You have 1 milly to spend on a ski haus in the Northeast. Where are you buying?

[Hastur]

Your aunt just died and left you a million dollars. The only caveat is that in order to keep it, you have to spend it on a second home in ski county. Where do you buy and why?

Starter home in Stowe?

Slopeside at J?

Saddleback?

Sugarloaf?

The Bush?

 

[Edd]

Funny, I thought the NH inspection fee was standard, feels like I always pay $40 everywhere. I’m not such a fan of no inspections. I don’t buy the legislative motivation of foiling “crooked mechanics”. It just feels like “freedom” bullshit. The general public is dumb about maintaining their vehicles safely, and I prefer a mechanic informing me about a taillight being out over a cop.

 

[Quietman]

Part of the problem was shops that would advertise free inspections, and yes there is a sucker born every minute. Other shops would charge $50-$60 and not be picky at all. We used to have a sticker mill in our area that made a boat load from $50 inspections, cars were lined up waiting as they had to wait at least 15 minutes between issuing stickers.

My wife drives the grandkids around alot, so I keep her car in great shape. Only problem is that a previous owner replaced the Calif. catylitic converters (had a Calif engine) with cheapo standard ones and the check engine light is always on for the converter codes. Her engine has $1500 -$2000 left and right converters bolted to each manifold. Now I am just waiting for Jan!!

 

[deadheadskier]

The general public is dumb about maintaining their vehicles safely

I'll have you know good sir, that I changed the cabin air filter in my car all by myself yesterday. First time.

 

[thebigo]

Funny, I thought the NH inspection fee was standard, feels like I always pay $40 everywhere. I’m not such a fan of no inspections. I don’t buy the legislative motivation of foiling “crooked mechanics”. It just feels like “freedom” bullshit. The general public is dumb about maintaining their vehicles safely, and I prefer a mechanic informing me about a taillight being out over a cop.

you actually need another adult to diagnose a failed taillight? what if the taillight goes out while you are driving home from your inspection, do you leave it out for 364 days?

vehicle inspections are like every other issue in our society, the pendulum swung too far in one direction, now it has swung too far in the other direction. has anyone ever actually failed inspection with a one year old vehicle? how about first inspection at three years, second at five years, then annually? you need to prove inspection to register.

 

[Hawk]

I have a good friend that owns a service station. He told me that one of the reasons that the state of MA does inspections yearly is because people modify thier cars with custom exhaust, brakes and other things that sometimes don't comply or are installed improperly. I know this is a very small percentage but there's that.

 

[Edd]

you actually need another adult to diagnose a failed taillight? what if the taillight goes out while you are driving home from your inspection, do you leave it out for 364 days?

This seems pointlessly argumentative, but I’d concede newer vehicles could be exempted. Obviously mileage matters a lot but tracking that would be a burden so perhaps I’d go for cars older than 3 years.

 

[x10003q]

NJ inspections are emissions only. New cars have 5 years until the first inspection and then every 2 years after the initial 5 year period. Here in my travels in north NJ I rarely see any cars that look like they should be off the road. The emission only inspections have to do with meeting Clean Air Act requirements in order to get Federal funding that can be used for transportation and other things.

As for the million dollar ski haus, for me it would be slope side at Sugarbush with 2nd choice to buy at Gore. Sugarbush is a bit of a haul for weekends from NJ, but as I get closer to retirement, weekends only skiing will no longer matter. I owned a place at Gore for 25 years and, despite the continuing erratic operations, it is still a great place to ski. The other great thing about Gore is that it is only about 3 hours from NNJ.

 

[machski]

Nh has pretty high registration fees so I feel like they get some of that money over a longer term.

And some states have excise taxes which they apply after the initial sales tax sticker shock. I remember that well from my one year and done in CT. Low registration fee, but that excise tax hit you in the gut. All those taxes for falling apart highways in that state. We got out.

 

[Hastur]

NJ inspections are emissions only. New cars have 5 years until the first inspection and then every 2 years after the initial 5 year period. Here in my travels in north NJ I rarely see any cars that look like they should be off the road. The emission only inspections have to do with meeting Clean Air Act requirements in order to get Federal funding that can be used for transportation and other things.

As for the million dollar ski haus, for me it would be slope side at Sugarbush with 2nd choice to buy at Gore. Sugarbush is a bit of a haul for weekends from NJ, but as I get closer to retirement, weekends only skiing will no longer matter. I owned a place at Gore for 25 years and, despite the continuing erratic operations, it is still a great place to ski. The other great thing about Gore is that it is only about 3 hours from NNJ.

gore north creek is an interesting choice, but im already in So VT at about the same latitude for the past 25+ years. need more snow and less people.

.

 

[Hastur]

We have our second home in Bethel, ME and have contemplated moving there exclusively several times since we bought it. I then relook at the state/local tax situation as a resident of ME vs NH. Just doesn't work out now or in retirement due to ME income me tax (and I haven't even factored in sales tax impact). Property alone in NH and ME as a NH reaodent vs Property/Income in ME for us is 2x the amount as ME residents minimum. Tack on sales tax, probably balloons to triple the amount depending on yearly spends. Just can't do it. Not sure what we do down the road, as of prefer just one residence eventually.

if I want to keep a ski house im never going to get to one property. Home on LI is a place you'd never sell type of place.

im surprised at no sugarloaf love in this thread.

 

[kbroderick]

Funny, I thought the NH inspection fee was standard, feels like I always pay $40 everywhere. I’m not such a fan of no inspections. I don’t buy the legislative motivation of foiling “crooked mechanics”. It just feels like “freedom” bullshit. The general public is dumb about maintaining their vehicles safely, and I prefer a mechanic informing me about a taillight being out over a cop.

I agree with you in principle, but if the data says crash rates aren't materially different with or without inspections, I'd rather base the policy on actual data.

When I lived in Montana, I was happy not to worry about jumping through hoops to make my vehicle take a sticker, but I did see some rigs rolling down the road that made me wonder if maybe an inspection regime has some benefit.

I would say that I'd prefer inspection criteria only apply to safety risks for other people, which the implementations in Maine and Vermont go beyond. Among other things, I've failed for "modified suspension" when I had a Golf with aftermarket kit on it; said kit handled better than stock, but because it changed the ride height, it ran afoul of the Maine inspection rules in place then (they've since changed that).

 

[ctdubl07]

To answer question (but not really) I would buy a SKI home as close to a slope as possible.

Folks, I’m not concerned with inspections, ira withdrawal implications, grocery shopping, or state taxes. We have a true slope side home at MS and while I know it’s very few of you’s

 

[Quietman]

Curious about your slope side, do you use it outside of ski season?