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Be aware that Allegiant and other discount airlines will usually not show up on Kayak searches etc. I just had a friend fly a route with 2 connections when he could have flown non-stop on Allegiant at a better price but he did see the flight when he searched. I am no fan of Allegiant, but they are the best choice for some smaller airports. I just did a search on Google Flights and it did not show the Allegiant non-stop flight that I fly frequently.

Take a look at becoming a Florida resident and spending the winter there and also keep a place in Ohio for the summer months. This is very common and also allows you to homestead in Florida which can save a lot on property taxes over time. I believe as long as you spend more than 6 months out of Ohio (does not have to be all in Florida) you will be fine. You might be surprised how many Ohio friends/relatives will come see you in Florida as well!

Thanks for the ideas - I am hoping the Zoho CRM will work for me.

My cousin was an avid hunter and outdoorsman and very well known in his small town. At his funeral he was in an open casket in a country church and his buddies all set something in the casket as they passed by. I was a pallbearer and we had trouble closing the casket because it was full of knives, fishing lures, bottles of booze and even a few handguns. During the funeral they passed a microphone through the pews and his friends told stories. At one point the pastor tried to wrap things up and the guy with the microphone said that today was Wednesday, and the pastor didn't have anything to do until Sunday so let them talk! After a lunch in the church basement everyone headed to the bar for more stories.

We are on 20 acres in the Midwest with lots of trees and approx. 4 acres of mowing. We have a John Deere 1550 60" front mount mower and John Deere 2210 small tractor with loader. Both have diesel engines which require less fuel, so we get by just using a couple of 5-gallon cans. We also heavily use our Kawasaki Mule UTV to maintain the property. We are retirement age and enjoy being outside and keeping busy, so this suits us well. We also have family and grandkids very close by that enjoy the property and that will keep us here longer. We severely underestimated the amount of tree work required but usually we can put that off until we have the time and help. Only you can decide if this lifestyle is for you. Definitely best if you like ...

I don't like the way VRBO has jacked up their fees, but it is does give you protection from fraud. There are lots of vacation rental Facebook Pages out there, but you have to be very careful. If you take the time to verify ownership of the home and talk to the owner on the phone it will expose 99% of the fraudulent listings.

22k property taxes on a 3.1-million-dollar house looks low to me. I pay 10K on a 500K house in the Midwest.

In SW Florida I believe these costs are usually the responsibility of the renter and would cost roughly $400/mo. if it was all hired out. This assumes the house is not part of a HOA.

The 1% rule still works in my midwestern small town and 2% isn't out of the question. The deals I see now are better than when I started investing in rental houses 40 years ago.

The 5% off asking price is pretty meaningless especially for a unique property. We bought our unique house/acreage for 20% off of the listing price and it had been reduced nearly 50% before that. I think we could have bought it 10% cheaper but I didn't want to take the chance as my wife was in love with it. The appraisal came in at exactly what we offered but the comparable properties used were very different from what we bought.

It really just comes down to whether you want to take a chance on losing the property.

I have used ACT! contact management software for over 20 years with my one-person small business. They are no longer supporting their older software and I would prefer not to pay $30/mo. for their cloud-based plans. I have about 2600 contacts which I can search by state, zip, customer type, products used, etc. I also use it for hobbies, travel sites and many other things. I don’t use any of the advanced features but heavily use the notes that I can add to each contact. There are dozens of CRM products available, but I am having a tough time finding a simple product to switch to. Does anyone have a recommendation for a simple, low cost, cloud-based contact management system?

T

his is why so many Florida homeowners don't have insurance. Are you feeling lucky?

We share a Florida vacation house with 2 other couples on which we have paid high insurance premiums for 12 years with no claims. Every year we discuss dropping all but the liability insurance as the lot is worth nearly as much as the total property value. So far, we have kept the insurance but if we get a big premium increase we may cancel. Is there any data on what percentage of Florida homeowners go without insurance?

I am on the board of our condo's HOA. What your board said is accurate. But isn't the insurance being handled by the HOA, like ours is?

Yes, the insurance is paid by the HOA but the cost is of course passed on to the condo owners. We also have a policy on the condo interior.

