Forget the Hotel; Rent a Vacation Home
Image by Vijay Gunda via Flickr
Sometimes you don’t need to buy a home to enjoy it. This is especially true of a vacation home. Instead of staying in a hotel when you go on a longer vacation, consider renting a vacation home.
Rent a vacation home
If you are staying for a week or more, you can get a great deal on a vacation home rental. And it can save you money (especially in the off-season). Jim at Bargaineering offers these additional reasons to consider a vacation home over a hotel:
- You can negotiate the price.
- You have a kitchen. (So you save money by preparing some of your own meals.)
- More space for the family to spread out.
- Convenient parking.
He also mentions some other perks that you might find, such as your own pool, wi-fi and the greater possibility of a pet-friendly vacation. This works best if you plan to stay for at least a week, and if there are enough people coming to make use of the available beds.
But, if you’re going to rent a vacation home, why not just buy a second home?
Why buying a vacation home might be a bad idea
Many people dream of having a vacation home. If you go to the same place repeatedly, and if you have enough money to make two mortgage payments, this might not be a bad arrangement. But for myself, I am not overly enamored of the idea of buying a vacation home. Here are the main things I find repulsive about buying a vacation home:
- You feel like you have to go to the same place all the time, in order to make it “worth it.” It’s harder to change things up a bit for your vacation.
- Renting it out when you aren’t in it can be a pain. There are many people who make money to offset the cost of the mortgage by renting their vacation homes to others. If this suits you, then go for it. I don’t like the hassle.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2ca00175-1e87-4bdb-9c61-dfcb3646a71f)
