25 Workdays Left to ER, Selling House, Moving

[38Chevy454]

Things have been busy for me last few months. I decided with DW that we were going to make this year the one we both retire. Actually made the decision after Thanksgiving 2016. Did some planning and waited until early spring and listed the current house for sale mid-March. In late March we also bought a property and are going to build a new house. New property is in Cincinnati, OH area to be near family. DW has followed me around the country for work for 25 years, time to let her live where she wants and that is near family in Cincinnati. A little over 1500 miles away.

Took a couple months to get all the new house design and permits in place, just starting the foundation work now. The nice thing about building new is we can get exactly what we want, even if not the absolute lowest cost way to get that end result. Big detached garage planned, lot is 2.5 acres; we like living more in the country and having space.

Current house in NM took about 2 months to get under contract, this area is not as hot of market as many areas of the country. That was the big concern for me, I can control most of the rest of the plans, but not able to know when house would sell. Closing set for June 29, but I am leasing back for month of July, so actual exit is approx 7 weeks away. What was tough for me is having lived in this house for 7.5 years, the value has not gone up at all in that time. So in addition to all the improvements we made, it is costing me approx $40K to get out. However I can't control the market, so my philosophy is cry once and move on. At least I have decent equity and still will walk out of the closing with a check. I'll be the one saying good riddance to the Land of Enchantment Entrapment. It's getting bad here, crime mostly, but the overall state is next to third world IMHO. Can't wait to get out, only reason here was for work.

Work-wise I have 25 days left, after holiday and vacation time. Aug 2 will be my last day. I find myself getting more excited about it and less motivated for work as it gets closer. I did tell my boss that I would be retiring this year, and would have better idea on a final date once house is sold. Now I have that, he was happy for me, although he will miss my work contributions. I even upped my part-time from three days/week to four days/week about 1.5 months ago. Trying to leave on best terms I can, no possibility for any severance, but that would just be extra that I don't need to count on.

Timing for new house occupancy is probably Oct-Nov, so we will be living in our motorhome, with three dogs and two cats, for a couple months. Good thing MH is a bigger one!

In between all this house sale, new house, and ending work, I have been making several trips back to Cincinnati to take vehicles and garage stuff. Lot of stuff with all my old hot rods, car parts, tools and some house stuff as well. Four trips in 3 months, with one more hauling trip in July. Then final one-way move east in Aug. Getting pretty used to I-40 at this point. Going to let house movers deal with packing and moving the house stuff, all my garage items has been a considerable effort already. Moving 12 vehicles and 1300 sq ft of shop is a lot of work.

I feel like this is the sprint to the end, but that end will be very nice to get there. My plan may not be the best recommended way to do things, but once settled in it will be worth the efforts and hassles. Then I can be an over-educated mechanic working on my hot rods, and do some nice trips in the motorhome.

[2017ish]

Boy, you are going to be busy post-retirement!

We are exiting just before you (last days in offices 7/28, but DW will have charting/labs to sign off on through end of 7/31, which is our "official" date). I thought we were overly booked, with 10 weeks of travel in the first three months; but you've got us beat!

congrats, and good luck!

[Blue Collar Guy]

I wish you the best. BTW with all my crying all the time on this forum, i am with you, cry and move on. Good medicine, enjoy the next chapter in your life.

[daylatedollarshort]

Enjoy your retirement and new home!

[FI_RElater]

Have a nice meal at Montgomery Inn , either the original or the boathouse on the river, to celebrate your retirement.



(When we retired, we went west just over 2000 miles, so I know what it can be like; although for us, we had purchased a house already built.... with a great view)

[braumeister]

Welcome.
Best part is access to Graeter's, the best ice cream in the world. Hope you enjoy this low COL and very livable area as much as we do.

[tps7742]

Congratulations on retirement and congrats on the new home.

[Bestwifeever]

I'm tired just reading this ! I love that your DW got to pick where to move to. Congratulations and get some rest now, you're going to need it

[Tom52]

Congratulations on upcoming retirement and best of luck on the new house and cross country move. That has to be tough with all your toys and tools. New house to your specs would be nice but, tell us more about the new detached shop. When we retired we moved to a different state but needed to build a new 24 x 36 detached garage for tools and toys in addition to the 2 car attached garage on the house.

