I've been reading this forum(and others)since 2007. I've been wanting to full time for several years...but my DW has been hot & cold about the FT idea. She loves going to RV shows...would love to travel the US and Canada for a few years...but doesn't want leave our home of 24 years.We have a large home on 5 acres, with a beautiful view...however from April to October we rarely go overnight more than 2-3 days...because we have to water the yard, orchard. etc.We had a discussion today about how difficult it's going to be to maintain this property when we're 80 years old. I love our home too...but am tired of the never ending projects.I just replaced the siding on the front of the house and I'm going to start painting next week...but climbing up a 32' ladder to reach the upper eaves is not as much fun as when I was younger(I don't bounce as well as I used too).Sorry to be long winded...but how many of you that are/were full timers...loved your home....but just got worn out with the upkeep and decided to sell and hit the road?

Had a great home, great neighbors, rural area BUT we wanted to TRAVEL.Had Estate Sale, sold house and hit the road for 7 wonderful, glorious years.We KNEW we didn't want to come back to that area and if/when it was time to come off the road it wold be somewhere else all togetherLetting go of our stuff at auction was at first a bit disconcerting then it become fun/exciting as those fools gt into biding wars over our stuff :BHardest part was letting go of my John Deer tractor and my Reloading equipment...hers was all of her Lenox Holiday Ware.But BOTH of us where FULLY on-board with the idea of FTng....downsizing/traveling. No what ifs/hesitation from either of us.Hard to FT if ONE party is hesitant/holding back.Good Luck!

Thanks Old-Biscuit. I've been lurking on this forum and others for about 10 years. Always enjoy your posts and words of wisdom.I know what you mean about both spouses fully on-board. I haven't pressed the issue for years..just hoping DW will finally get tired of the home being a huge weight on her. UPDATE: the DW just got off a 2 hour phone call with her best friend from Chicago. I overheard my DW tell her friend that "We have a lot of projects to get done over the next year..so we can sell and travel in an RV for a few years!!! Maybe...just maybe..she's ready..

I would guess nearly every full-timer has left a home they loved in some way. However, once retired it's difficult to keep them up if they have big yards to mow, snow to shovel, homes to paint, etc. How about asking your wife to help you with your jobs and you'll help with the cooking, cleaning, etc.? Then you'll both be ready to hit the road and have some fun!!

I had a bathroom to die for - in fact we bought the house because I loved the master bath, but we really never enjoyed it because when we got home from work, there was still more work to do. And in order to enjoy some of our 'off' hours, we began to hire things done - like heavy yard work, painting, etc. At that point it was obvious that we were not going to want to spend our retirement working FOR the house rather than enjoying ourselves. That's the point you have to come to - - do you control what happens or are you controlled by your house and your 'stuff'?

We are not full time but had a similar situation with our previous home. We loved the home. We had two houses on 4 acres. We had an orchard and pasture. It was beautifully landscaped. We had solar power and had no utility bills.But we were a slave to the property. As you, we could not be away for very long. We were constantly working on it. We started RVing and really loved it. We wanted more time to travel. We were also worried about our ability to maintain the property as we got older.It was a hard decision, but we sold the house. We purchased a one story home on a small lot. We purposely did not plant anything. Our landscaping is rocks and artificial (metal) plants and other decorations. We can now leave whenever we want and go for as long as we want. We have great neighbors that keep an eye on the place.We are very happy with the decision. Yes, the move was painful but once it was done, we are very happy we did it. There are no regrets. We travel a lot and are enjoying our trips and freedom.

Did you ever love your home...but sold it to fulltime

Clay_L
Explorer
Jul 01, 2017
We had a 4000 square foot home on 3 acres with a 20 X 40 in-ground pool in NH.
Average of about 100 inches per year of snow and a 140 foot long driveway. Even with a 40 inch cut snowblower on a garden tractor and a 5 horsepower leaf vacuum/chopper that blew the chopped up leaves into a trailer, we knew there was no way we would be able to maintain the house and grounds as we got older.
In addition the taxes on the house the last year we owned it were over $10,000. We sold it and never really looked back even though we loved the home.
rexlion
Explorer
Jul 01, 2017
If it were a small place I would say try to keep it. But your place sounds like too much effort and time.

Try to get an rv and take a several-month trip over winter before you make a final decision, though.
homerbw
Explorer
Jul 03, 2017
In 2010 my wife and I purchased our MH, hired a liquidation company to sell our stuff, sold the house and no regrets. We lived in our home 35 years and made a lot of upgrades but retirement income was less than what would be needed for taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs, ect. not to mention cost of living. Now we would not have a stick n brick. When we get tired of travel, I will buy a piece of property and park the MH under a RV port and continue living in it. I recommend have more than 2 slide outs as full timing can get crowded at times.
John_Joey
Explorer
Jul 03, 2017
As you age a big home becomes more of an issue. Either you pay to have stuff done, or downsize. 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom on a golf course where you can lock and go is just one example.

FT really isn't part of the above. As I tell the grandkids, never run away from something, run toward something. Maybe you should think about downsizing with RV'ing as part of the overall goal. If you can't afford both, then you need to expand your discussion to include that fact.
FunnyCamper
Explorer II
Aug 04, 2017
Nice thread to read.
I am farmer type with horses etc and when I finally sold my last horses not that long ago after nearly 40 yrs of riding, I am now staring at empty barns that need to be maintained, tractors and other farm equipment not being used, fencing that needs maintaining, tree work that wants to fall on all that fencing, and LAND MAINTENANCE.

The minute I didn't need this land is the minute I decided we are selling and moving on to full time travel in a few years. (Got to get kid settled into college etc) and then we are selling it all and off.

I loved this home for what I needed it for and it provided all I wanted and loved. Now I want change and away it goes and so do we :)

No mowing, no maintaining the pool, no fence work, no house and barn maintenances, no tractor/equipment maintenace, we can sell the work trucks and trailers and balers etc.........ahh, I can't wait :)

We love the lifestyle we have but time to change! Life is all about change :) Embrace it and move forward!
PawPaw_n_Gram
Explorer
Aug 04, 2017
Loved our last home. Hated the amount of maintenance work and costs of keeping the home.

Some days we miss having the house, but only for an hour or so.

The taxes on the old house were almost as much as we pay for fuel for towing each year.
DianneOK
Explorer
Aug 04, 2017
We had a 20 acre farm, both worked 18 hours a day. We knew we would never stay after retirement. Sold out, hit the road fulltime for 9 years. Found our perfect spot, settled and now live in our paradise. We miss the road, but it is different out there now.
tjfogelberg
Explorer
Aug 10, 2017
Lots of wisdom here...I don't know about fulltiming but I am definitely looking forward to downsizing in some form when we retire.
BeautyTheBeast
Explorer
Aug 10, 2017
I am so glad to have found this forum. I am in need of the good advice and support of those who have been there/done that. After years of researching the full time lifestyle, we are less than a year away from launching and things are moving fast. House we have lived in for 19 years is under contract and we are furiously shedding the possessions. I bounce from relief to dismay at having less stuff, sometimes minute to minute. All the easy stuff was gone months ago, now we are into the hard stuff. I know I won't miss it....someday ...., but it is giving me a little anxiety right now as I watch it leave. In less than a month we turn over the keys to someone else. We are both tired of all the work associated with owning a home and know that we don' t want to stay in this area post retirement so selling the house makes total sense but it is still tough.

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