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Old 10-31-2016, 07:33 AM   #1
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Full Timing

My wife and I are retired and now ready, we think, to go full-timing but are hesitant to give up our home and belongings. It's not that we have to financially sell it, but that "security blanket" is hard to get rid of. We just want to see the country without worrying about leaving our home for extended periods nor do we want to be landlords. We're both in our 60's, in good to excellent health and enjoy camping and our natural environment. We're also willing to volunteer or work for travel expenses (Workamping) if necessary. If you've done it, how did you get the will power to "take the leap"?! Realistically, my wife is more excited about this than I am!
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Old 10-31-2016, 08:11 AM   #2
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Close down the house and go! Start easy, maybe a month. Find some volunteer positions, go spend a month and see,how you like it. Full timing is definitely not for everyone. Many like you simply cannot give up their STUFF! If you do decide on long or full time and choose to dump the house, storage is always an option, expensive, but an option.
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Old 11-01-2016, 08:56 AM   #3
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We travel for work. In such we full time bit we have to keep our house for tax purposes. Luckily we haven't had any issues leaving it. I got good neighbors and pay a guy to maintain the yard. Also have an alarm system that allows me monitor everything via cell phone or computer. I just cut all breakers off except the internet modem and some random lights that I randomly turn on an off with the alarm. I also leave A/C system on. In summer I set it at 85 and 50 in the winter. Total monthly cost is including lawn care is about 100.00. So, I guess my advice is give it try. Do some small or shorter trips and see how you like it. You may find you don't miss the house. I know I don't. But we have to keep it or Uncle Sam takes a very large chunk of or fruit. The alarm system for me is what makes it easier. I use the system from Lowe's which is IRIS.
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Old 11-01-2016, 09:22 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by gfarmcafe View Post
My wife and I are retired and now ready, we think, to go full-timing but are hesitant to give up our home and belongings. It's not that we have to financially sell it, but that "security blanket" is hard to get rid of. We just want to see the country without worrying about leaving our home for extended periods nor do we want to be landlords. We're both in our 60's, in good to excellent health and enjoy camping and our natural environment. We're also willing to volunteer or work for travel expenses (Workamping) if necessary. If you've done it, how did you get the will power to "take the leap"?! Realistically, my wife is more excited about this than I am!
We are also in our sixties and had the same thoughts about leaving our house for long periods, so we sold it and moved into a small condo - which necessitated downsizing our "stuff". The great thing about the condo was that we could stay gone for six months and had no exterior maintenance concerns. A year and a half later, we re-assessed our situation and determined that it no longer made sense to pay for the condo while we were on the road and paying to store the rig when we were home. At that point we made our plan to go full time by getting the 3500 diesel dually and upgrading the rig to our CC 38FL. That was three years ago and we never looked back......Good luck to you
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Old 11-01-2016, 09:49 AM   #5
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Full Timing

All very good ideas and opinions. So far, we're going south for a month this winter, so we'll see out it goes before we take the plunge. Most of our family and friends think we're nuts, but we've been "free spirits" most of our lives, so that's nothing new to them.
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Old 11-01-2016, 10:15 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by gfarmcafe View Post
My wife and I are retired and now ready, we think, to go full-timing but are hesitant to give up our home and belongings. It's not that we have to financially sell it, but that "security blanket" is hard to get rid of. We just want to see the country without worrying about leaving our home for extended periods nor do we want to be landlords. We're both in our 60's, in good to excellent health and enjoy camping and our natural environment. We're also willing to volunteer or work for travel expenses (Workamping) if necessary. If you've done it, how did you get the will power to "take the leap"?! Realistically, my wife is more excited about this than I am!
Just.Do.It. (Yeah I know easier said than done!)

We developed "the plan" about 2 years ago and started moving forward from there. We still had our son and daughter living with us and attending college, so it was all "in the future." Then, this spring, "it" happened.

Son graduated college with a BSRN and got a job as a Critical Care Nurse at the Medical Center, moved out and has his own place now.

This prompted the daughter (who was making good money as a Manager while still attending University fulltime) to jump ship as well. So, all of a sudden in early May, we were Empty Nesters!

We were still on track with the Coach purchase in July, and then, one Saturday in June as we were spending most of our weekend "Serving the House" doing yard work, we looked at each other and said Enough!

The timeline collapsed, the relator called, the estate agent engaged and, come 12 July - one week after taking delivery of the Coach, we had packed the real "treasures" of our 36 years of marriage into the spare bedroom at our daughter's apartment, held the estate sale, and put the house on the market.

