For my entire adult life I never saw the value in having a vacation getaway house on the lake or a cabin in the woods. It seemed impractical to maintain two places and would tie you down to just mostly going there when we like going everywhere. Some of my friends have multiple homes or apartments and while they can easily afford them it still seemed like a strange way to live. However I now find myself joining the two house crowd, or at least taking the first steps toward that lifestyle.
My wife likes projects, remodels, yard improvements, building furniture and redecorating. And she was intrigued by the possibility of getting some land up in the remote wilderness area of Arkansas that is very popular among hikers and river floaters. We spend a lot of time in the woods, bushwhacking to water falls and hiking on the hundreds of miles of Arkansas wilderness trails, so we are in that area often. She recently brought up the idea of buying land and a cabin, and for the first time it started to make sense to me. What I had not considered was that it isn’t just a luxury expense, like a tricked out Mercedes Benz, its a luxury expense that might not actually cost us anything.
I know it will cost several hundred thousand so I’m not in denial about that, but it still could make us some money. This land has gone up in price steadily as it is a reasonable drive from the only two metro areas in Arkansas. As we began looking around we were surprised at how many cabins, homes and vacation compounds have already been built there. It is extremely difficult to find private land for sale that has utilities accessible and does not require some sort of easement to get to it. A large amount of the land in this area is government land and part of either the national forest or the Buffalo River National Park. The Buffalo was the first National River in the US and all the land the river runs through is part of the park, and is not for sale. So land that is very close to these protected wilderness areas is becoming highly prized.
We found an area that was being developed with very large lots. The last two lots totaled 25 acres, completely wooded and quite steeply sloped except for a very small yard around the cabin site. The views are spectacular. This part of Arkansas is as remote and beautiful as many Western mountain states, without the feet of snow each winter, although we usually get a few inches. We decided to buy both lots and leave one empty as a buffer so that the closest cabin to ours will not be visible. If we later change our minds we could sell the empty lot or sell both lots and the cabin. In any case the total cost isn’t enough money to impact our retirement finances. We will probably VRBO it just to make sure it is occupied and not just sitting empty when we are not there and the income will help offset utilities and taxes if we decide to do that. I think that will be another adventure in itself.
I’ve long known we do not spend enough, we just are not spendy people. But this kind of spending on an appreciating asset, that feels fine to me. And the whole thing will be a multi-year project for my wife. I have a lot of projects with my college and charity foundation boards I chair. Plus other volunteer activities keep me challenged. But this is right in her wheelhouse and that alone makes it worthwhile. If it pays for itself, fine, if it doesn’t, still fine. In the big scheme of things is it small money. Plus, maybe it will give the kids something to fight over when we are gone? And it surely will give me some blog fodder. I’ve only owned one house in my life and I know nothing about the process of getting one built, so we will learn a lot and make more than a few mistakes.
What amazed me is how lightly I was holding on to the “I’ll never have two houses” mantra. Now it doesn’t bother me at all that we are about to do just that. I wonder how many of my other principles are not as fixed in concrete as I think they are? Maybe next time I buy a car I won’t buy a used one? I’m on the crazy train now!
What about you, have you ever completely changed your mind on something you were certain about?
Would you ever consider a second place on the beach, or in the mountains or at the lake?
I always figured it was better to own one place, and be free to visit anyplace that struck my fancy (through hotel or short term rentals). I didn’t want to be tied down to just one vacation spot. As I get older, I am starting to see the appeal of a second home to spend the winter in (when I can take the time), preferably by the ocean. A guaranteed place to stay, that I can go at any time. I don’t know that it is currently affordable, but we will see.
IM, it is funny how our views change with time. We really become different people from the younger us. Thanks for commenting!
We bought our current retirement mountain cabin while I was still working. We VRBO’d it until I retired. Worked out well for us. I agree with viewing a second home as an appreciating asset, and the decision to buy is more an asset allocation question than an expense one. Congrats on the purchase, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it for years.
I feel way better, if it has the Fritz seal of approval I know it isn’t a dumb move! Thanks!
Congrats! Smart idea buying two lots and keeping one empty. I’ve flirted with this idea many time, but ultimately have chosen not to go this route. However from an investment and lifestyle standpoint and a wife who’s going to manage, why not? You only live once!
Thanks AR, yeah it is strange how it all made sense after a lifetime of looking at it differently. And yes, all my money is staying here when I move to the next life so its kind of short sighted not to spend some of it now.
I am of a similar mindset Steve, yet agree this appears to be a great investment. Even better, this is something your wife wants to be involved in. Based on how beautiful the properties sound, I’d consider building two rustic but comfy cabins. If you put them on Airbnb, you could start recovering your costs as they appreciate in value. Just a thought.
Shannon, that’s a good idea. We kind of like not being able to see anyone so we might not do that right away but if one rents well then two would be twice as good.
Enjoy the new place! And hope the maintenance issues are fine.
YOLO as the kids say these days
Thanks Sam, they do say that, turning off the frugality switch is harder than I thought it would be.
