We have a second home and it is a 2hr drive. We were willing to go as much as 3 hrs for our beachhouse (still in legal limbo).

However, we have kids. I always said 2 hrs was one movie and no pee break, perfect.

For you of course its different, if you have no young kids I guess it is easier. But won't it also be a deterrent when you invite friends?

Could you fly?

In my early/mid 20's I used to drive 5 hours to go skiing every single weekend during ski season. At that age it wasn't a problem at all!!!

We recently drove 5-1/2 to go skiing with the kids and it was a long drive. Lots of families in our town own homes at that mountain and go regularly. I might rent for a season, but couldn't imagine having to do that year after year. Maybe I'm not into skiing like I was in my 20's!!

I think 3 hours is a good time. Friends could come for the day and still have time to relax and enjoy the visit.

Two and a half hours was exactly wrong for us---- too much for a regular weekend, and not far enough to plan for a whole week. So for our family, the next place needs to be much closer, or much farther. That probably sounds crazy, but there it is.

Our beach house is 3 hours away. We go fairly often - I can even drive down in the morning and back that night if I absolutely have to for an emergency, but I really hate doing that. Our neighbors have a key and will check the house say, after a tropical storm, to make sure we have no leaks, stuff like that. I don't think I could do more than three hours away -- it would just be too far.

We had a second home that was 2hrs away. We bought it before kids and then spent weekends and summers for the next 20 years.
Kelly, with that distance it would be difficult to come back and forth every weekend. You could stay longer, but then your DH couldn't.
Yes, you do need to become friendly with neighbors. We still have a commercial property in the same town so we got familiar with carpenters, plumbers, electricians.
At this stage of the game, that far would defeat the purpose of a vacation home.

We've had a second home at the beach (4.5 hours) and CO (2 hard days to drive or long day if flying/driving). Neither place was rented out, so we would just go for a very long weekend or weeks (beach) or months (CO). Most in our area have a lakehouse for boating and skiing about 2 hours from home. That would be about the longest I would want to drive for the weekend. I think 5 hours is pushing it for 4+/- nights.

The beach place was in a building with maintenance, and we never had any issues while gone. The house in CO was on a mountain, in a regular neighborhood. We had a housekeeper check/clean the house twice a month. Snowplowed in the winter, even though it was pretty much locked up - we're spring/summer/fall people (hiking, rafting, horseback riding) not skiers.

The type of driving and traffic conditions might be a consideration too. Our vacation home is 3 hours and it seems that no matter which route we take or which day we leave or what time of day - it still takes 3 hours to drive 130 miles. We only have one or two areas where we might get some heavier traffic but we're never in it for more than 15 minutes. There's no way I could sit in heavy traffic for 3 hours.

When we first bought our property and while we were building our home we would leave Friday after work and return Sunday night. We probably went twice a month for several years, in the winter it was once a month.

I must confess that became wearisome after a while - and our kids were in college so we were traveling without them. Now the DH is semi-retired it's much better. He only works 3 days a week so we can leave Friday morning and return Monday afternoon.

And emergencies do arrive. You'll sleep much better if you can find someone to check on your place in your absence. We found a retired State Trooper who comes by once a week and we can call him if something arises.

Assuming your second home is in a vacation area, there are always people who will do "property management". That can sound like a grandiose term, in our case it mean the guy who did our landscaping, had a wife who did our cleaning, and knew every other sort of maintenance or repair person we might need, and would coordinate that for us. Oh and he would turn the heat on on Friday afternoons so itd be toasty when we got there in skis season!

I figured how long it would take to get there if we fly. Driving to the airport, getting there 1 hour early, the flight, getting out of the airport, driving to the lake from the airport is exactly the same amount of time if we drove the entire way.

The drive itself isn't too bad. No traffic, super fast highway and a toll road with light traffic. DH loves the drive, which is good since he does all of it.

Our best friend's parents have a lake house in this same area so we wouldn't have any problem getting them to visit. Plus, this is Texas and you can't live here without driving very long distances regularly.

I didn't even think about it but my friend's parents would be an excellent resource about the area.

Well, I guess in the process of finding a place, we'll have to make the drive pretty frequently so that will help us determine if it's right for us even before we buy.

