How do we start?

[mmhalkin]

We hopefully have spent our last winter in Wisconsin. But we have many questions about being away for 6 months. Many questions about winterizing our home, computers, phones, mail, and so on. Tell us how to get these questions answered Thanks--Mike

[Ken_O]

Your thinking right by saying "6 months", thats ahead of the learning curve. Many of us (me included) left too late and came back too early our first years. If you have to winterize on the road, you left/came back to early.

I'll add a couple more things:

Go paperless for your bills, pay through your bank's website or the utility itself.


File for an extension on your income taxes. I made the mistake of mailing stuff to my accountant to file my taxes, the forms got lost in the mail for three months, I got home before the taxes got there. I never understood why anyone would head back "to file my taxes".

I see back home its suppose to be -10 Thrusday night, snowfall total was getting close to 200 inches last time I checked. It is a brutal winter up there in N. Mich. Wisconsin is probably about the same.

Good luck on your jouney!

[dcason]

Having someone look in on your house is a good idea, no matter what you do to it to keep it from freezing. We also have a freeze alarm that we used when dear daughter was not living with us. It would call our cell phone if the temp in house dropped below a set number. Now she is home so she pulls in mail, calls us if anything mailwise important comes in/then faxes it to us, she shovels the walkway/steps.

Our neighbor has use of our plow truck (he has two driveways) to do his driveway and ours. He was very happy with that arrangement as it goes much faster than his snowblower!

That is my two cents worth.

[hermy]

As far as finances go-we set up as many monthly payments as we can(utilities, insurance, etc) to be paid with a credit card that will give us some perks ( frequent flyer miles, cash back, world points- or something. )Then we have only one bill to pay each month- which we do on line, and we are accumulating some benefit for money that we are spending anyway.We also set up the ability to transfer funds from savings to checking with a phone call. Then we check the weather and hit the road!

[empty_nest]

We plan on snowbirding in another 2-3 years. I don't really ask many questions...... I just come here, almost every day, and soak up all the information I can.... that which applies to us and pass over that which doesn't. There are so many different situations, from all over the country, so I just pick out what makes sense to me. There is a ton of useful information here!

[Ken_O]

mmhalkin wrote:
OK, We have hot water heat and of course running water. What steps do I take so the water lines are empty, and I don't need to heat the house

I'll take the water question...
Your smart for not wanting to pay for heat while you are gone. Some blow out the pipes, but I rigged up a pump to run RV antifreeze through my lines. I also put a bypass for the water heater (HWH)just like the RV.

I use the HWH to siphon out the water lines. Hook up a drain hose, open the HWH drain valve and open one faucet at a time until you hear gurgling. It will pull the water out of both the hot and cold side. Then I open a few to drain the HWH. Open the HWH bypass and close the inlet and outlet valves.

I then start the pump to push the AF through, and open one faucet at a time until I see red. Don't forget the washing machine, ice maker, etc. Dump some in all the drains, Also the washing machine and dishwasher, and run their pump to get AF in their drain pumps.

Don't know what to tell you about your boiler, I heat with wood, but have electric baseboard backup. I used to leave the heat at 50, blow out the pipes, but that didnt work for me. When it got real cold, I lost electricity, ever single year for eight years straight before I wised up. There was always a low spot in the pipes the water would accumilate, freeze and split. Last year it was the saddle valve for the ice maker that I didn't flush, and split.

[John_Joey]

My advice, stay mobile as much as you can. Don't be in a hurry to get south or even to race back north. Part of the fun is the journey, and the sights and people you will meet along the way.

If you do enjoy the lifestyle, there will be a tendency to think you found the best park, with the best people, in the very beginning. All snowbird parks have great people, so the real trick is to find the location that fits ALL your needs, then look for the park in that area.

It's easier then you think it will be 🙂

[Dog_Folks]

In the blue bar on top of the page is "Rving FAQ."

Start there, it will answer hundreds of questions for you.

[Yaj]

We already started! So you have to get behind us!
The others are giving you great advise, We are electing to lease out our home and go fulltime in the RV. At this point we don't want to sell the home so leasing it will keep it lived in and pay the bills with a little left over.

[Dick_B]

First do a search on this Forum for the topics you have questions about. I doubt that you have anything new to ask. First ask where to go: Florida, Texas or Arizona. That's pretty much your choice.

[trop-a-cal]

Keep the heat and a security system on. Drop heat to lowest above freezing. Have a neighbor of good friend watch the house. You may also not find a 4 month will do if you like the fall and spring in WI. Remember it is usually warm in south Florida year around, but can and does get to freezing in central and northern Florida. The economics of staying can surprise you, as it could cost thousands a month for a nice place. Take your time and search sites.

[enblethen]

Ask each of your questions here. You may want to do separate posts.
1) computer
2) Telephone
3) House
4) banking
5) Mail
Just for example.
Computer: we use a Verizon air card for our computer connections. Newer plans are restricted to 5 gigs.
Phone: We have Verizon cells that have worked good for us all over the country.
Banking: We have bill payer setup through our bank. We check it a couple times a week to pay credit cards and check our budget.
Mail: Hard thing to do. We have ours picked up by neighbor or daughter. They forward it to a park or location we give them. My brother did not have this ability. He used UPS store. He had them forward mail when he called them and gave location.
House: Have someone check on it. Don't forget to have yard taken care of.
Good luck!

[mmhalkin]

OK, We have hot water heat and of course running water. What steps do I take so the water lines are empty, and I don't need to heat the house

[Dennis_M_M]

First of all make check lists. What to take and things to do before you leave. Here's our before leaving list:

Mail forwarding
drain pool
New batteries in thermostat
Turn off water
turn off hot water heater
turn off hot water tap under sink
unplug appliances & TVs
stop newspapers
refrigerator empty?
Freezers?
mineral oil in toilets & traps -
Set furnace to 55
unplug garage door opener

One often overlooked item is to check your homeowners policy. Some policies do not cover if house is unoccupied for more than 30 days.

Then I forget about it. Do not have anyone check anything. Being in a townhouse we have neighbors who will correct any exterior issues and I figure anything else I will worry about in the spring!

[HappyKayakers]

You should also spend some time in the Fulltiming forum since you'll face many of the same problems.