WE I wanted to circle back on your request of rent vs buy on the winter home?
In SF we have a small apt house (4 units) that I bought 13 yrs ago as part of the larger strategy of "what do we do then the girls go"!!! question. We did not rent the smallest studio (305 sq ft )in the building and kept it to ourselves the last two years. So we live frugally and most importantly we live and hang in the city. I leave in the morning with a back pack and head out and we meet up somewhere end of day.
My wife and I met in SF so we have some institutional family memory. She is not a sun worshipper and I don't play any golf to speak of so Fl seemed like a cultural miss. Whereas I love sailing and she is Chinese so here in North Beach SF we have access to the best of both worlds not to mention the food
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So to your point about rent vs buy in the cities its very expense to buy as you know but we see more and more AirNB here in SF where you can rent a small room/apt/in law apt etc that would give you access to the city at significantly reduced rents than a 3-4 star hotel. What this might mean is for the same amount of money you visit for 10-20 days instead of a week. Having a pere de terre (place in the city) is a very nice alternative than just killing hours at the strip plaza's in Ft Lauderdale
JJF
In SF we have a small apt house (4 units) that I bought 13 yrs ago as part of the larger strategy of "what do we do then the girls go"!!! question. We did not rent the smallest studio (305 sq ft )in the building and kept it to ourselves the last two years. So we live frugally and most importantly we live and hang in the city. I leave in the morning with a back pack and head out and we meet up somewhere end of day.
My wife and I met in SF so we have some institutional family memory. She is not a sun worshipper and I don't play any golf to speak of so Fl seemed like a cultural miss. Whereas I love sailing and she is Chinese so here in North Beach SF we have access to the best of both worlds not to mention the food
.So to your point about rent vs buy in the cities its very expense to buy as you know but we see more and more AirNB here in SF where you can rent a small room/apt/in law apt etc that would give you access to the city at significantly reduced rents than a 3-4 star hotel. What this might mean is for the same amount of money you visit for 10-20 days instead of a week. Having a pere de terre (place in the city) is a very nice alternative than just killing hours at the strip plaza's in Ft Lauderdale
JJF