We were just notified that the insurance on our SW Florida beachfront condo is going up 320% this year. The condo board said many insurers have pulled out of Florida and there is little competition. The building had no damage from Hurricane Ian except for some minor landscaping damage. When researching this, I found that fraudulent claims might be more to blame than Florida’s weather. Florida accounts for only 9 percent of the country’s home insurance claims but 79 percent of its home insurance lawsuits. An insurance reform bill was just signed into law last month to hopefully slow this down. Anyone watching TV in Florida has seen the constant barrage of ads by law firms. I would like to know what insurance increases other Florida homeowner...

We have a home, two second homes and two vacation rental homes and we use autopay for most bills. As someone else mentioned, for some small monthly bills I prepay 6-12 months in advance instead of using autopay, so I don't have to record the amount in my checkbook every month. I only pay myself once per year.

I agree with most of these responses. I am saddened by the decline of San Francisco, Chicago, Portland and many other cities I once enjoyed. I disagree with Mt. Rushmore/Black Hills, Nashville, Key West and Marco Island being listed. Although all have suffered some growing pains, they are still some of my favorite places.

In 2018 we paid $4 SF for a Kolay brand LVP flooring that is thicker than most and just butts up and does not snap together. We installed it ourselves in a vacation cabin basement that had flooded so we removed the carpet. The pieces along the walls that are cut to length are taped down, but all the std. length pieces are not. If we get water again, we plan to leave the special cut pieces in place and take out the std. pieces until everything is dried out and then replace. We have been happy with the floor but in talking to the dealer we bought it from they said they no longer sell it. I like the idea that it does not snap together which makes it much easier to remove and replace.

4/ You retired from a long-time sales job, and you have a few products that you can buy from long time vendors and sell to your favorite customers. It is all drop shipped and very profitable compared to the time required. It is hard to pass up an easy gig and keeps you in the game. I have a ton of interests outside of work, but I still like to work a few hours a week.

If you sell to the cash investors look at closing after the first of the year to delay the taxes due.

I am shopping for a Kia Telluride and the two dealers I have talked to are adding 5k to MSRP. The local Toyota dealer will sell a Highlander at MSRP as will the Jeep dealer on a Grand Cherokee. The Kia dealers keep emailing me even though I tell them I won't pay over MSRP.

I bought a powered parachute ultra-light many years ago as it appeared to me to be the safest, easiest way to fly. I enjoyed it for a couple of years but then sold it as I was not flying enough. It might make more sense now that I am retired and have more time.

I am seeing price cuts, longer days on the market, and more inventory.

In SW Florida we are seeing the same. Plus, there are proposals to restrict weekly rentals and that has owners that rely on rental income scared.

I wouldn't call it a buyer's market yet, but it is moving that way.

We just retired and moved back to the Augusta area. I guess I will try to get back in the lottery or better yet rent my house for the week and take a nice vacation!

As you probably know there is a tax break that is sometimes called the "Masters exemption" since homeowners close to the Augusta National Golf Club can earn as much as $20,000 renting out their homes during the annual tournament without having to report the income on their tax returns.

My son and I went on Sunday in 2012 for $700 each through a local broker. My notes say Stub Hub was $850 or so. I have tried many times to get tickets through the lottery but failed again this year. I want to go back next year with both of our sons, and it looks like tickets are way higher. There is a lot of trust required by both the seller and the buyer with Masters tickets. The seller needs you to return the ticket so the buyer of the next day can use it and the buyer has to pay for the ticket long before getting it. It was a great experience and at least the food and beer were cheap!

We have several kayaks that we enjoy, and they are very low maintenance. We also love our Hydrobike water bike which is easier to get on and off of and is more stable.

https://hydrobikes.com/

I made something similar while in high school nearly 50 years ago - it worked great. Two blocks from our house was a gas station with an outdoor lift that was free for their gas customers to use. The good old days!

We considered a bunkbed for a vacation rental condo with an 8' ceiling but instead bought a KD Frames Nomad Platform Natural Poplar Bed with trundle on Amazon. Great price and quality. American made.