What pure timing. I recently had a conversation with a friend that it is very normal that our preferences and lifestyle will change with life stages. I often thought about a ski condo near Breckenridge, CO as it is an appreciating asset and close to Denver home base. However, with the rise of monthly rentals through AirBnB, VRBO, and etc, and coupled with the fact that WFH is here for awhile, it may be more interesting to spend ski vacations at Park City, Whistler Blackcomb, Hokkaido, Chamonix and without the maintenance and cleaning duties. Still pondering though. Glad to hear you aren’t leaving all your money to the kids and you both are enjoying your hard-earned savings.
Hey Amanda, this topic seems to have resonated with several readers. I had some scary moments on Devil’s Crotch at Breck. Yikes! I’m not sure this is particularly smart financially but I think it will be at least breakeven because they aren’t making any new wilderness areas and it is truly in a beautiful part of our state. Its actually only a few miles from the one and only ski slope that ever operated in Arkansas. It just didn’t get cold enough to make snow(20 deg F) often enough to keep it in business. I did ski there twice though, what a show that was. Nobody in Arkansas knows how to ski and this was a single run, I’d rate it as blue\black, that ended abruptly in hay bales. It was like an interstate pile up! Those of us who could ski just used the wrecked skiers as slalom gates on the way down.
Steve, at this point you no longer have to make all decisions and ticked the financially smart checkbox. You have plenty of room to purchase for purely leisurely pursuits. Even if it doesn’t become an international destination, there is pure relaxation and tranquility in having a glass of wine on the patio and listening to the whisper of the national forest that surrounds you. That my friend is priceless. Devil’s crotch and anything under E chair is very interesting and makes the long and slow lines worthwhile. :). However, I think Hokkaido will be something else from what I heard and yet to experience.
Thanks Amanda, I’ve only skied the US except for one trip to Chile when we skied in August. It was pretty neat to ski in the summer. There were foreign ski teams in Chile from northern hemisphere countries getting to train year round. Japan claims to have the best powder in the world!
sounds good steve. i think the only way we would consider a camp/cabin is if we were within about 90 minutes driving and both retired. i really did appreciate my in-laws’ condo at the beach in north carolina with all the amenities but i’m allergic to the HOA fees that come with a set-up like that. personally, if we found the right community i think we would just move there unless the price was absolutely right.
it should be a fun project for y’all. our friend rents a family cabin to us every summer. he lives about 10-12 miles from the place and does a fair amount of work to keep it rentable. that’s only because it’s remote up in the mountains. it’s like 50 miles round-trip if he has to replace a coffee maker, for instance.
It is much further for us. We live in the flat swampy part of the state, our house is already in the woods here so no real value to a cabin nearby. But it would be nice if our playground was closer. Yeah, I think we will outsource anything having to do with renting it out. That will be a new experience for us.
Enjoy it Steve! I did the same thing years ago. I bought three lots (only 8 total acres) abutted to our area of National Forest land. I built a
small 800 sq. ft. cedar log cabin on the land overlooking a gorgeous trout stream, and we used the cabin for more than fifteen years. It was awesome, and had a beautiful two-sided stone fireplace inside, cathedral ceilings, and two sleep lofts. It was the quintessential perfect little log cabin. We spent many priceless Christmases and “glamping” trips up there when our daughters were young. The years moved on, and it eventually became used less and less after our girls were grown, so we sold it in 2019. We ended up making way more than we ever paid for it, so win-win! But wait, it gets better… I invested the cabin proceeds in a rental property, and those rental units now pay for our annual travel budget in early retirement! So we now go where ever we choose at this point in life. In fact, we are leaving this weekend for the Florida Keys for a few weeks!…Thanks to that little old log cabin in the mountains!
So I say, go for it! You’ll end up loving it and likely get way more out of it than you ever imagined.
That’s cool story Thom, our kids are grown and gone, we might get them up there from time to time but it is mostly for us. Like with you it should be both a luxury fun thing to have and also an investment that isn’t correlated with the stock market. Have a great trip to the Keys, that’s a place I haven’t been to yet.
I agree with Freddy, my travel limit would be 90 minutes for a cabin or vacay home. I can see me doing this one day, having the ultimate man cave
That would be nice but in our case we are much further away. But its the location we love just the same. So if the distance is too big of a hassle we’ll just rent it or sell it most likely.
Love this. I always had the same mindset (would rather travel than be tied down to one place each year), but having kids I am thinking maybe it might be a good idea too especially if it’s big enough to have extended families (e.g. cousins) get together during the summer. Also, great idea on VRBO-ing it, will keep the costs down and keep things maintained in a way.
Good thoughts GYM, I cannot really defend what we are doing logically other than it is a project I can share with my wife and at worst I do not think we will lose any money, and if we lost it all that doesn’t put our lifestyle at risk. Our kids are pretty far flung around the country so it is hard to say if the cabin will be useful for family things, but it might be.
I totally get where you’re coming from. It’s funny how our preferences can change over time, and I could totally see doing the same thing at some point… when we have a slightly higher net worth and are exhausted from traveling all over the place. Not having to live out of a suitcase and make do with whatever the hotel/AirBnB has to offer sounds glorious.
Mrs. FCB, you and I always seem to see things along similar lines. I’d be worried if I were you, cause I’m pretty weird and if you think like I do…..could be a bad sign!
Ha! Not a bad thing at all!