Snowbird Expense Question
 

Can anyone offer up an expense (ballpark figure) on being a snowbird?

I know it Very's with property values etc., but we had my sister visit last week (just retired) and her daughter, (a doctor) from Wisconsin and the subject was talked about.

What do you mean -
Are you here for 2 weeks, a month, 4 months?
you need a place to live (buy or rent)
Do you drive or fly
Do you rent a car

All the rest is food and drink and what you want to do.
gonna vary person to person. - could cost $2,000 could cost $10,000

C'mon, man...that's like asking how much it costs to dine out.

If you really want to know, shop around for rentals, the time of year, the number of months, and factor in the variables (transportation, and lifestyle come to mind).

I’ll start. For a 3 bedroom villa Jan - March, ~$16,000.

OK, I am assuming you mean BUYING a house and only using part of the time. If so, you can search public records for similar houses and get most if not all of the typical monthly costs. NOTE: you cannot turn off the electricity or irrigation water without nasty results. Add in your mortgage, etc., and you will have the APPROXIMATE cost. You will also need to consider a home watch, landscape maintenance, etc.

If you are asking for the RENTING of a house, look into the classifieds.

Thanks..... Some things to consider

How much does a henway or what does a piecost?

Depends on how big the hen is or what kind of pie it is. :shrug:

If they buy an average say 10 year old designer house, nothing special no pool, not on golf course etc. with no mortgage no bond, expenses including electricity, gas, irrigation, minimum internet for security cameras and smart thermostat when they are away etc, including property tax (no homestead declaration) and property insurance, and home watch services, pressure wash house, lawn care mow grass, trim bushes, weed and fertilize, and termite bond - total annual cost about $15,000. (Could be more expensive but I assume they’ll shop around.) This does not include maintenance such as a new water heater, HVAC, roof etc. They’ll need to buy furniture unless they get the house “turn key” ie. furniture is included. If the snowbird uses that home for more than 3 months it is generally cheaper than renting. They will need to pay for transportation of some kind rent a golf cart, rent a car, food, any special activities eg. golf on champion ship courses - but they’d have to pay for that at their other home too. Then you also have to consider the costs associated with the Snowbird’s other home at the same time.

Sooo snow birding as pleasant as it is to escape the northern winters is
not a cheap endeavor for the middle class, would you agree??

Maintaining two homes is certainly not cheap.

But... Some costs will be fixed wherever you live. Entertainment, food, health care, for example...

We took the plunge just over two years ago. Our northern home is paid off. We had visited friends in TV once, and had rented for 2+ months a year later.

We decided the time was right. We're glad we did. Shortly after our offer was accepted, housing price exploded and interest rates started going up.

We were able to get a very nicely upgraded home, with a reasonable mortgage @ under 3%. It'll put a slight crimp in our discretionary income, for the next year or so, until I retire and we sell the home up north and become frogs...

We look at it this way. During covid, we weren't traveling, so our home in TV became our escape, with the upside of making new friends while preparing for retirement...

My wife has joined 2 social groups, has a golf group and has fallen in love with pickleball, and I'm in 2 golf groups, and a "boys night out group" once a week when I'm there.

We also joined our neighborhood "social group" that has monthly events that we attend when possible...

yes

I spent $18,000 for 6 months last winter. No mortgage, no bond. I did a lot of house updating.

Y'all do understand he's just posting to see how many will answer him, right?
He has 2 posts on the same day related to snowbirds.

there is a price to pay, for sure.

If you rent, every $ you pay is gone forever. However, you have no risk, no responsibility.

If you own you establish some equity, and probably will benefit from some appreciation, however you still have costs you don't recoup: Insurance, amenity fees, taxes, utilities etc.and some risk: storm damage, sinkholes, rising insurance costs, etc.

One way or another, the price has to be paid. Whether or not you consider it "cheap", is a personal matter.