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I hope the moderators will not consider this a duplicate thread, since a different poster has just started a different thread which is primarily about full-time RVing in retirement; however, it tangentially touches on a lock-and-leave condo question. I am starting a new thread because I am actually VERY interested in lock-and-leave condo matter itself, and the right people may not notice my questions about it if they are buried in a thread about RVing.
So, here again are my questions:
1. if you are a retiree who likes to travel all the time, do you have experience with a lock-and-leave condo?
2. if so, where is it located, and how did you evaluate safety of leaving your belongings there while you are on the road for months?
3. can you recommend an insurance company that would insure a home condo where nobody may be staying at the condo sometimes for more than 90 consecutive days?
4. does anyone have a positive experience specifically with a lock-and-leave condo in a large city, such as one with an international airport? which city? (I know this is a long shot, but anyone ever had, or still has, a lock-and-leave condo in Manhattan?)
I could share my positive experience about such a condo in Boston, but I am considering selling it some years down the road (for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it has appreciated magnificently, but it is now tying down too much non-liquid value, so with some of the proceeds of the sale I would like to buy a cheaper lock-and-leave condo elsewhere, and blow the rest on travels).
Are you interested in a condo in a big city? I rented a large condo in Andover, last time I went back to visit, the price barely went up, it’s in a safe area, you have to get into the building before you can get into the condo, unlike some of the condos I’ve seen here in my hood. I believe there’s a maintenance guy, so no yahoo can get in easily. I wouldn’t worry about locking and leave.
4. does anyone have a positive experience specifically with a lock-and-leave condo in a large city, such as one with an international airport? which city? (I know this is a long shot, but anyone ever had, or still has, a lock-and-leave condo in Manhattan?)
Tons of them in Manhattan, often called a pied a terre. Affording them is another issue.
After we retired, we considered this idea. Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that we could simply do this with our SFR.
In Phoenix, we hired a Gardner to take care if the outside, shut off the water, and made good friends with our neighbors. Left a key with one of them who would use our garbage cans and put them outside for collection every few weeks.
In Raleigh, it's even simpler. We bought a house where the HOA does the landscaping, helped form a community watch group which successfully encouraged the community to meet their immediate neighbors, exchange phone numbers and emails and keys and keep those neighbors in the loop when they are out of town. On our block, four homes share the same garage code. We've installed an alarm system and change the phone tree when we travel.
Variables go in the safe deposit box at the bank, including a backup of our computers. Other stuff in our house? Well, it's just stuff. Took us awhile to get to that mindset, but it's a great feeling even when we don't travel.
To me, it seems like "lock and leave" is simply an integral advantage of condo living, which we have done for the last 20-years. For the most part, condo security is generally far better than SFH security (ie; common access points, watchful residents, operational camera systems, minimum 6-month rentals, minimum evidence of empty condos, etc.). In the condos we've owned, there have invariably been 30-40-percent who own them as worry-free, second/third homes and are typically absent a large part of the year.
The exception to the above may be lower-end or converted-apartment-condos, in crime-ridden areas, with little or no minimum rental restrictions ... (aka: 'apartment living'). I don't know if that's the OP's experience, but, the notion of describing one's condo-home as a "lock and leave condo," suggests a less-than-typical, condo experience. It's sort of like saying, "I park my car in a lock-and-leave area."
We lived in a Lock and Leave in Arlington, TX. It was in a gated community of town houses, which we found greatly preferable to condominiums.
At the time we were operating a sales consultancy business together. We would very often be gone all week, and sometimes weekends, too. No one could tell whether we were home or not, by looking.
If I were going to travel, I would do it again with hesitation. Today, those homes run about 285,000 or so. Ours was 2 bed, 2 1/2 bath, 2-car at 2400 S/Ft.
Tons of them in Manhattan, often called a pied a terre. Affording them is another issue.
After we retired, we considered this idea. Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that we could simply do this with our SFR.
In Phoenix, we hired a Gardner to take care if the outside, shut off the water, and made good friends with our neighbors. Left a key with one of them who would use our garbage cans and put them outside for collection every few weeks.
In Raleigh, it's even simpler. We bought a house where the HOA does the landscaping, helped form a community watch group which successfully encouraged the community to meet their immediate neighbors, exchange phone numbers and emails and keys and keep those neighbors in the loop when they are out of town. On our block, four homes share the same garage code. We've installed an alarm system and change the phone tree when we travel.
Variables go in the safe deposit box at the bank, including a backup of our computers. Other stuff in our house? Well, it's just stuff. Took us awhile to get to that mindset, but it's a great feeling even when we don't travel.