We own a second home in a popular lake vacation Midwest town although we do not rent it. The "high season" is mid-June to mid-August so quite short. I think your total days rented will be less than you are predicting. The management fees in our area are 20-30%. I would talk to some managers and find out their fees and their conservative rental estimate for the property. Double check the HOA rental rules as some allow rentals but restrict it to weekly or monthly rentals which means no weekend rentals. As you state the main purpose is for family vacations and the rental income is secondary, I think it might work for you as long you can afford it with a very conservative income estimate. You might want to look at a property with many...

We just cancelled our long-planned September Mediterranean cruise for this reason. We had a friend stuck in Europe due to a Covid test at the time we made the decision. We will travel domestically until things change.

I have used CWF-UV, Clear - Natural, by Flood on the two houses I have owned with cedar siding and decks for 41 years. I have not tried other products so can't say that it is any better and it definitely does not last for that many years. When I bought our current house the 33-year-old cedar siding and semi protected deck had never been treated and had turned very dark - the siding was almost black. We pressure washed it and treated with CWF and it looks great now. It is a big house, so it was a huge messy job. There is a 3-story center tower that is very hard to reach so we plan to put steel shake siding with a cedar color on the front of that this year.

We kept a used car at our Florida vacation home for many years but had quite a few problems when it sat unused for many months. Now we drive down, stay 2 months, then leave our car there and fly home as we have an extra car at home. Then we fly back and drive home after our stay.

With your 3,100-mile drive I think I would just leave a car at your condo full time.

I had this problem with a house I lived in for 30 years. It was a quality-built house that I believe just got a bad batch of copper and had nothing to do with the city's water. Each time it happened I would replace as much of that section of copper that was easily accessed. I was lucky that I never had a leak above sheetrock, but it always made me nervous. In my area I would guess the cost for a plumber to do your repair would be under $200.

I have used realtors on over 40 transactions through the years in a LCOL area and always felt like the 6% fee was not too out of line because the sales prices were usually under 150K - sometimes way under. Last year I sold a vacation condo in a hot SW Florida market. The realtor used some old photos on my rental website and it sold instantly for full price. I believe the realtor underpriced it for a quick sale. I saw another condo on Zillow and bought it a few days later through the same realtor. I was disgusted by the little effort the realtors put in for a 60k commission. Their laziness or incompetence caused me a bunch of grief on the new condo closing with issues they knew about but did not disclose. In that market 1.6 million homes are...

I would think he could make a good faith estimate of the cost of the property improvements and add that to the cost basis. If he happened to get audited, I don't think he would get in any serious trouble but may have additional tax and penalties due. He will not be able to add for his labor so he will still probably have a hefty tax bill. Just my opinion - I am not a tax expert.

No license needed. I have a Trek and love it.

We started an investment club in 1996 which is when this book came out: "The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide: How We Beat the Stock Market - And How You Can Too"

Later it was revealed that they counted their contributions as profits and that was how they claimed to beat the market!

Our club still meets monthly - typically we spend 10 minutes to select a stock to buy and then 2-3 hours of eating, drinking beer and shooting the bull.

8 years ago, after the kids were gone, we sold a 3000 SF house and bought an unusual, 35-year-old, 12,000 SF house on 22 acres along a river with thousands of trees. The living room is bigger than many houses I have lived in. We bought it mostly for the land, but it also gave us room for apartments for my mother and MIL. We got a great deal on the house because not many wanted all the work and costs that go with it. The property taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance are way more than an average house plus we own a tractor, mower, utility vehicle etc. to take care of it. It works for us as we like to keep busy, and it is a great place for the grandkids to roam. At some point we will want a low maintenance house, but it will be hard to ...

I don't see how Facebook Marketplace can send out a 1099 when they have no way of knowing what an item actually sells for. I sold a number of items last year and have not received a 1099. If I bought a truck for 30k 8 years ago and sell for 10k now how is that taxable? I can see how eBay etc. can send out a 1099 because they know the actual selling price but even then I can't believe the gross amount is taxable without considering the cost.

