What do families do during summer vacation?

[teller]

Apologies as this is a fairly narrow topic and will not apply to some on this forum.

We would like some help/advice/suggestions on what families do during the summer and if buying a home makes any sense. We have been overseas for nine years now, and our kids have lived most of their lives overseas. Over the last few years we are finding summers harder and harder to deal with, especially after moving to a post where practically everyone leaves for the summer. As our kids are getting older, we are finding it more difficult to stay with family due to space issues and the fact that our family members have their own lives and really can’t host us; plus, we are definitely starting to feel more “in the way,” especially after this last summer. Our kids really don’t know the kids in our family’s neighborhood, so summers are becoming much more boring for them. We are also missing having our “own space;” staying with family is OK for a week or so, but not for two months.

One of the things we’re considering is purchasing a home in the States. Yet while we know it may be good in a psychological sense and a place to call home during summer, we also question the financial sense of doing so. While property can be considered an investment, we are reluctant to rent it since we will need it during the summer months, so we would essentially be paying a yearly mortgage for only two/three months of use. Do any of you do this, and have you found it worth the cost? Do you have companies who help you maintain your property during the school year? If you don't own a home, what ideas or suggestions might you have for growing families living overseas? Would really appreciate any feedback from those who are in this situation-TIA!

[mamava]

For a long time we kept our house and rented it out and did the "stay with relatives" thing. 2 years ago, we sold it and bought a townhouse--no upkeep, no lawn work, no snowplowing--and we LOVE it. We do go home now twice a year, but now we have 1 college grad, 1 in college, and 1 heading off next year-- 2 of the 3 have had their whole lives overseas basically. We pay minimal utilities, turn the TV and internet on and off when we're there. Our kids have really loved feeling like they have a base in the States. My college son uses it on breaks. It has helped them feel grounded, especially as we have moved to new countries. I wish we would have done it sooner, to be honest--it's been worth the cost.

Our house is not located in an area where we could AirBnB it, but I know know several others who have purchased townhouses/condos in desirable vacation areas and just blocked off the times they would be using it. A couple other friends have townhouses that are near universities and rent them out to visiting professors whose schedules pretty closely match their own.

[Heliotrope]

We still stay at family (my parents and partner's family) every year for the whole Summer. We like it, and so do they (or so they say). But perhaps that will change once the kids get older, and our parents get older as well.

I get why you'd want to buy a house. But letting a house or apartment sit empty the rest of the year seems like a waste to me.
So personally, I would buy a place that requires little upkeep, and is in a location where it can easily be rented out while you're not there.
You should be able to cover the mortgage costs, even if you pay an agency to rent it out for you (AirBnb or other) and deal with the renters on your behalf, and use it yourself for two months during the Summer.

If you're is a nice location right now, you could also do a house swap during the Summer (plenty of websites for that), but that would mean you're probably in a different place every Summer, unless you find someone who's willing to swap every Summer. Also, there might only be a small pool of people willing to swap for the entire Summer.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

[MyLifeOverseas]

In 2001 after several exhausting summers going from friend to family to friend with 2 kids in tow, we said ENOUGH. We felt exhausted at the start of a school year, not the way you want to begin a new year ! So we decided to buy a summer cottage on a lake and it has been GREAT. Everyone (family, friends at home and colleagues who are now close friends) loves coming to visit and they even will drive 3-5 hours for a weekend, or fly from another part of the country for a bit longer to catch up. It means we have a home base for our summers, feel connected to "who we are" and we don't have to travel around therefore we can relax and regenerate for the next school year. It is not a 4 season place so we need to close it up when we head back to school. It also keeps us grounded doing all the fixing and maintaining and think that teaching our sons those life skills they often miss as TCKs has been a HUGE benefit. Our sons LOVE the memories of the cottage, a place they have gone to since they were 5 and 7 years old.

[Zagreb77]

We are beginning our third year overseas. By the beginning of next summer we will have saved enough for a downpayment on a house in a desirable, year round destination area. We have children, and since we will be staying overseas, we feel it's important that they have a place they feel connected to and grounded by, no matter where we are living. We'll probably rent it out for the winter (ski lease) then take it over for the summer for as much or as little as we feel like. We are also hopeful that it will be a place where friends and family can come visit us and would want to. There are worse investments you could make.

[jack4397]

When we lived in the UK our house was by the coast in a popular tourist area. We decided to rent it out on airb&b, leaving the summer months and Christmas free for our return.

As yet, we haven’t used it in the summer as we tend to spend 5-6 weeks of the summer driving through Europe.

[twofromusa]

I would be very careful assuming that you can AirBnB a condo or a town house. Most HOAs will not allow it and I would definitely get it in writing if they do allow it.

[expatscot]

When we left the UK, we rented out our house full time and haven't returned (it's actually been rented now for longer than we lived in it.) That covered the mortgage, but it meant that for the first few years we were jumping between relatives and ended up more tired than when we arrived! We took the plunge last year and bought a house in an area where we could, if we wanted to, rent it out for holiday lets, but we mainly just shutter it or let family use it when we're not there. So summers and Christmas are back in Europe, in our own house, but we use our Autumn and Spring holidays to travel.

[PsyGuy]

While I know families that box up the home for most of the year and then stay there for a few month in the summer without doing anything with it the rest of the year, they typically own the home/property outright, of the ones with a mortgage, the vast majority of them rent it out during the fall, winter and spring with various level of woo. For every story of the process working swimmingly for them for years theres a story of someone who has to evict hold overs and damage to the home or some other scary story. There are management companies typically in major cities (anywhere with a Uni actually) that will mange the renting and day to day operations of renting your property, you make about enough assuming no problems to pay the mortgage, insurance and taxes.

Its mostly academic though, buy a home, even close to family isnt going to solve your problems. Your children are citizens of the world, they are no more going to "know" peers or establish and build relationships two months out of the year whether you buy a home, rent a place for the summer or stay in a hotel.
You already have your own space its the place you live in 10 month out of the year, youve been doing this for 9 years and your still acting like tourists, that whatever place or location you are thinking of in the US as home.

[Illiane_Blues]

I can echo the experience @mamava and @MyLifeOverseas are describing of kids feeling grounded in a place in their parents' home country and their own passport country by buying a place there. Many of my friends have done the same and the kids def had a sense that that place was a home away from home, and a stable base especially as their real 10 months out of the year home would change every so many years.
Those friends all work at high paying schools so they had the money to spend on it. Some bought it from savings and others have mortgages. Some rent it out when they're not there and use a property management company. No horrible stories about horrible renters so far but of course my sample size is small.
We prefer to visit family in different parts of the country and travel during summers instead of staying in one place. When we decide where to retire we might buy a place there.