I already have a pied a terre in NYC - not in Manhattan, but in the Bronx; however, that pied a terre is safe enough to stay there while visiting NYC, but not to keep belongings locked there. If I were to move to NYC with the belongings, I would sell both my pied a terre in the Bronx and the condo in Boston, and would buy a unit in Manhattan (likely a co-op since condos are rare in NYC).
But now there is an idea with your gardener in Phoenix. I could pay the doorman of a co-op building in Manhattan to check regularly on my unit. The doorman could likely get into it with a master key anyway. Thank you for that suggestion!
I hope the moderators will not consider this a duplicate thread, since a different poster has just started a different thread which is primarily about full-time RVing in retirement; however, it tangentially touches on a lock-and-leave condo question. I am starting a new thread because I am actually VERY interested in lock-and-leave condo matter itself, and the right people may not notice my questions about it if they are buried in a thread about RVing.
So, here again are my questions:
1. if you are a retiree who likes to travel all the time, do you have experience with a lock-and-leave condo?
2. if so, where is it located, and how did you evaluate safety of leaving your belongings there while you are on the road for months?
3. can you recommend an insurance company that would insure a home condo where nobody may be staying at the condo sometimes for more than 90 consecutive days?
4. does anyone have a positive experience specifically with a lock-and-leave condo in a large city, such as one with an international airport? which city? (I know this is a long shot, but anyone ever had, or still has, a lock-and-leave condo in Manhattan?)
I could share my positive experience about such a condo in Boston, but I am considering selling it some years down the road (for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it has appreciated magnificently, but it is now tying down too much non-liquid value, so with some of the proceeds of the sale I would like to buy a cheaper lock-and-leave condo elsewhere, and blow the rest on travels).
You may need to have your mail taken care of 90 days will accumulate. Someone to flush the toilets too.
When I travel for a long time, 4 months, I just left a not to the mailman when to deliver when I’m back. The system only allows 30 days if you do it online.
To me, it seems like "lock and leave" is simply an integral advantage of condo living, which we have done for the last 20-years. For the most part, condo security is generally far better than SFH security (ie; common access points, watchful residents, operational camera systems, minimum 6-month rentals, minimum evidence of empty condos, etc.). In the condos we've owned, there have invariably been 30-40-percent who own them as worry-free, second/third homes and are typically absent a large part of the year.
The exception to the above may be lower-end or converted-apartment-condos, in crime-ridden areas, with little or no minimum rental restrictions ... (aka: 'apartment living'). I don't know if that's the OP's experience, but, the notion of describing one's condo-home as a "lock and leave condo," suggests a less-than-typical, condo experience. It's sort of like saying, "I park my car in a lock-and-leave area."
Absolutely, I don't think there is such a thing as a safe lock-and-leave SFH (I have acquaintances who have a SFH in the best Boston suburb, and their home is is alarmed. One summer they left for a month in Europe, but while they were overseas, Boston police notified them that their home had been burglarized. The burglars activated the alarm/police response, but were nevertheless able to grab a number of valuables before taking off. The insurance covered it, but these folks still felt very violated, plus the theft involved something that has been in their family since the 1700s).
But condos can be vulnerable, and not only in "bad area". I am one of those people you mentiomed who owns the second and third condo (San Francisco and NYC), but I do not keep much of anything there. My SF condo is in a trendy area of the city, the building is a Victorian walkup, and I know every unit occupant personally (they are owner-occupants or very long-term renters). Nevertheless, one unit was burglarized by someone who apparently climbed on the roof (likely from a different nearby roof, which was accessible via fire escape), and then maneuvered into the unit from the roof, after prying the window out of the window frame. All of that at night, and without a sound. SF has an unbelievable culture of property crime, and even the best neighborhoods are not immune from it (in fact, they are probably extra vulnerable). That sort of thing makes it difficult to figure out whether it would be safe to leave belongings locked somewhere.
You may need to have your mail taken care of 90 days will accumulate. Someone to flush the toilets too.
My mailman in Boston knows all about it, we have been the best of friends for 20 years (I just leave him a note in the mailbox when I leave to hold mail until I come back). I would do the same with the mail carrier in the new condo building , that is the easiest part. Why should someone have to flush toilets?? In all of my 3 condos in 3 different cities, I simply close the inlet valve that lets water into the toilet tank (to prevent the tank from overflowing if the toilet somehow starts flushing by itself - I have seen that happen once in Boston). I have been doing that for 20 years. Does the toilet need to be flushed regularly for some reason, am I missing something?
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The doorman could likely get into it with a master key anyway. Thank you for that suggestion!
