We bought a rental property instead of a 'starter home.' It pays for itself, and we use it whenever we want.

• We couldn't afford to buy a home in NYC, so we bought a vacation home upstate instead.
• We rent it out online, which covers our expenses and turns a profit while building equity.
• When it's not booked, it's our peaceful escape from city life and the backdrop for family memories.

For many of us, the dream of homeownership has never felt more out of reach.

Sky-high interest rates, low inventory, and bidding wars have pushed prices well beyond what many can afford. In high-cost-of-living areas like New York City (where I live), the situation feels even more impossible.

In May, the median sold price of homes in Manhattan was over $1.3 million. Try finding an affordable "starter home" in that market!

Although the suburbs might offer better prices, my husband and I weren't ready to leave the city yet — longer commutes, less walkability, and weekends spent on lawncare didn't appeal to us.

Still, by our mid-30s, we'd saved enough for a decent down payment and felt eager to get onto the property ladder. We just didn't want to sacrifice location.

So instead, we made an unconventional choice — we bought our "second home" first.

Instead of leaving the city, we bought a house in Lake George with plans to use it for vacation and rent it out

For us, the idea started in Lake George, New York. We'd gone camping there every summer since we first started dating, and from my initial visit, it was love at first sight.

We spent long weekends sleeping in a tent, grilling all our meals, and soaking in the simple pleasures of the outdoors. At some point during every trip, I always thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to own a house here someday?"

Eventually, that "someday" became a serious strategy. Instead of attempting to buy a primary residence in the city, we rethought traditional homeownership and bought a vacation home first.

For us, the math made sense. Since we couldn't afford to buy in NYC, we'd continue renting our primary residence there.

We'd buy a property near Lake George instead, specifically in Warren County, where the median sold price was about $315,000 in May —a million dollars less than Manhattan.

Plus, we hoped we could offset some costs by renting it out on Airbnb and VRBO. What happened next exceeded every expectation.

So far, the home has helped us make money and memories

In February 2023, we purchased a house with a mortgage and got to work on our DIY renovations to prepare it to be a rental.

As longtime visitors to the area, we knew what guests were looking for — we were our own target audience. By May, our vacation home was live on Airbnb and VRBO.

The house was booked for less than one-third of our first full year renting it out, but that was enough to cover all our annual expenses on the home (mortgage, utilities, insurance, maintenance, etc.).

On top of that, we made a $10,000 profit. But the real payoff wasn't financial — it was personal.

The house was always meant to be a "second home" for our family, an escape from city life, so we never stress when it's not booked. It's just ours to enjoy the other 274 days of the year.

It was where we celebrated my daughter's first birthday; my husband hosted his best friends for their annual golf trip; and we snuggled our dog of 10 years for one last, unforgettable Christmas together before he died.

Those memories are truly priceless, and we wouldn't have had them if we were still stuck waiting for the "right time" to buy.

All of this has shifted our perspective on success and homeownership

When we bought our "second home" first, our families thought we were nuts. To be honest, that made me question our plan myself.

But after that first profitable year, I started to believe in our nontraditional strategy of homeownership.

We were building equity, using rental income to pay the monthly mortgage, generating income, and making memories in a new space while still renting in the city of our dreams.

The traditional path of our parents' generation — starter home, upgrade, maybe a vacation home decades later (if you're lucky) — doesn't reflect so many people's reality anymore. And that's OK.

In a world where flexibility, side hustles, and meaningful time with loved ones matter more than ever, maybe it's time to flip the script.