Anyone Planning to Move/Downsize Soon?

[Sunset]

We have talked briefly about moving, no real idea where to end up. In the meantime we are slowly de-cluttering by throwing out books that are no use, and will never be read again.
These are text books so only about 10/wk can go in the recycle bins due to weight.
I'm also conscious to not buy more stuff !!
I am the bit of a packrat, so its emotionally hard to part with stuff however having the goal of getting rid of stuff so we can move to a warmer, lower tax state is a lot of motivation.

[freebird5825]

Every February, I plan to move.

But then Spring happens, and there are no floods or hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires or droughts or drive-by shootings or street gangs or traffic jams or fire ants or rattlesnakes or alligators or...did I miss anything ?

...and I decide to stay put in upstate NY, just east of the middle of Nowhere. It truly is beautiful up here. Fresh air, open spaces, nice slow pace of life.

I may change my mind someday. But not this year.

[Accidental Retiree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Every February, I plan to move. But then Spring happens, and there are no floods or hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires or droughts or drive-by shootings or street gangs or traffic jams or fire ants or rattlesnakes or alligators or...did I miss anything ? :

Yes'm. Earthquakes.

[Marita40]

Lagniappe, where are you planning to move? Apartment or single family home?
If I weren't a committed St. Paul-ite I'd come look at your downtown Mpls condo!
I had an initial meeting with my realtor yesterday. . .first step taken.

[Lagniappe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 Lagniappe, where are you planning to move? Apartment or single family home? If I weren't a committed St. Paul-ite I'd come look at your downtown Mpls condo! I had an initial meeting with my realtor yesterday. . .first step taken.

Based on today's weather, I'm thinking Florida!

I am definitely a condo kind of person - considering renting an apartment/ condo after reading several accounts of the ease of apartment life (Alan on this site and JimCollinsNH). I probably should have rented when I moved last time, but old habits...

[LitGal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Every February, I plan to move. But then Spring happens, and there are no floods or hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires or droughts or drive-by shootings or street gangs or traffic jams or fire ants or rattlesnakes or alligators or...did I miss anything ? ...and I decide to stay put in upstate NY, just east of the middle of Nowhere. It truly is beautiful up here. Fresh air, open spaces, nice slow pace of life. I may change my mind someday. But not this year.

+1 though DH and I did this throughout the years we lived in the land of floods, wildfires, earthquakes, drive-bys, street gangs, traffic jams, etc.

Then we made our escape to Ohio. Yup, you're right!. I'll stay here for sure.....though it was -6 yesterday, the views out the window are gorgeous and, with ER, I don't have to go out unless I want to!

Plus DS and his wife live nearby and hope to start a family. Just too many good reasons to stay!

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karen1972 Put my house on the market Jan 10th expecting to close by April..sold in 24 hours and need to be out by Feb 24th.. can't pass up an all cash no contingency offer.

That happened to my brother and SIL! They ended up spending 6 months in a condo and finally moved into their dream home on a lake in the Carolinas this month. Their furniture arrived last weekend. DH and I are planning to put the house on the market as soon as we get the pool opened (likely late April) and I know we need to be prepared jut in case there's a quick sale.

[Fermion]

We will be downsizing this year from a 5500 sq-ft house with a 2500 sq-ft garage into a 120 sq-ft RV with a 80 sq-ft garage.

[38Chevy454]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion We will be downsizing this year from a 5500 sq-ft house with a 2500 sq-ft garage into a 120 sq-ft RV with a 80 sq-ft garage.

You win the most percentage downsizing award!

My earliest potential moving would be about 1.5 years, and I should take the advice of many to do some decluttering and getting rid of stuff in preparation for that.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset We have talked briefly about moving, no real idea where to end up. In the meantime we are slowly de-cluttering by throwing out books that are no use, and will never be read again. These are text books so only about 10/wk can go in the recycle bins due to weight. I'm also conscious to not buy more stuff !! I am the bit of a packrat, so its emotionally hard to part with stuff however having the goal of getting rid of stuff so we can move to a warmer, lower tax state is a lot of motivation.

I can see how it is hard to change from packrat to declutterer. My GF is bad about this and knows it. She even bought a book about how to declutter and it too has just become part of the clutter. I get a bit nervous thinking about when she moves in down the road. Every month I pull a couple of trash bags out of the drawer and don't stop throwing stuff away until they are both full.
If I could just tie her up to a chair and go in her house, in 3 hours I could put a big dent in the declutter process but she would probably have a nervous breakdown watching the process.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Fermion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 You win the most percentage downsizing award! My earliest potential moving would be about 1.5 years, and I should take the advice of many to do some decluttering and getting rid of stuff in preparation for that.

I have made zero progress decluttering (actually have added a few things during our RV build process).

I think I will just rent a backhoe and shovel all of our house possessions out to the street and put a free sign on it.

[imoldernu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Every February, I plan to move. But then Spring happens, and there are no floods or hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires or droughts or drive-by shootings or street gangs or traffic jams or fire ants or rattlesnakes or alligators or...did I miss anything ? ...and I decide to stay put in upstate NY, just east of the middle of Nowhere. It truly is beautiful up here. Fresh air, open spaces, nice slow pace of life. I may change my mind someday. But not this year.

