Transitions sure aren't cheap

Hubby's new job down in San Diego is going well and he managed to get his car registered, set up a PO Box and find his way around the fancy-schmancy coffee machine at this work ("It even grinds the beans! I love this thing!").  Now we get to the super-expensive part of this and that means housing.  He's now shopping for a small condo that we can re-sell later on to try to get some of our money back out after this southern adventure - and YOIKS housing is predictably expensive no matter what you do.

We have one likely one he's going to try for tomorrow, a one-bedroom in a reasonable neighborhood with the bonus of a small garage that can be closed and locked instead of only a carport, I really, really, really, really hate going into debt with another mortgage but it is still way cheaper than trying to rent.  Bleah!  On the good side, he's content with a classic Guy place - he doesn't care what color the carpet is, is happy with whatever window coverings it comes with and needs only minimal furniture which he plans to get cheap or free where he can.

Now we have to learn how the government views it taxwise - is this a "vacation home" or a "second home" or what? It's not a "rental" I should think unless we are renting to ourselves?   How large of a bite will they be taking from it so we can make sure we can afford the taxes?  Time to research the taxation labyrinth.  :-p