Anyone regret buying a cabin "up north"?

30 years ago people had actual cabins. They had electricity and running water, but not much else. Maybe a refrigerator. Most people that had actual cabins weren't also going elsewhere during the year, they came up north to hunt and fish and have downtime.

Now people want high speed internet, air conditioning, proximity to town, etc. You can find a cabin that's cheap, you can't find a second house that's cheap.

No regrets. We spend almost every weekend up there from May to November.

It’s not fancy, but it’s ours. I would rather have my own place, where I can plant trees and watch them grow, and let my dogs run free, than give money to Airbnb’s or hotels.

I live "up north" now but this was my second home years ago so i see the pluses and minuses. I'd compare the idea to buying a boat and someone should rent often before considering purchasing. It's easy to build up grand ideas in how it'll be but it's hard to grasp the whole picture. We all think we'll find the time to enjoy these things but life gets complicated. It also sucks having to deal with maintenance, lawn stuff, and overall diy fixes when you'd prefer to be out hiking or fishing. Prices are crazy high up here and values for whatever reason continue to rise. The Airbnb thing has saturated the market.

On the flip it's nice to have a place in an area you love to go to. It's a cool way to raise kids taking relaxing vacations. You can store all your toys there and just show up without trailering campers, boats, etc.. it's a lifestyle and if you have the means it's worth investigating if this life fits you. It's expensive so it's probably smart these days doing short term rentals for when you're not using it. None of it is easy but the overall numbers prove that it isn't a thing of the past. Once this type of thing becomes tradition in your family there's a lot to enjoy. Just go in with eyes wide open and test various locations to find the right fit.

I think most folks inherited theirs.

The finances don't make sense to me either.  Would love to have one, but those are lottery dreams.

That moment when attending college in the U.P. during the late 1990s was the only opportunity…

For the love of everything, please stop buying cabins up north and making them short term rentals. If you use it yourself, fine, but it’s so irritating to see multiple houses popping up in residential neighborhoods that are Airbnbs while professionals can’t find housing.

Bought a lake home up north (second home), renovated it, did a large addition, then realized we never wanted to leave. Loved that house and it was one of the best decisions we ever made.

28 years ago I said to myself Forget that crap just live there so I did Made 40% less money but I live my life in a unique beautiful place instead of some god forsaken suburb

My father in law’s family bought inland lake land and built our log cabin 85 years ago. We added on about 20 years ago. The land has been a hunting ground for hunters and although we lost Dad last year, we still love that place. I really hope it stays in our family.

I mean, you're doing the math and weighing priorities. That's all you can do. The answer will vary.

🤷‍♀️

The up north cabin was always a dream of my parents (and myself) but they just couldn’t make it work financially. I watched property for years and finally pulled the trigger on five acres of raw land just outside Gaylord two years ago. My wife and I have a long-term plan of campsite -> place to park a small trailer/camper -> roll-off pre-built cabin. I plan for small septic and a well pumped with a small install of solar and battery bank - no electricity in the cabin, as it’s not something we require.

There’s just something about creating something that’s OURS that makes it feel worth all the work and time. I guess I’d rather be building equity vs. lining someone else’s pockets and having nothing lasting to show for it.

No ragerts. Owned by family LLC. Costs split evenly 3 ways. Low cost vacation spot on a small inland lake. My only complaint are some of my neighbors but that can happen anywhere.

No regrets whatsoever, but I kept it reasonably cheap and fairly small. 

It’s more feasible if you do not have kids. There are additional benefits as well with it being a tangible asset - even without crazy appreciation, you still are extremely unlikely to lose money long-term purely on the purchase/sales price. For some situations, it might make more sense to purchase vs invest the down payment in more traditional assets like stocks or investment accounts. And all that doesn’t even account for the convenience of not needing to fight off crowds at public beaches or campgrounds for spots and reservations. Owning your own place has value that is hard to account for purely financially.

