like the second home. It's very unlikely you will make so much use of it that renting a caravan, camper, yacht wouldn"t make more sense.

Still, people (including me) do invest in these sorts of things. But rarely with a view of financial advantages only. (at least not us)

We love our little second home. Not sure what will happen with its value. What with the exchange rate UKP/Euro and Brexit. So we just enjoy it whilst we can.

We often use our second home for family gatetherings/parties. So even when we were in India when we flew to the Netherlands, stayed there for a few days and then hopped over to the UK for our Christmas holiday. Our kids would join us in the UK too.

Jeroen