You are living my dream from 1982... when we came this >< close to buying the "Northern Borne" grocery store on Rte 30 where it crosses Long Lake... (Across from the Adirondack Hotel)...
Used to do the Old Forge to Tupper canoe route. Happy days...

At our age, now, our CCRC home is a bit more practical, but those dreams don't die easily.
......................................

Re: moving/downsizing... not a big deal any more. Moving to the apartments, no big deal. Will sell as-is... let the next owner or the kids worry about the clean up... If it costs $5 or 6,000 ... cheap at twice the price.

[GravitySucks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Every February, I plan to move. But then Spring happens, and there are no floods or hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires or droughts or drive-by shootings or street gangs or traffic jams or fire ants or rattlesnakes or alligators or...did I miss anything ? ...and I decide to stay put in upstate NY, just east of the middle of Nowhere. It truly is beautiful up here. Fresh air, open spaces, nice slow pace of life. I may change my mind someday. But not this year.

Taxes.

I thought I would have moved by now as my property taxes are the largest item in my budget, but the de-cluttering is going very slow and then there is all the other decisions I can't seem to make.

[razztazz]

Quote:

..and I decide to stay put in upstate NY, just east of the middle of Nowhere. It truly is beautiful up here. Fresh air, open spaces, nice slow pace of life.

I used to live in the Syracuse/Utica Central NY area for several years. I still tell people "When you die and go to Heaven, it'll be just like a Summer's day in upstate New York"

[powerplay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion I have made zero progress decluttering (actually have added a few things during our RV build process). I think I will just rent a backhoe and shovel all of our house possessions out to the street and put a free sign on it.

This is going to require a video posted to this site. I think it would be an educational experience for those who procrastinate on clearing out the no longer used things in their homes (that includes me).

[freebird5825]

ah yes, taxes and earthquakes...

I live just north of the Mohawk Valley, about 1 hour drive from Old Forge (Adirondack State Park). Yes it gets cold here, but being born in a four season climate, I guess I'm used to it.

My gardening buddy and I already have a short list of places we want to visit this summer, day trip type things. Most are nature related, some are horticulture related. Mr B is up to his eyeballs with Legion treasurer duties and continued tax accountant studies, so he told me to go and have fun. He likes the idea that I will not be alone on my day adventures, in the company of a trusted gentleman.

I've done my traveling to distant places in younger years. I'm doing more local adventuring right here, east of the middle of Nowhere. Less advance planning, less expensive, no airports to deal with, just the wide open road and enough gas in the tank to get there and back.

There so many lakes and state parks in upstate NY, it would take a lifetime to visit them all. Boat rides or fishing charters are easily found at very low cost on most of the lakes. My buddy fishes, but I'll just go along for the scenery. Plus I have my own boat on a small lake.

Come on, Spring !

[LinCella]

I've been trying to move ever since retirement day. I'm on a waiting list for a co-op townhouse in a college town. But the wait is now almost two years. Still, I will be upsizing. I've lived in a very small one bedroom with just one closet for the whole place and no laundry for over 20 years. The co-op will be less a month than this little place and it will be 3 bedrooms, two bath. Its not large, actually, by today's standards, less than 1200 sq. feet, but I will finally have some room for me, my dog and two cats and all my projects that end up making my place look like a hovel.

[HFWR]

I am contemplating a move at some point, not to downsize, but to eliminate yard work and such.

Problem is, my PITI is $703/mo. I can't find an apartment for that, at least not one I want to live in, and most of the condos and townhomes in this area are way more expensive that my 3/2/2 "ranch".

So, I would be trading relatively low fixed costs but unknown variable costs - new roof, new a/c, broken pipes, foundation problems - for non-inflation protected rent payments or a larger mortgage, but not many variable costs.

Decisions decisions...

[fancy free]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparkee We're starting the slow process (could be we need to do this in the spring, possibly another few years) of downsizing. I found the following book an interesting approach: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing - Kindle edition by Marie Kondo. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

I was logging in just to recommend this book!

It makes the decluttering process so much easier — the things I thought I would struggle most with (books and family photos/mementos) especially. I really would call it both magical and life-changing! I then bought the book for a friend who’s a bit of a hoarder and she said it changed her life.

We aren’t downsizing to a smaller home any time soon but I very much wanted to downsize what was inside it — and this book really helped us do that. Quickly, too!

[ChaseIt]

We've been working on a plan to downsize and relo since I RE'd end of 2013. The de-cluttering effort has turned into a much larger project than expected, but at least it's a process with an end in sight. Only thing slowing me down there is my new found laziness developed after RE.

The real dilemma is we can't come close to selecting our next location. First it was move east a bit to the Smokey Mtns, then it was SW Florida, maybe back to Texas, then it was the front range in Colorado, and then back to a smaller spread in middle Tennessee.


Since we're about to get the place on the market in mid-March, we'll need to make a decision soon. The fallback plan is to make a temporary move to a home my DW inherited recently in Southern Indiana. Not on any of our many and ever changing short lists, but may have to do until we can decide.

Anybody struggle with this before? Seems like a couple grown adults would be able to make an intelligent decision without all the heartache!