It would be difficult to rent out a home for only six months. I would certainly have a trusted neighbor or friend keep and eye on things. My next door neighbor snowbirds in AZ and I help out when we get our annual power outages. I turn on the gas stove to keep some heat going and I have to reset the temp on the t-stat to 50 from the default of 70 once power is restored.
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2001 Sebring Convertible
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1 Wife 2 Boys UW & Bellevue College
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Only 23 years to retirement!!!!
I merely wonder, if what you like about Montana is the summers, why you don't just live in your RV in Montana in the summer! (you didn't say that you like living in your HOUSE in the summer, just that you like being in Montana in the summer... for which you don't need a house)
It would be interesting possibility, if your property has some land, to subdivide out an RV parking spot with power and water and septic for you to use in the summer, then sell the rest of it with the house to somebody else.
Really appreciate all of the replies. I'm pretty sure, unless someone in particular comes forward with a specific need, I'll just let the house sit vacant, heater on, neighbor or friend to check on it every couple of weeks, and ip cams fully functional.
I should have been more specific, but the reason we're not selling the house, is that for the most part, we'll split the year 7 months at home, 5 months away, but this next year, my wife will be going to pastry school, which is 8 months long. Also, I'm not quite in my retirement phase, I'm sort of living a dual work/retirement lifestyle, but I'm 39, and have 2 teen girls, 14 and 13, so full timing in an rv isn't something we want to do all year round. Until it gets to a point where the house is just too much for us (it's not, we have tons of kids over for the pool, etc.)
We're in an ideal place, pretty much zero crime. We're also very rural, 8 miles out of town, most of the time we don't lock the doors when we're home, small town. And...most importantly, a nosy, but awesome neighbor lady that would probably shoot someone for me. ;->
I'd love to rent the place out for the financial aspect, but you're right, not a lot of short time people to do that, and I think there are too many risks. Plus, not living in the huge house for 8 months, especially during the most expensive time, saves us some money.
Thanks again to all!
KD
Trip of a Lifetime Blog - 12000 Miles, 100 Days, 34 States, 4 Humans, 1 Mini Daschund...FUN!
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pawatt wrote: Our house up north sits empty 8 months a year, it's still there.
Just out of curiosity, do you feel it's really worth owning a home to use it only 1/3 of the year? Just wondering.
The wife wants to keep it. Beautiful old rustic lake place, complete privacy. It's paid for so it doesn't really matter. Great spot in summer & fall. Miserable in winter.
pawatt wrote: Our house up north sits empty 8 months a year, it's still there.
Now come on Pawatt, you know darn well it's less then 6 months because of MN tax reasons. Stop pulling our legs.
We leave ours for less then 6 months also. Where we have a hand up, is we knew this is what we would be doing so we built it to sit empty in the cold. I can drain everything in under 5 minutes.
So many people do exactly what you are asking, you really won't have a problem. After the first winter away you'll wonder what you were concerned about in the first place.
Whatever you do DON'T SELL YOUR PLACE. The dream of FT'ing is mostly the dream of non-FT wannabee's. Once you're on the road for awhile you'll find out that you really do have the best of both worlds. You'll also then have the chance to change your mind and your direction if you want.
In addition to the things mentioned we have a web enabled thermostat on our furnace that will send out an E-mail message to us and our house checker (or anyone else we program)if the house temperature goes below (or above if on A/C) a specific setpoint. There is enough time to get a tech in before a freeze occurs.
Our thermostat and network is battery backed so we get an alarm even with a power failure.
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