The topic came up because Hawaii does it. Hawaii can get away with it. More power to them, IMO. People don’t need to buy a vacation home in Hawaii if they don’t like it. Meanwhile, full-time Hawaii residents pay the price of vacation home investments with more development and high housing costs. Imagine it would be even worse if there were lower taxes for vacation home owners. Plus, based on the property taxes quoted in the example @HImom gave, property taxes seem very reasonable. I’m not feeling sorry for the vacation homeowners there.
No one was suggesting sympathy. It’s called a discussion for a reason. Different points of view are collected and considered. I don’t have any skin in the game and Hawaii can do as it wishes. However there does seem to be an underlying pang of jealously on the topic. I personally wish everyone well and happy for their achievements. It’s a great country and I don’t expect anything from anyone else to level the playing field.
“It’s called a discussion for a reason. Different points of view are collected and considered.”
Of course. Just throwing my own into the mix. 
No jealousy at all actually. Our family has had island vacation homes and, therefore, I can understand the impact of vacation homes on the people that live there year round. A lot of the policies on taxation are made in the same way most economic decisions are made - supply and demand. If your location is a desirable one, you have an advantage in setting tax structures up that way. It’s not like people are selling their second homes in Hawaii and running away in droves. Econ 101.
No jealousy here. Just bringing up the fact that non-residents can expect to be treated differently, so one needs to be aware that changes can happen any time as the locals can get fed up and then vote.
Our house was a neighborhood nuisance until we bought it. The owners lived here only part of the year and rented it out for the rest. The parties held by some weekend renters were apparently epic. So epic that the neighbors were welcoming our contractors’ noise. Our town got their act together finally and now regulates such short term rentals… and some of the conditions can be viewed as a PITA (so the owners chose to sell).
Here’s a very good article on the impact of vacation homes and their rental on Colorado ski towns. Workforce employees can not longer afford to live in them or even find inventory which winds up changing the community and the flavor of towns.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2198726/did-airbnb-kill-mountain-town
This year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an interesting decision regarding short-term rentals. https://blogs.findlaw.com/decided/2018/06/wisconsin-lakefront-property-ok-for-short-term-rental-court-rules.html
Interesting case, @rosered55.
I don’t understand how 6 judges could come to the conclusion that a business generating $55K/year in revenue is not a commercial activity.
Whoops—wrong thread.
I wouldn’t mind generating $55k a year—commercial or not!
Quiet group. It can’t be that you all saved enough and retired over the last week 
My younger brother suddenly quit his job a few weeks ago; his last day was Friday. Now I really want to retire!
Lots of thoughts going through my head. Decompressing after DDs/SIL/GD here for the weekend. Their lives have some changes as do ours. Still steady on the retirement. Seminar - semiannual ‘state of the markets’ coming up from our financial guy (which I try to attend) - we are pretty much on track with retirement.
SIL was raised quite differently in some ways than DDs. He mentioned a 10 year goal of purchasing a home. H and I purchased our first home 2 months after we married…with a trip out of town, DD will come home that weekend with grand-dau, and she and I can discuss her plans/goals/strategies. SIL in some ways ‘bucking’ a budget; DD is staying firm. I know she wants things for her child, and the way to do it is with financial planning and shorter goals. It seems SIL is a bit of a dreamer and procrastinator. He has many good qualities, and DD will need to use her charms to bring him around.
Isn’t SIL planning on going into the military? Being tied to a property can be very problematic when one is moving from one assignment to the next. (I was a career military kid. My parents never made a profit when selling a house due to be reassigned.)
I would be pretty hot under the collar if my ILs ever tried directing DH’s and my financial planning. You gave her the gift of the tools and knowledge; IMHO, it’s up to her to use them in her marriage if/how she sees fit. If my S & DIL wanted to know about how mutual funds worked or about different kinds of investment strategies, we would answer their questions. But direct them what to do (or take S aside and tell him)? No way. They are adults. I want to preserve my relationship, not antagonize them. Part of growing as a couple is working on these things together and establishing mutual priorities. There are far worse things than waiting for a while to buy a house.
We rented for almost a decade before buying our first house even though we are not a military family. A house is not a liquid asset; even in a hot market like ours it is a PITA to sell one. And I would tread very lightly with offering money management and financial advice, like @CountingDown said above.
Our son is in the military and knows he will do a lot of moving around. Like @CountingDown noted, military (re)assignments often don’t align well with accumulating equity not only due to frequent moves but also the markets where those relocations occur. While serving, our son figures he will live as inexpensively as he can by trying to live as close to his BAH (basic housing allowance) as possible and making it up though his Roth and stock market portfolio instead. He was home this past week and, among other things, discussed his financial status and investment plans with us. He uses our financial advisor, but he still seeks our advice. We enjoy these conversations immensely and wish we had known and acted on at his age what he knows and is doing. He’s 21 and retirement planning is at the top of his investment priorities.
I would submit that a 21-year old can’t afford a financial advisor. (Every basis point or dollar spend on an Advisor is one point/dollar less compounding, and over 40 years it adds up.)
All that he would need to know can be captured in:
Well, it looks like DH is facing retirement earlier than expected - last week his employer dissolved the group with which he works and laid off those employees. It was completely unexpected. Luckily we have always been aggressive savers, so financially I think we’ll be fine; I might wind up working a little longer than I’d planned, just for the health insurance. It bums me out a little, but it is what it is.
My bigger concern right now is for DH’s mental state. It’s one thing to talk about retiring in a year or two - on your own schedule - but it’s quite another when the decision is made for you. He’s not one of those men whose life is defined by his job, but still…he worked there for 32 years!
Oh, @scout59, I’m so sorry about this development!
@scout59 That sucks. 
After 32 years, I hope he got a good severance package.
I’ve been laid off five times in my career, even when you know it’s coming it still messes with your head.
Yes it DOES suck! And no severance - he was employed by a university, where there’s no severance pay except for the payout of unused vacation and sick time.