To Buy or to Rent That is the Question

When it comes time to be a snowbird, there are obviously two options, you can rent or you can buy. I have always thought that we would rent, perhaps even timeshares by the week so that we could escape the cold and perhaps move around during our time away. There are some good reasons for choosing to rent. 

Rent:

Less expensive up front. You will not have to get a mortgage or deplete your savings. 

You can go someplace different every year. 

You don't need to pay for repairs or upkeep. 


We opted to buy. We had some good reasons for doing this. 

Own:

You can rent the property to others to help defray the cost. 

There are tax benefits from having a rental property. 

You can have your own things around you. 

You like going to the same place every year. 

Once you decide that you want to be a snowbird, you will need to decide which way you want to go. You may want to visit and rent the first year just to see if first of all, you can stand being away from family and friends for months at a time. 

We chose to buy without doing that but we had Al's brother and his wife and all of our nieces here in Ocala so we were not going somewhere without a support system. Having said that I sometimes wish we had taken our time because I think I would have preferred to own a townhouse. Here at Oak Run, townhouses have a higher HOA but it includes lawn care which is one less thing to think about.