Author Topic: Any snowbirds here? Can you be a mustachian and a snowbird?!  (Read 3565 times)

jwilliams0215

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Hopefully, just a fun conversation heading into the Fourth of July holiday!

As a current Florida resident, our roads get noticeably more busy during the "snowbird season". A tab bit annoying, why do they drive during rush hour traffic?! Besides the point.

My question: are you a snowbird (or know of one) and how do you live the snowbird lifestyle as a mustachian? I'm hard pressed to believe that leaving a property vacant for half a year is effective. Options? solutions? I'm hesitant to give a number, but let's say maintaining expenses at less than 40K a year on average.

HappyHoya

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Re: Any snowbirds here? Can you be a mustachian and a snowbird?!
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2016, 11:29:49 AM »
Not snowbirds but aspire to possibly be. There's no reason to leave a property vacant for half a year. If you must own two homes you can rent them out or work out a house swap. You can also love the snowbird style in a rental, or a mobile home that comes with you.

jwilliams0215

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Re: Any snowbirds here? Can you be a mustachian and a snowbird?!
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2016, 11:48:15 AM »
I thought it would be funny to be reverse snowbirds. Live for free in exchange for maintaining property of snowbirds. But nope, aspiring snowbird as well!

undercover

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Re: Any snowbirds here? Can you be a mustachian and a snowbird?!
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2016, 12:03:54 PM »
Sure, why not? It's not about where/when you travel, it's how often and how expensive you go.


MakeSmarterDecisions

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Re: Any snowbirds here? Can you be a mustachian and a snowbird?!
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2016, 05:45:38 PM »
We plan on doing that in a couple years!  I bought a small house across from a beautiful lake 25 years ago for 44K (it was a foreclosure) - and I've rented it out ever since. (The renter has paid for it already once and is paying for it again - SAME RENTER)...  3 years ago we bought a condo in Florida for 45K.  We do have condo fees but we get to watch our cable TV (part of the condo fee) at home in NY now too (not that we watch much TV at all).  So we have less than 100K in for two houses.  Low taxes in both places and we have planned our expenses so we can easily handle both.  (We can't rent out the condo).

zinethstache

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Re: Any snowbirds here? Can you be a mustachian and a snowbird?!
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2016, 06:02:41 PM »
Not sure if our scenario counts but our intention is to follow the sun year round. We just sold our primary residence and now live in a fifth wheel full time. DH is already FIREd, I plan to quit my day job in January, at which point we will head south for the winter!

We will be looking for some sort of rentable property in the warmer climates, but for now do not intend to buy another home in our HCOL colder (and wet) PNW. When back up north, we have a site on my mom's farm to park our trailer for however long we want/need.

Not sure what our budget for a warm climate home will be yet. Since good chunk of our income is passive, rental income, we will still qualify for a mortgage. I'm not sure I want another however, so we might be looking for something inexpensive and unique to our needs, perhaps a rentable home/duplex where we can put hookups for our trailer?

Total invested in truck and trailer is about 75k cash. We also have three multiplexes with mortgages that cash flow very well.

I can say we are pretty darn mustachian. Older vehicles, no debt (beyond our rentals), DIYers and FIREd before 50:)

« Last Edit: July 02, 2016, 11:01:12 AM by zinethstache »

NV Teacher

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Re: Any snowbirds here? Can you be a mustachian and a snowbird?!
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2016, 08:56:59 PM »
I kind of do this now.  I teach school in southern Nevada and as soon as school is out I head to the family farm in the mountains of Utah for the summer.  I have a friend that checks on my place weekly and I "pay" her with home grown beef from the farm.  I do a lot to help my mother over the summer so she is glad to have me stay.  The high today here was 82 degrees with a nice breeze blowing up out of the canyon and it was 111 degrees in Sothern NV.  I wouldn't have it any other way.