Fulltimers

-Gramps- wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
Storage is not that expensive, and since you're full timing it can find the cheapest place in the Country for storage space and put your household items there. Just be careful that you aren't paying more for storage than the items are really worth.

I'd like to full time it some day, but there is no way I'm getting rid of everything I own to do it. I can trim a lot, but there are things with sentimental value I'll want to keep. And it may take a 12' x 30' storage locker to keep them. (Maybe smaller if I really downsize.) Not to mention, there will come a time when we'll want to move back into a real house. Don't want to have to start completely from scratch when that happens.

We are storing some items with friends, Christmas decorations, scrapbooking stuff that belongs to Diane, photos and slides, and one bin of mementos. That's it...we liquidated or gave everything else away.

We can so relate Derrick, as we will be doing similar on the storage with some Totes, exactly what you have done, and instructions upon our demise are absolutely get rid of those sentimental things you kids don't want or can't relate to.

Big plan is the kids getting married next year, finishing Uni end of this year, are taking over the main acreage house, completely furnished with very stressed to them instructions that anything they don't want over time as and when they have the savings to replace to go ahead and dispose of "don't worry about our feelings whatsoever". Our exit plan is to build a "granny annex" either above the 1080sq ft garage here or similar above one of the outbuildings. In the meantime we have a homebase to come back to at the kids home (as it will be in due course).

Our biggest challenge holding us back right now is we have 3 other properties we need to get sold, and two are in the devastated economically challenged, energy province of Alberta here, the other in Fla - latter one might pick up somewhat post election Nov, and "hopefully" global market stability returns and folks carry on with their plans and start buying again.

It's all very well folks saying, lower your price, lower your price etc and that a property is only worth what someone else is willing to pay, but once we go FT with no other sources of income (self employed all our lives), our monies have to last us until our demise. We feel the pain of not being able to sell properties or getting 25% below offers. One, our only ever condo is actually listed $40K+ less than we paid for it 10 years ago and repeatedly told best value in it's category in the South/SE communities = so what do you do? If we don't amalgamate 'X' dollars for our "anticipated" retirement years then it's a non starter for us, which would break my heart having dreamed for so long to do so.

Took a long time to get my head around becoming totally real estate free, with that having been what's built our net worth over the last several decades. Funny how you can do a full 360 Deg over time, and now I just can't wait to release the shackles that bind, and get rid of some of the government/insurance company hands that keep digging deeper and deeper into our pockets.

We always live by the "never say never", because you don't know what will happen over time, but right now going through this stressful selling time, I personally feel I don't ever want to own real estate ever again. Like I said, that's just how we feel right now, and is based on being a few decades older than we were, but of course anything can change over time without a reliable crystal ball.

Very envious of you right now Derrick having finally hit your end goal to be travelling FT'rs. Enjoy each and every minute.