Sounds like a plan Kelly! My sister and her husband have a vacation place year Charleston,SC. It's about a 6 hour drive and they average at least a long weekend every other month and 2 or 3 week-long stays. Personally, I would want something closer, but we really don't have an interest in owning a vacation home. What I'm getting at is it's all what ever works for you and your hubby.

tina

Ours is 1.5 hours away, which for us is perfect! We can go for just one night, friends sometimes visit just for the day, and we can get there and back pretty easily in case of emergency. And yet it's far enough (and in a different state) so we do feel like we're "away" when we're there.

For me personally, I think 3.5 hrs would be the max I'd want if it were a place I planned to go somewhat regularly. We have a beach house that's 2 hrs away which is perfect for us. Close enough that I feel we can go back and forth easily but far enough to feel like we have gotten away. We also often end up taking two cars b/c I will drive down with the kids and stay longer than dh, who might head back to work. I wouldn't feel good about having that as an option if the drive were further than 2 hours away.

As far as emergency situations, there have been a few over the years. However, we are fortunate that the two houses across the street have year-round residents that we befriended years ago. They have our phone number and were able to contact us when necessary. It's also good knowing them because they are able to give us good references for things like plumbers, landscapers, etc.

I know what you mean about driving long distances regularly. Though I don't live in TX and instead live in a highly populated small state on the east coast, I grew up driving six hours to Boston and six hours to Cleveland to visit both sides of my parents' families. And in college, I used to drive back and forth four hours to/from NYC all the time. Road trips are nothing to me and I often enjoy them but I know other people can't stand to be in a car very long, understandably, so that can factor into someone's decision about what constitutes "too far" which will obviously be different depending on who you talk to!

Have fun with your search!

GF has a house on the cape and it takes about 4 hrs and that's if they leave extremely early or very late, or not travel on the weekend. If they get caught in traffic it can be twice as long.

To me, that's too far.

Another friend has a beach house about 90 min from home and that's nice...close enough so friends from the neighborhood of the main house can do a day visit.

My cousin just bought a beach front condo that's 10 min from her home...they live in FL....they plan on renting it out and using it in between...that just seems too close.

But DH and I are prejudiced against 2nd homes...his parents had this place and the NYC apartment, my parents had their home and a 2nd home in FL, and we were stuck caring for two 2nd homes...none of them were ours...none of them were in the mountains or on the beach, and we had to care for them through the worst of winter. Now that everyone is gone, we are delighted that, for the 1st time in our married lives, we have only one house to care for.

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 19:06

Ours is about 2 1/2 hours and we go nearly every weekend in the summer and about once a month in the winter. Five and a half hours would be way too far for me. I'd likely never go there on a weekend - I'd have to take at least a day or two off to make it worth the drive. People I know who have lake cabins 5 1/2 hours away don't go to them very often - these are working people vs. retired.

I've driven quite a few times from Canyon Lake area (have friends who live there) to Houston, TX which is supposed to be about four hours I think. Last time I made the trip on a Sunday evening I hit a big traffic jam about fifty miles outside Houston and we diverted to the back roads so we could keep moving. It ended up being a good five hours. Way too long a trip for me to consider a reasonable drive to a second home if I was going to make the trip with any frequency. It may all be what you're used to however.

So far we've not had any emergencies we had to rush up to our place for. We do have a freeze alarm that will notify us if the temperature in the house drops below a certain point, in which case we'd have to get there quickly to keep the pipes from freezing. You probably don't have that problem in TX. We also have some neighbors around up there who could help us out in a pinch. In our area there are lots of services you can hire on retainer to go take care of things for you in an emergency.

This post was edited by gibby3000 on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 19:23

Hey Gibby, I live about 20 minutes from Canyon Lake. It's about 2.5 hours to Houston from here.

Kelly, you must drive a lot faster than we do....or we were farther away from the big H and our destination was deeper into the big H. Our hosts say 3 1/2 hours but it always seems to take us a bit longer than that. This last time we were at a dead stop on 10 for quite a while before we couldn't take it any more and made a move. I wondered if it was like that every Sunday night....

Where is your vacation home destination?

