Buy A Beach House…It will be easy! – February 12, 2023

You’ve seen it on the HGTV show, Beachfront Bargain Hunt. They say, “Buy a beach house, rent it out, it will be easy.” Ha! Let’s take a closer look at that.

It’s been four short months since we completed renovations, flew back to New Hampshire, and returned. So, what has happened during that time? Let’s see what the renters were up to. And remember, we only rented to a handful of guests for short stays.

Have you ever seen a melted wine glass? That’s what happens when you put melamine ones in the bottom rack of the dishwasher. That goes for melamine drinking glasses as well. It was a pretty comical sight to see these in our cabinets when we arrived. You may be asking, “Why don’t you use glass?” A couple of reasons. Glass breaks and is thus a hazard especially at the beach when guests go barefoot. Clear glass also shows hard water “spots” and looks dirty almost immediately. Even if you buy decorative melamine glasses like the ones in the picture with a turtle design, the design wears off pretty fast. There is no good answer here. We put signs up asking guests to use the top rack and hope for the best. Then, when they don’t, we just go out and buy more!

And on the topic of signs, while we were at home, up north, viewing the outdoor camera here at the beach, we noted the back door on the ocean side was wide open 24/7. Yes, 24/7, despite signs on the doors. There are no screens, yet it somehow seemed okay to our guests to leave it open, while the AC worked overtime, the bugs flew in, and salt air seeped through our home. I’ve written and tacked up a new sign, with better text, knowing it won’t make one bit of difference. I guess it was just an exercise in making myself feel better!

On to candles. Occasionally there is power outage at the beach. That’s why we have battery powered candles. You just turn on a little switch on the bottom and the candle lights. Well, evidently, this was too difficult for one guest to figure out. He/She lit the candle. Yes, with a match. You can’t make this stuff up. And speaking of lighting matches, we found on the beach, right in front of our seawall, several burnt logs. It seems our December guests wanted to make smores. How do I know? They left the evidence behind. Marshmallows and graham crackers in the cabinet. Obviously, they ate the chocolate. I guess it doesn’t matter that lighting bonfires on the beach is illegal and prohibited. Not their house. Not their rules. And I don’t even want to know where they found the logs.

I seriously don’t know if I am cut out for this.

“Just roll with it, baby.” – Steve Winwood

I won’t bore you with what else we’ve done in the month we’ve been here. Well, on second thought…replaced a leaky kitchen faucet, repaired a sea wall, replaced corroded light fixtures, fixed an icemaker, put up wood deck railings, painted, hung pictures, and well, a whole bunch of other fun little household fixes.

I chalk it all up to owning a piece of paradise. It’s all part of the wonderful, frustrating, funny and crazy adventure. I had hoped it would be a better and more beautiful way to help me cope,* instead of winter living in cold, dark New Hampshire; renter issues and house fixes included. It would be a great distraction for me. Mission accomplished.

“ Live your life, take chances, be crazy. Don’t wait. Because right now is the oldest you’ve ever been and the youngest you’ll ever be again.” -Suzanne Collins

Yes, they said on HGTV, “Buy a beach house, it will be so easy. It will even pay for itself.”

The jury is still out on that. In the meantime, I am taking the advice of our beachfront neighbor, who says if you own a beach house, "Prepare to repair."

And oh yeah, I can see the ocean from every room in my house. Simply paradise.

*For background on my health condition, (Central Sensitization Syndrome) see previous post on November 12, 2021, titled, "Three Years Ago Today." In addition to CSS, my diagnoses include Fibromyalgia, Hashimotos Thyroiditis, Severe spinal disk degeneration, bilateral hip replacement complications, small fiber neuropathy, Morton's Neuroma, Burning Mouth and Osteoporosis.