Ask HN: Living in Two Cities? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Living in Two Cities?

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So like many of you I feel pretty confident in being able to find a fully remote job, as I've already been remote for the last 2 years on various contracts.

The backstory here is City A is my current home and I absolutely love it, City b is a place I lived for about a year and I love that as well. I came up with the genius idea that I would buy a condo in City B, and live there about 6 or 7 months out of the year, while I'd rent in City A for the other 6 months.

Aside from being a waste of money and sounding strange, has anyone else done this ?

I can find a condo in City B for about 200k. I will not own a car in ether cities as both have fantastic public transportation.

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I wouldn't rush to spend $200K on a condo in City B. That $200K is just the start. Once you get into furnishings, insurance, repairs, maintenance, and everything else it's going to get expensive fast. Even if it's affordable, it turns into a lot of hassle very quickly.

I'd look for 1-month or longer fully furnished rentals and start there. It's not hard to find reasonable rates if you're willing to rent for more than 30 days. Try it for a long while and if you really, really like it then you can consider buying.

My other fear is with inflation it might be a good idea to buy property.

If things get rough I can always live in City B full time and visit City A.

City A doesn't have affordable property anywhere near public transportation.

This is more or less the vacation home problem. There are lots of not necessarily obvious issues with owning a house that's unoccupied most of the year.

If your two cities are in different states or have their own income tax, that may complicate your taxes.

Or you find it stolen

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29077334

Unless you have a crazy amount of money to burn I'd suggest that you buy both with a mortgage (assuming you have the income to do so) and then rent the one you're not living in. It's pretty common for Scandinavians to have a place in Spain or Portugal or as far as I'm aware for Americans to have a regular winter holiday in Central America. This is on the assumption that you think that both properties might appreciate over time, so even if you don't pay down the mortgage much your will still make money.

That's not a bad idea.

HOA regulations in the United States can often limit rentals, so I'll have to investigate.

Another option would be to just live in the condo in the low-cost City for 10 months of the year and then taking extended vacations in the other City.

I don't expect the homes to significantly appreciate over time, but I do expect them to at least beat inflation. People are always going to need a place to live after all

I knew a couple who married. He had a house in England. She had a house in Australia. So, every Equinox, they travelled back and forth, always having a Spring and Summer.

If you can manage it and can afford to do it, go ahead.

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