Gibby, I asked DH because he travels to Houston regularly. He said it takes right at 3 hours from our house to downtown Houston. We are a good 20/30 minutes closer to Houston than Canyon Lake.

We are looking at Lake Sam Rayburn.

kellyeng -just wondered if you had looked at Lake LBJ? One of the advantages of that lake is that they keep the lake level consistent. So many of the lakes are down and have been for years....

Bestyears, yes we looked at Lake LBJ. Most places in our price range are total dumps. We really want a place that looks totally different from where we live. East TX gets so much more rain than we do and it has more of a "forest" feel. Plus, there are a lot of sandy beach properties on Lake SR which is a really appealing feature.

What are your criteria for the property and the lake? What do you want to be able to do besides afford a house there?

I would personally prefer a lake where I didn't have to watch out for alligators - much more common as you get East in TX. Although I read recently there was one in a pond in Del Valle.

Good point, apparently there are lots of gators in Sam Rayburn.

My criteria is pretty low as far as the structure. We have no problem with a really small place that needs lots of updating. Having surrounding "non-dump" property is a plus!

We want water front and I love the properties at LSR with a beach so there's a shoreline to enjoy and makes it easy to pull up a canoe or other watercraft. I really, really want some green grass that doesn't require constant watering and lush big trees.

As far as recreation goes, we want to fish, swim, ski, hike, picnic and generally goof off.

My friends parents have seen gators. Heck, we go to the beach and I worry about sharks, go to the river and I worry about water moccasins, go hiking and I worry about rattle snakes - so why not add gators to the list!

I think I will give Lake LBJ another look. I do love Marble Falls.

I am completely flabbergasted and impressed with people who boat and swim in lakes with alligators!!! Count me as tooooo chicken!

Inks Lake is another favorite. Much smaller than LBJ. Located right close by to LBJ. There is a state park on it so not sure how many RE listings there are.

I don't even like swimming in a lake with pretty much harmless fish and a few turtles. Weeds are gross too. I obviously spent too many of my formative years in a swimming pool. There is something about being on a lake though that is the greatest. Looking forward to taking a week off next week to do just that. Can't wait!!

What about Lake Buchanan? I really like that area.

Inks lake is too expensive and Lake Buchanan has been severely affected by the drought. Plus, I just don't get that green "forest" kind of feel with the lakes in the west.

Bestyears, I didn't know you're in Texas.

Gibby, have fun!!

Thanks Kelly - my friends from Canyon Lake are coming to visit over the 4th too so should be great fun!!

Our beach house is a three hour drive and we have a place down south that is a plane ride away. Each mode of travel has pros and cons associated, but outside of the time consideration, I do agree that a "management company", however it is defined, is a necessity. We have that set-up for both and it has been worth its weight in gold. We have weekly property checks scheduled and on more than one occasion the managers have been able to detect a problem and work with us to coordinate a timely resolution. A friendly neighbor is great in a pinch, but from my experience, it's better to hire someone for this service. Good luck in your search!

Kelly - I do understand your need for a different view though than where you are now since it really isn't that different in the area if you go to LBJ.

I think making some trips to the area and see how you like it on a more regular basis is probably a good idea. Maybe rent a cabin or something for multiple weekends when you go to do your house hunting and then you can also see how being on the lake there would be along with the commute. I think one has to do it multiple times to really get a good feel for things as it changes from time to time. Maybe rent in the same spot to really see what having a house on that particular lake would be.

Double post so deleting

This post was edited by lyfia on Fri, Jun 28, 13 at 11:03

Kelly,

We have larger lakes but our lake house is on a lake in our hometown that is not huge. The house is 5 minutes from our home. It is large enough to boat, ski, tube, fish, etc. The house isn't much but our water and view are wonderful.

We use our lake house constantly in the summer and never want to leave.

We love having our vacation home so close to home.

Our vacation home is 2-1/2 hours east of our primary home. We would not want to spend more time in the car than this. We can easily leave on a Friday Afternoon and come back on a Sunday afternoon. Good luck!

We have a ski vacation condo about 3.5-4 hours from home. I was surprised how quickly we got used to the drive. We go every weekend in the winter as well as Christmas and February school vacations. Now we work there during those times, but I'm looking forward to the days we can just hang out.

Beth p.