Everybody over 50+ who has owned one got rid of it. Why? Because spending the first 1-2 days cleaning on a vacation will lead to (1) stress and (2) divorce. We bought a Florida vacation home 11 years ago when we were over 50 and have loved it. We rent it through a manager when we are not there and it has worked well and has greatly increased in value. It is always clean and ready to enjoy when we arrive because we have a great cleaner and other support people. We have an owner's locker so can leave many things safely. There are always chores to do but we do a little each day and like to keep busy. We could afford to not rent it but I would feel bad about not using it enough. We bought another vacation cabin by a lake less than 2 hours from...

We bought the Sweetnight Breeze 12 Inch King Size Medium Firm, Ventilated Memory Foam Mattress for around $700 on Amazon. We bought it first for a vacation rental and then one for our home. We are happy with it but have not had a chance to compare to others available. We bought the Zinus Van 16 Inch Metal Platform Bed Frame with Steel Slat Support / Mattress Foundation on Amazon for $125. We need to buy two more beds for a vacation rental condo in the next 2 weeks. I definitely like the beds in a box as it is much easier to get on the elevator and into the condo.

I have a LOC with a local bank secured by a commercial building. The rate is currently 3.25% and is tax deductible.

If the fence benefitted me as much as the neighbor I would be happy to pay 1/2 of the cost even if it was on his property. I recently split the cost of a new hedge on a investment property in Florida with the neighbor. The hedge gives privacy between two pools so he was happy to split the cost even though it was on my property. I pay to irrigate the hedge so he is better off having it on my property. I discussed the cost etc. with the neighbor verbally and then confirmed with an email. Everything went smooth.

Appraisals can be tough at times. There was a farm that just sold in my area to settle an estate. It appraised at x and the guy who farmed it for many years could have bought it for 10% less as per the terms of the will. He and many others thought it was appraised too high because it was split up and hard to farm along with other problems. After he and several others that he could have assigned the right to buy at the discount declined, it sold at auction for nearly 2.5 times what he could have bought it for. This was an unusual case and most thought the buyer made the mistake and not the appraiser. Time will tell.

Almost all of my friends and relatives use a financial advisor. I think if they received a bill once a year and had to write a check for the fees many would jump ship. I plan to hire an advisor soon for the first time in my life but it will be on an hourly fee basis to help with withdrawal strategies etc. It is a shame there are so few hourly fee advisors around.

Definitely look at bike helmets with more protection as full face motorcycle helmets can be too heavy for your needs.

I would look at a job with a manufacturer or distributor. I went to school part time my first year out of high school and worked full time welding for a steel fabricator. I thought I would be there 8 months at the most but when I gave my notice they offered to pay for my college (night class) and told me of opportunities to advance. I ended up staying for 45 years and worked in sales, purchasing and management. This will not happen often but there are tons of opportunities right now for a young person who is willing to work hard. Industrial sales can be a lucrative field and does not always require a degree.

We have a beachfront condo that we rent through a management company that charges 20% of the rent. The IRS does not count days that you are working on the condo towards the 14 day limit so we feel comfortable using it 30 days per year. It is a 40 year old condo that we are updating so there are always things to do. You can also write off your travel and many other costs which helps it pencil out. We had an off beach condo before this one that appreciated nicely over the 11 years we owned it so we have mostly enjoyed the experience. There will always be some headaches with real estate so it is not for everyone.

Since you’re using the money to remodel a rental property, won’t the loan be paid from increased rent? If so, that’s what I would do. As you note, the loan interest will be tax deductible, but probably still a little higher than whatever bond interest you’re receiving now. If you want to exchange some low yielding bonds out of taxable, and can keep below the ACA threshold, I would do that as a second option. Will the improved property generate some additional depreciation deductions? That might offset some taxable distributions. The improved property will bring in more rent but I think it will be a fairly lengthy payoff period. We will use the property several weeks a year so we wanted to update things and convert a half bath to a full bat...

Thanks - My wife is on ACA insurance so we are trying to keep our income below those limits. I agree it probably makes sense to withdraw some from the taxable account and the balance from the Roth and skip the conversion this year. We were 20% bonds until recently when I decided we had won the game so no need to take the risk of more stocks.