Are Vacation Homes Stressful?

The wealth section of the New York Times ran an article last week on the stresses of owning a vacation home. Writer Paul Andersen speaks from personal experience and interviews a variety of people under the title “If It Causes Stress, Is It Really a Vacation Home?”.

His four key headlines from the article:

• It’s Not an Investment
• It’s Less Relaxing
• It’s Time Consuming
• It’s Confounding

One of the main things that second home buyers over look is the amount of time, and money to take care of their home. The article quotes Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, “Think of the 20 to 25 suppliers who come to your house for air-conditioning, heating, landscaping, the pool man, the plumber — now you’ve got to procure those same suppliers for another property,” he said. “If you have the money and it doesn’t mean anything to you from an investment point of view and you can hire the staff, then fine.”

Looked at another way, our earlier articles have covered the reasons people buy into fractionals and residence clubs. No maintenance and lots of relaxation are high up the list of reasons, together with the five star service levels that many residences provide.

Andersen ends his article saying “But before you plunge into a second home, ask why you are doing it. In the end, staying in a hotel could be a lot more relaxing.” I’d add that destination clubs, private residence clubs or fractional homes are also worth considering, since they remove the stressful elements covered in the New York Times article.