[euro]

Congrats! Big changes!

[38Chevy454]

Thanks to all for the encouragement. The end is nearing

I am familiar with Montgomery Inn and Graeters, I lived in the area for around 10 years back 15-25 years ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom52 Congratulations on upcoming retirement and best of luck on the new house and cross country move. That has to be tough with all your toys and tools. New house to your specs would be nice but, tell us more about the new detached shop. When we retired we moved to a different state but needed to build a new 24 x 36 detached garage for tools and toys in addition to the 2 car attached garage on the house.

New detached garage is 50x70x16, so it is about 2x bigger sq ft than the house. It will match the house with brick and siding, and same shingles. Fully insulated and of course all concrete floor. The new house also has a 3 car attached garage. My current NM house has a 26x48x12 detached garage that I built, couple 2-car carports and a small shed. Now I can fit all of the stuff under one roof. One nice benefit for the new detached garage is being able to put my motorhome inside, part of the reason for the 50 ft depth and 16 ft height. Right now the MH has to stay outside at current house. I am doing some of the interior finishing work on the new detached garage to help save some money. That will keep me busy over winter.

Here is a funny related story, I was going to build 50x60 with a lean-to off one end for covered storage area. DW said she did not want to see stuff outside, so I made it 70 ft wide instead.

The new house does have several items that DW wants, so she is getting some extras. One big change on house is we added a big covered back patio, 20x27 with all concrete floor. Plus a lot of interior upgrades and finished basement area. It will be a nice house for us.

[Bikechuck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 One nice benefit for the new detached garage is being able to put my motorhome inside,

The spousal unit and I are considering the purchase of a motorhome and the ability to avoid paying for storage while keeping it protected from the elements is a huge plus and something that we do not have available to us in our current house.

What type of motorhome do you have and would you buy the same unit again?

[38Chevy454]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikechuck What type of motorhome do you have and would you buy the same unit again?

My motorhome is a class 8 truck conversion, made by Showhauler. It is 44 ft length. It is a Kenworth chassis, same as over-the-road truck; just with a long extended chassis. There is open between cab and the big box RV part. Best way is to just show a picture to help understand what it is:



Yes I would buy the same type again, maybe slightly smaller and only single axle rear in the future. But for now this one can tow anything I want, has nice room inside, and is made to higher quality level than typical RVs have. I bought used, mine is a 2005 and have owned this approx 3 years. No way I would buy new as they cost too much for my budget. That's one of my old hot rods, 52 GMC being flat-towed behind.

[38Chevy454]

Could not figure out how to edit the title from the initial post.

I am now retired as of Aug 2 per the plan. Left NM and now have arrived in new retirement location of Cincinnati. This week will be my first week of retirement, but will probably take me a month of not working to get into the mode of retirement. The last month was kind of a blur of activity with moving, wrapping everything up with the house, checking out of work and transitioning work stuff to others, and getting out of NM. Everyone at work was happy for me retiring, unhappy that I was really leaving. I don't think I will miss the work at all, but did have some nice friends at work or at the old house that I left behind.

[W2R]

Congratulations, 38Chevy454!!!

Yes, it is almost like your retirement has just started, because you have been so busy moving. But now you can unwind, relax, and start shedding all the stress that builds up over one's career in the working world. I think I shed most of the stress in the first month or two, but it was maybe a couple of years before it was all gone.

The first "rush" for me, was the full realization that I actually could do whatever I wanted to do all day long. Then I had to figure out what that was, for that day!

[Bamaman]

Congratulations to your making a long term life plan and sticking to it.

But I hate to correct you in that you're not retiring. You're just having a vocation change to a full time job that doesn't directly pay you monetarily.

It's wonderful that you have the talents to take on such a hobby. And to have a DW that wants your hobby "out of sight" is even better. That big shop should be incredible--once you finish the building to your needs.

You're a straight shot down I-75 into Knoxville and the Smokey Mountains. It's waiting for you in about 90 days for a leaf trip. I'm sure you'll be wanting to leave town about then--to rest up.

[Koolau]

Congrats on your retirement. Keep us posted on your progress.

[flintnational]

Congratulations. Well done.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Just came across this and wanted to say, "CONGRATS!!!"

It sure doesn't sound like you will be coming around here and complaining about being bored!