Instant transition: Homeowner to Fulltimer in less than 2 months and @ a year ahead of our planned schedule. Honestly, we drove away from the house in the coach - Jeep in tow - with no regrets, and only the excitement of adventure and a new chapter in our lives.

We still work - until DEC 2017, so we are currently "Camped" at the FAMCAMP on the Army installation where we work. It's great - a 2 mile "Commute" to work, we live in the ultimate 'gated' community (HEH armed guards are a plus ) at night we can sit around the camp and watch the moon rise, have a campfire, and just enjoy life. Every other weekend or so the kids come over for a BBQ and most weeks we hook up with them for dinner or a Brunch on Saturday morning.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Weekends are spent on the golf course, at movies or on bike rides NOT "Serving the House" doing yard work!!

What's wrong with this picture? Nothing! in fact, ever since "the move" we have found out some things:
  1. We are closer than we were in that 4,00SF house! Instead of going to our respective "dens" after dinner, we play games, watch TV, talk, take walks.
  2. We are closer to our son and daughter. Now that we are not bumping in to them every day, time spent together is time well spent: gone are the days where dinner was spent in silence with the kids noses in their iPhones; conversation has returned and not once in the past months have the iPhones come out at dinnertime!
The last piece in the puzzle will fall into place on 26 DEC 2017 when we will be retired, have celebrated the holidays with our son and daughter, and will pick up stakes and head to Key West for the winter. Life is good!

Here's to you two taking the "plunge" and joining the Fulltime community!

For more info on Fulltiming, check out the Escapees [www.escapees.com]

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM us!
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Old 11-04-2016, 07:22 PM   #7
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Call the police

Contact your local police department. They usually have an officer or 2 who are looking for a place to stay for a while and be a caretaker for your property.
I'm a PO and a good friend of mine did just that. He would stay at a house for 6 months to a year while the homeowner was away. He would take care of the property, pay the utilities and make any necessary repairs, within reason. When the homeowner was scheduled to return home, he would move out his personal belongings and make sure the house was clean and ready for the homeowner. He did this for several years, and stayed at the same house twice in about 5 years. The homeowner got a sense of security about their property and my friend got a rent free place to stay.
He took a job with the FBI and moved away, but it worked well for him and the homeowners for a while.
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Old 11-08-2016, 06:57 AM   #8
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Thank You for all your comments and ideas. The same point keeps coming up that we should just "do it" and enjoy our retirement the way we want to do. Thank You!!
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Old 11-09-2016, 01:22 PM   #9
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We jumped into full timing this summer, and have no regrets. Sold the house, passed onto the children what we wanted them to have and items they wanted, and sent the rest to Goodwill
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Old 11-09-2016, 01:24 PM   #10
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Continuing.....we are newly retired and loving this lifestyle. Selling and emptying the house was the best gift we could give our children, as they will not have to deal with it when we become angels.
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Old 11-09-2016, 01:44 PM   #11
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Continuing.....we are newly retired and loving this lifestyle. Selling and emptying the house was the best gift we could give our children, as they will not have to deal with it when we become angels.
X2!

We let our son and daughter have any and everything they wanted (aside from the 'treasures' we want to keep for us in the event we get a RV-Port or decide on an apartment in the future. These 'treasures' fit inside a 10x14' storage room - or in our case, a spare bedroom we are renting from our Daughter
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Old 11-09-2016, 01:48 PM   #12
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Contact your local police department. They usually have an officer or 2 who are looking for a place to stay for a while and be a caretaker for your property.
I'm a PO and a good friend of mine did just that. He would stay at a house for 6 months to a year while the homeowner was away. He would take care of the property, pay the utilities and make any necessary repairs, within reason. When the homeowner was scheduled to return home, he would move out his personal belongings and make sure the house was clean and ready for the homeowner. He did this for several years, and stayed at the same house twice in about 5 years. The homeowner got a sense of security about their property and my friend got a rent free place to stay.
He took a job with the FBI and moved away, but it worked well for him and the homeowners for a while.
I wouldn't do that. Cops are no different than anyone else..Some are neat and responsible...some aren't. If you are going to rent it out I would use a reputable rental management company. They will screen the tenants, make the necessary repairs and manage the property.
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Old 11-09-2016, 02:00 PM   #13
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As said it's not for everyone and I for one will do camping when I can, but If you have talked about it and tend to agree then do it and do not ponder. I've always use the phrase he who hesitates looses. So when something comes along I do it. Don't loose a chance to something you have dreamed or thought about. Many adventures await you. Later RJD
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