It’s not impossible to still find good deals either. Sure, if you want to be on any of the Great Lakes or extremely well positioned amenity wise, it’s going to cost you - real estate isn’t reproducing after all.

But there are inland lakes or as others have mentioned more rustic cabin options all over the northern lower and UP. Hell, there are plenty of vacant land options that would allow you to camp yourself with Great Lakes beachfront.

We purchased an inland lakefront cabin w/ a little acreage a couple years ago. Not excessively wealthy by any stretch. Zero regrets.

The hardest parts? The drive is 5 hours, so it usually means a longer stay which can be hard with work schedules and adds up quickly on costs. It definitely doubles your “chores” with all the additional maintenance, but for some people that’s more enjoyable than a burden.

My in-laws recently bought some land up north and all the kids got a piece to do whatever with. Inlaws built a cabin, brother in law is building his now, and we take our camper up for the summer and stay in that.

I can tell you there are no regrets on our end, although it was more sweat equity instead of a second mortgage. We all use it as a getaway, cheaper than a vacation, close enough to be able to plan a spontaneous trip but far enough to be out of town.

It all depends on how the property was acquired too, I notice a lot of people inherit property up north from relatives, so it's not much as far as the monthly costs of paying a second mortgage, which I probably would feel different about if that was our case.

There are a lot of people in this sub that think up north starts at Clare. We haven’t seen the debate in a couple weeks.

Just make sure you don’t try to make up there like where you were trying to escape. Lots of people try that and it makes it hell for the people who work hard to maintain a living there all year long.

Short term rentals have driven cost up in more popular tourist areas. A place that would have been 30-50k 10 years ago is 80-110k. Still deals to be had in less popular or more remote areas. We have been looking, sick of spending $400-600 a weekend for an air b&b, $200 in gas to go ride or spend a weekend away. 2 bed rooms and a garage are our only requirement, the areas around trails we are interested are still more than we are willing to pay and we will probably have to wait for a housing cost correction or for our primary to be paid off in 5 years.

These cheap cabins in the northwoods people buy up these days are the only affordable housing left for locals. Most have been bought up and turned into air bnbs. I get the desire to get away and enjoy the escape of it all, but please think twice. Keep renting what's available, go camping, stay at a hotel. Come visit, enjoy yourself, but don't fill our small towns with empty unavailable homes while we struggle to find affordable living.

There was a time in my parents time that all the blue collar factory workers had cottage/cabin up north. Those days are long gone.

I regret NOT buying a cabin when I had the chance.

Complaining about the cost of your SECOND HOME is the epitome of FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS.

My wife and I bought a place near Higgins Lake in 2011. It was a foreclosure that had sat for a while. The mortgage payment was less than what a weeks worth of groceries cost now. We are not very wealthy. It has been great and we have made a lot of memories. As the kids get older and we make it up there less frequently and maintenance gets condensed even more. There's always something to do and I'm getting tired of it as the novelty of a cottage fades away. We finally got a boat and that adds more work with the fun. I'm hoping to sell it when the kids loose interest. I feel like my life would be a bit simpler and less to worry about.

30 years ago, poor people lived on lakefront property all over the state LOL. Nothing is affordable these days. Antitrust needs to be enforced and we need to break up the megacorps, this is the real "trickledown" Reagan was talking about, except where money trickles down, it's just prices on everything going up because so much power has been consolidated.

Sell it so we have somewhere to live in this housing crisis up here

Finances aside, maintaining an entire second property is a no thanks for me.

My friends say it seems like all they do at theirs is work on it.

I don't understand the allure. I have a lot of friends with cabins up north. I go every couple years for a few days but I enjoy being at home and if I go on a vacation I want to go somewhere new.

I bought a little one bedroom cabin on an inland lake just before Covid. When the pandemic moved me to wfh I started staying up there full-time and when I had to go back to the office I liked it so much I bought the cottage next door and commute about an hour each way.

No regrets.

