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

[JonesKid]

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?

[BeautyTheBeast]

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.

[tjfogelberg]

Lots of wisdom here...I don't know about fulltiming but I am definitely looking forward to downsizing in some form when we retire.

[DianneOK]

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.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

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.

[FunnyCamper]

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!

[John_Joey]

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.

[homerbw]

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.

[rexlion]

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.

[Clay_L]

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.

[DallasSteve]

I owned homes for 20 years and I got tired of dealing with yards, roofs, air conditioners, termites, etc. I sold my last one 20 years ago moved into apartments and have saved enough to retire early and live in an RV. Now I can own a home without the yardwork and termites plus be free to travel. But for you I like the suggestion of trying life on the road for a few months before you sell everything.

[JonesKid]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Sounds like whatever choices you made...it has turned out "ok". I'm going to keep on marking projects off my "to do" list...and keep my eye on late 2018...to put the house on the market.

[rockhillmanor]

Yup. Same here. Beautiful custom built home on 5 ac. My ultimate dream home. Thought I'd live and die there.

Then the RV bug hit. First weekend trips then snowbird and then the longing for more....'especially' the part of being in the South for winter and no snow shoveling or freezing to death! :B

It's not just the 'physical' chores of keeping up a large home and acreage, there is also the 'cost per month' just to own it. Utilities, taxes, insurance, mortgage payments if you still have them, etc., etc.

I will admit I sometimes do miss my dream home. BUT I now most certainly do NOT miss that huge nut to crack every month that was required to live in that house!

I live now by the standards of my signature. :C

[Ivylog]

No, although we come close to being half timers...3 months Snowbirding and usually 3 out West. No exit plan needed and kids live next door and nothing needs watering.

What about auto drip irrigation for the orchard and not go cold turkey into FT. One three month trip should help decide if FT will work for both of you. Twice the husband, on half the money, in 1/10th the space is not for everyone.

[rav]

we sold our home last June (2016). -we really enjoyed our home- we remodeled it and added 600 sq ft. walk in shower, new kitchen, lots of storage, huge deck. the house was perfect for us.
we talk about it and really don't miss it at all- it was a trade for the freedom of full time living.

it was very liberating getting rid of all our "stuff" family antiques went to the niece and the rest sold or donated.

I don't miss mowing the grass or doing the little projects that tie you to the house- we now enjoy morning and evening walks around the campground and meeting new neighbors.
it is hard to believe that it has been over a year since we did this, we have no regrets.