Active Living

Double The Pleasure

A second or third
home is an enjoyable
experience, but an
added expense.

A*,

BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News

D

ouble the pleasure, but at double the cost
— or, in some cases, even at triple the cost.
That's how some Jewish couples describe
owning and maintaining vacation homes
or condominiums around the country, along with their
local residences. In many cases, the vacation homes,
which began as places for quick getaways on breaks
and holidays during their working days, are now used
for longer, more leisurely periods in retirement.
Dr. LeRoy and Brenda Neumann of Farmington
Hills have to hold "planning and strategy" meetings
to determine when to use their vacation places ... and
exactly where to go. Besides their home base, a condo
on the seventh fairway of the Copper Creek Golf
Course in Farmington Hills, they own a five-bed-
room home on the sixth fairway at Birchwood Farms
Estates in northern Michigan, near Harbor Springs,
and a cottage on Pontiac Lake. They also have time
shares at Hilton Head, S.C., and Palm Springs, Calif
A physician for 40 years, Dr. Neumann, 70, now
works only twice a week at the Sterling Heights
office run by his physician son, Fred. That gives him
a lot more leeway for leisure-time activities, mainly
golf, racquetball and snow and water skiing.
"It's great to have all of these choices of where to
go," he says. "We're an active family and enjoy
every minute at each of our properties. Our biggest
problem in owning these places is that we have to
really balance the time spent at each to make sure
we get our money's worth."
The Neumanns owned a condo in Boca Raton,
Fla., for five years. They sold it in 1983 because
Brenda had returned to college to become a speech
DOUBLE on page Al 0

12/17
1999

£8

Phyllis and Di: Paul
Schneider prepare to
leave their West.
Bloomfield condo.
They also-own a
condo in Florida.