Our place in the UP is our peace on earth. I get up there a couple times a year but mentally I am always up there in the woods, by the streams ....it’s my breakaway place

I personally will be steering clear of buying at the top of the market. 

My parents have one that I don’t even visit. I’d rather use my time and PTO to see other parts of the country and world. Chilling at a cabin is pretty boring for me but different strokes.

Financially it doesn’t make much sense to me either. PITI for a month or two, plus maintenance teeters on the cost for a trip. I dated a girl whose parents were astonished I had been to Europe meanwhile they had a $300k lake house with payments that exceeded cost of the plane ticket and hotels there.

Nope, can't afford a first house or cabin.

My parents have a cabin outside of Grayling as part of the Warbler's association they love it but it’s crazy in the last few years they had to get internet installed and security cameras. neighbor up there got in touch with them to let them know people kept trying to break in. the locks on the shed were cut off and there stuff is stolen. Which is sad for them because they are getting older so I worry the next time they go up there maybe someone’s sniffing around while they’re there. They still love it but they wish there place was more remote

Without high jacking this thread, I have a question: anyone regret buying property up north?

I’m talking about a plot of a few acres.

Me and my family would like to buy a few acres of undeveloped land and use it to just camp on, ride atv’s, maybe do some plinking, etc.

Lol that’s how you know you made it in life when second houses are a concern

You’re speaking way too big numbers for me, I deal in nickels and dimes

It's part of this whole category of time sinks ...boats, horses, golf, running a retail business, small children... That demand you dedicate your weekends and vacation time solely to them. If you're ok with that it's worth it. Otherwise, your response to everything (travel, weddings, funerals, alien encounters) will be, "but then I can't go up north."

My wife and I grew up in the burbs and then lived in Downtown Detroit for a decade. Great times and interesting experiences.

We both grew up going “up north” and ended up buying a small 1940’s-ish cabin just off of Higgins Lake that was neglected and close to falling down in 2006. No internet or TV just a decent stereo and a tiny cold fridge from 1950 with room for beer. Spent every summer weekend driving up with friends to get away from it all. We would go down to the beach, be out on the lake any way we could, party pretty hard, play different games ALL day, bike down to a road end dock with a cold one or three at night. Only to return and put on a thick hoodie and light off a large bon fire to warm up and share laughs until deep into the night.

We would spend Spring and Fall weekends listening to the Tiger games and swinging hammers all day. Just putting in the sweat and work to keep the cabin functional with small improvements when we could afford it. The Ant and the Grasshopper life if you will.

Buying a small falling down cabin led to slowly turning it into a home that we created so many solid memories and tons of laughter in. We are now fortunate enough to be able to live and work in this home that we built with friends and favors. This was never the plan as but we made some bold moves during the pandemic and never looked back.

We have ZERO REGRETS and feel super fortunate to be here every single day. Was it worth it? Hell yes! Simply because we put the work in ourselves, made sacrifices, and balanced it out with all the positive rewards that a tiny run down cabin provided a foundation for. Looking back….I would have never guessed it. Now I am certain we will do the same thing on our next adventure…with zero regrets.

I just purchased a cabin 3.5 hrs away in the woods 2 yrs ago. I am able to get there all seasons. No wifi, no cable, not much cell reception. It is small but have indoor bathroom, water and electricity and a propane pig. I read, write, listen to radio, watch dvds, spruce up place, head to lakes, and hike in woods. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have been able to stop smoking, stop drinking so much, and get off my anxiety meds. My vacations elsewhere have subsided, and I am OK with that. This is my peace. I was terrified to finally purchase a place (spent 5 yrs looking for what I wanted) but I am so grateful that I did. It has made my life better in many ways. I can't wait to retire up there. 53 years of city living and working in Detroit has taken its toll. 2 years of the woods has healed me.

Is it even possible to buy a cabin anymore? All I’ve been able to find are full, actual second homes. Just a house.

