38Chevy454
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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.
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.
! I love that your DW got to pick where to move to. Congratulations and get some rest now, you're going to need it 
