Quoted from mbwalker:I've been thinking about that too (buying a 2nd home...but more of a winter 'getaway house' in a warm climate than an investment). More and more articles are showing up about mortgage applications slowing down. There's a national mortgage chain headquartered in town, and they are definitely seeing a drop in applications, resulting in some layoffs. But we're also considering just utilizing AirBnB's and traveling around might be a better option. No maintenance to worry about, water heaters to leak, roofs to replace, taxes, etc. Just keep the primary residence.
We seriously thought about buying during the 2008 dip, but didn't want to own a 2nd home 1800 miles away at that time in my career (now retired). Not sure what's going to cause another crash (i.e. loan defaults or just a big slowdown due to interest rates).
I’ve been considering the same thing for awhile now and looking at the cost of purchasing, maintaining and insuring a vacation house vs. the cost of constantly renting but not establishing any equity. When the cost of housing skyrocketed during the pandemic it was a better deal to just rent than to buy at the height of the market. But if the housing market has a correction I’ll need to crunch the numbers again.