What happened to the A-frame lofts and stuff from back in the day? I’d love to get one of those to use vacations. Don’t want anything fancy, don’t need all the bells and whistles of a full house, though a kitchenette or bathroom would be nice.

I'm a retired medic living in a tiny cabin it the woods. Completely off grid.

I'm loving it 😆 🤣

My in laws have been asking about my wife and I taking over the cabin. We are at the age where we want to travel and are busy with kids. The thought of maintaining a second home for a handful of weekends a year of use is not in our plans. They, on the other hand, went up every weekend and now live there. They would clock out at 5pm on a Friday and head up north.

It's been a solid investment that's for sure. I got a 1000 sq ft single story house from 1950 with a new metal roof and new electrical on 10.8 acres with a large pond, one hour north of GR for 49K in 2017, and it's now worth 160k. No regrets. 

My grandparents had a cabin they unfortunately sold a few years ago. They bought it for $35k. It sold for $175k and it truly was a cabin on barely an acre.

Cabins are no longer realistic.

I don’t own one (my parents do) but it’s on the dry land formerly known as Wixom Lake. I don’t think they regret it…at least they don’t as long as the water comes back.

We bought a small place when the housing market fell apart. The utilities are minimal and hardly factored into the equation. Our taxes and insurance are very low. Because we bought below our budget we were able to pay it off a few years ago. We've probably made 3 times our investment in equity over the last 10 years. It has become a great refuge for us and our family. No regrets. In fact it was one of the best decision we've made as a married couple.

I bet the people around Sanford lake did

Excluding the excessively wealthy from this for obvious reasons.

So you own 2 homes, and somehow that isn't excessive wealth? Last I checked, most people under the age of 40 can't even afford a first "starter" home, let alone owning a vacation retreat up north.

My families mobile home on the Rifle River got flooded a few years ago. It was awful. My parents sunk a lot of money into it, and i kept telling them not to do it (the thing was put there in the 70s). Now they regret spending all that money. It's a money pit. They have a landline and satellite TV but no internet. It sits in mud because most of the beautiful trees got destroyed due to flooding.

My parents had a place in Houghton Lake. They were tired of the drive and asked whether I wanted it for a great price. I passed.

I’d rather keep variety in traveling instead of just staying in Michigan. I’ve been to so many places up north and UP. I’ll still visit from time to time, but I never understood why people only want to travel to one other place.

Luckily, we’re all different so if that’s what you like, enjoy.

The only time I regret it is when I'm stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on Friday trying to go north with everyone else with this overwhelming amount of construction this year.

I bought a lake house up north right before Covid. I moved here full time during Covid and now work from home. I sold my place in Detroit last year. I regret not selling Detroit sooner. At this point, I don’t think I’d want to pay for two places regardless which location I was living out of.

Was special having your own place and I miss it terribly. Miss my pontoon boat, miss waking up in the morning to go fishing, miss watching the kids swim while I have a drink on the deck. Would have never sold if I knew real estate was going to go crazy like it is now. Prices are so insane that i can't even entertain the thought of buying another cabin. It sucks, I had it and i let it go, may never have an opportunity to have it again.

Considering that only 22% of households in the state break 100k income, having two mortgages is not realistic for the average person in todays economy. True and correct.

In 2007 while visiting family I found a 1000 sq. foot 2 bedroom house in foreclosure near Tawas. Put a bid on it, was accepted, only problem was a $40.00 part on the well pump, septic worked fine. I told my wife I would not get a new car again, House payment was about $400.00. It was our second place until my wife and I retired. Through job upheaval in the recession of 2008 we where still able to hang on to it. When it was our cabin we would come up often, mainly for a weekend of sleeping. Its great up here. Tawas is about 2.5 hours from the metro Detroit area, Property is still cheaper than the west side (Traverse City area) We are about 200 feet from our deeded lake access lake and if the neighbors open their front and rear window blinds we can see the lake.

