“The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom…for we never know what is enough until we know what is more than enough.” — William Blake

Our experience this last year with owning a home in Palm Springs made Jeanine and I realize that we don’t want to own a second/vacation home at this stage in life. We have several friends that own property in Palm Springs and they love it. They drive out almost every weekend and it is nirvana.

We haven’t quite bought into the bliss so unfortunately, we’re not joining the party anytime soon. Of course, we’ll still head out to Palm Springs now and then, but we’ll be drinking margaritas by someone else’s pool… the Korakia is our first choice. Mark & Gary’s condo is a close second.

I now put a second home in the same category as owning a boat. It’s better to just have friends that are nautical instead of actually being the one paying for the boat slip. Maybe we lack commitment. I think we both decided that we don’t want to spend our discretionary income visiting Palm Springs on the weekends. After all a second home is just that: a second home. And with it comes double the expense of home ownership.

Sure, long term, there are amazing financial benefits. An article at Interest.com entitled, Vacation Homes Make Fun Financial Sense, made me smile. “For millions of Americans, the advantages of a second home — vacation destination, price appreciation, tax benefits and rental income — far outweigh the costs and disadvantages. After all, there really is no place like home–especially when you have two of them.”

“The National Association of Realtors says a record 1.02 million vacation homes were purchased in 2005, a 16.9% increase from 2004 and 12.2% of all homes purchased in 2005. The Baby-Boom generation is driving second-home sales. They’re at the optimum point in life when people become interested in second homes, they’re at the peak of their earnings, interest rates remain historically low and boomers want to diversify investments.”

These are all really good points if you’re 52 years old. Jeanine and I are pushing forty and we’re desperately trying to have a baby. Every Saturday morning as we were packing up to head out for the weekend, we both would say, “do you know how much harder this would be if we were doing this with a baby?” Hello… we are hoping to be soccer moms in the near future, not retirees playing golf or gay men in search of a tea dance on Sunday afternoons.

Palm Springs actually wasn’t that far from Newport Beach (106 miles to be exact), but the drive seemed longer to us with each trip and our drive was typical. They say, “… 47% of vacation homes are less than 100 miles from their first home, while 43% are located 500 miles or more from their primary residence.”

I just don’t think a second home is something that will make us happy. But for many, it does. Here are some pros and cons by Pamela Reeves at HGTV. She writes, “A summer place. Doesn’t that sound nice? Would you like to own your own little piece of real estate in the sun, or on a mountain or in the deep, dark woods? More and more people are taking the plunge and buying a second house in a vacation spot for fun, for profit and, in some cases, for a future retirement home.”

“If you’re thinking of buying but haven’t committed yet, it’s a good idea to tote up the pros and cons. First, on the con side, desirable second homes are pricey. No matter how many times you rent there, it will cost only a fraction of what you spend when you buy. Also, with the time constraints of modern life, will you be able to use the house enough to make it worthwhile, or will the strain of travel spoil your time away? And don’t forget that any house requires maintenance and upkeep—lots of it.” My thoughts exactly!

“On the pro side, no matter how much you pay for the second house, there’s a good chance it will rise in value if it’s in a sought-after area, especially on the waterfront. When the economy takes a dive, second homes generally fall first and fastest in value, but they recover nicely and move upward.”

“Another advantage of ownership is that you’re likely to get away much more frequently than if you rent. After all, the house is just sitting there waiting. And if you enjoy decorating and remodeling, here’s a whole new palette upon which to work your magic. If the house stays in the family long enough, you may be able to romp there with your grandchildren.” Grandkids… heck… we’re just trying to be parents at this point.

“Finally, if the house is in a high-rent area, you can cover at least part of your mortgage with rent money and maybe all of it if you make a hefty down payment. During prime season, you may get rent of $1,500 a week and up. Payments of principal and interest on a mortgage of $100,000 at 7 percent interest would come to about $8,000 a year. Of course, there are numerous other expenses, but if the rent covers the mortgage, you’re way ahead.”

Okay, I’m still not sold. It all sounded so good in theory, especially since we thought we were going to be stuck with the house long term. We were trying to make the best of it. But now that it’s gone… Jeanine and I are happy to be back in Newport Beach on the weekends. And we’ll blow everyone an air kiss from a friend’s boat on Sunday. Mwah!