Yes. We bought a single wide on a small lake that needs a ton of work but was cheap. Even though it was three hours away, we thought it would be nothing to bop up there a couple times a month and do all of the work ourselves. We figured it would take a summer or two to get it ready to rent or whatever. We were wrong. We are almost 3 summers in and barely anything has been accomplished because it’s been so difficult trying to get up there to fix the issues And remodel. It’s just been so tough making that trip around our schedules.

No ragrets. Bought in Ludington/Manistee region about 8 years ago. Our place could be year-round if we wanted to make some adjustments. Great neighbors, a 30 min drive to hit either town. Off the beaten path, in the trees and on a river, enough to feel away from it all. Its my happy place. We arent there every weekend, not even close, but its there waiting to give us happiness when we need to go. If we had to sell it, it would break my heart. My spouse loves to putter about fixing and planting. I putter about cleaning, fixing, and reading. The beach is a 20 min drive away. Enough room for plenty of our family, but most times it is just us two.

No regrets, but we don't have any house payments on either place. Easier to maintain then. I would never AIRBNB it. We still go on vacations. Both of us are retired and the place is only 2 hours from our home.

You should factor in appreciation on the land

In a time where most people can't afford their first home, to cry about owning a second one is just...

My late grandparents used to have a cabin near Harrison, many of my relatives stayed there at times. Eventually they sold it. I did have an opportunity to buy it from them but I passed and I don't regret it.

It is nice having your own place away from the cities but the upkeep cost for a cabin that gets used a few times a year isn't worth it compared to getting a cheap motel somewhere. Plus cars have gotten better over the past several decades. In the old days, cars would need to stop for oil and air check and refueling but today a car can make 500+ miles (or however your gas tank will last) without a stop.

I do miss the cabin but I got pictures to look back if I ever felt like it

Really depends on A LOT of things.

If you have concerns of flexibility to do other vacations I would simply not recommend it.

Saving the price of owning an entire home is a lot of money to use on other things like (quite frankly) better vacations and retiring early.

I bought a house up North 10 years ago. It's nice and we use it a lot but I think of the international vacations I could have taken each year with what it costs. It's on a lake which causes a lot more wear and tear so I spend a lot of my time repairing as well.

I regret having to sell mine I inherited, but as a 23 year-old I wasn't able to maintain the taxes and the maintenance. I'm looking to get another, but like another user said, I want a cabin, a little place where I can get away from it all, as opposed to a 1500 square foot house up North.

Mine is inherited. :) Family arrived here in the 1860s and settled the town that now bares our family name, Curtisville.

Anyone regretting making a poor financial choice?

I regret NOT buying one. I grew up in Clawson, a small town nestled between Royal oak and Troy. My grandmother had a small cabin-like home on m72 just 10 or 15 mi East of Traverse City. After she passed away my parents took possession and kept the property up. By the time my parents couldn't maintain it I had moved out of state and could not see myself easily taking care of it. Not to mention I wasn't the highest of wage earner at the time. That place was idyllic. A little spring fed trout creek running along the property always produced for us. Some of the best memories of my life were from the time I spent at Grandma's house fishing that little creek.

Our cabin up north was a real blessing during the pandemic. We moved in full time, and so did a lot of other people who had cabins at the time. The numbers up here were very small compared to the southern counties.
No regrets. Turned out to be a life saver.

The U.P. Still has EXCELLENT deals, even with crazy high market values, there’s still cabins on 2-acres or more for around $90K-$125K (of course they’re on seasonal roads/2-tracks and very hard to access)

Several. There are so many people in my family dying and leaving these nice lake houses to me. Those UAW jobs were no joke back in the day. I pay nearly nothing in taxes and rent the rest of them throughout the summer. From Memorial Day to Labor Day I pull in $4-5k/weekly on average including the surge pricing on holidays between them all. Don’t even get me started on the condos they left in Florida. One in Ft. Lauderdale and the other just off of Disney property.