Diary of a Transplant (San Diego to Asheville/Hendersonville/Brevard) (Wilson: townhouses, college)

[mm34b]

Originally Posted by the Parkies

Downtown Asheville is only about 15 minutes from downtown Brevard.

It should be around 45 minutes.

[the Parkies]

Gosh... sorry... I meant to say that downtown Asheville is only about 15 minutes from downtown BLACK MOUNTAIN!! I was trying to say that Black Mountain to Asheville involves quite a bit less driving than Black Mountain to Asheville Racquet Club!

Thanks, mm34b, for helping me to clarify.

[marian2005]

Originally Posted by the Parkies

Hi, everyone!

We’ve been here 69 days now, and it’s time to close out this diary. We have only just begun learning about this region—learning will go on forever—but we are no longer “transplants.” We feel “rooted.” We live here now. It has been an exciting transition from San Diego, full of surprises!

We have rebuilt our lives here in the image of what they were—not a mirror image—we wouldn’t want that—but we now have here the best of what we had in CA—and much more!

We have been thrilled with the awesome beauty of the mountains and the treasure of wildlife. We’ve always had to pitch a tent in a place like Yosemite to live among critters. Today there were four squirrels (one white), a chipmunk, and numerous birds sharing a 20'x25’ space outside our office and dining room. Raccoons come at night and bare the corn cob; squirrels munch on it by day.

I could not have guessed: I’ll start teaching hammered dulcimer in a few weeks; students have already signed up, and a Black Mountain music store has generously opened its arms to them and me. I’ll also be participating in Asheville’s January “Wedding Festival” (a bridal show) and have already found excellent and highly enthusiastic musicians to perform with me for weddings and parties. Today I joined an Early Music ensemble composed of 11 other people from which sub-groups volunteer to perform for schools and seniors and other places where the need is great and the budget small. This ensemble, which rehearses in Brevard (home of the White Squirrel Festival), performed for the first time in public last week; it can only grow busier and better. Bill thoroughly enjoys all of this musical activity with me; we are blessed to be so compatible.

To our surprise, we have already made many more friends and acquaintances here than we (reluctantly!) left in CA. We have renewed and deepened wonderful family ties in PA. We have participated in more church activities than ever before in our lives—including (so far) Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist—LOL!! We have admired and embraced the ecumenical spirit of the Hendersonville community.

While we continue to tend our house in San Diego (new carpet went down today), it is no longer the priority it was; it will sell when someone buys it. It no longer drives us or spoils our peace of mind.

Our experiences here—the helpful, friendly people!!—have actually helped us to define our retirement lifestyle: (1) embracing ourselves (self-growth including the life of the spirit, self-care including medical care, self-entertainment including drama, concerts, movies, galleries)… (2) embracing others (developing and nurturing relationships, volunteering where needed, helping the church in its outreach programs)… and (3) embracing a part-time business enterprise (live music for special events). If we can balance those three compartments of our lives, we believe that our lives in retirement will always be full, productive, meaningful, and happy. We thank God for these opportunities!!

As I said when I opened this thread, “One’s vision of a new place to live will almost certainly not match the reality, no matter the amount of prior research or number of prior visits (in our case tons of both). The reality may be better; it may be worse; it may be some of both; but it probably will be different from the long-held vision.” This prediction certainly continues to hold true for us!

We believe that “transplants,” present and future, will thrive in this soil if they will only open the petals and let the sunshine in! If we only reach out, someone—around here, lots of people—will reach back!

After 16 years, our new home was well worth waiting for!! We wish you all the same peace and joy that we have found!!!

This concludes this “Diary of a Transplant.” THANK YOU for listening and for offering all of your wonderful comments. Many of you have become part of our new circle of friends, and we hope to have coffee with you very soon!!!

God bless you, every one!

Jan & Bill

HI

Have enjoyed your chronicle so much. Please continue, as John has suggested.

Also wondering, when you say tending to your house in San Diego, do you have a realtor taking care of these things at a distance? Or a friend checking on the place? Renting it out? Just wondering about logistics and mechanics of doing all this long distance. Az is almost as far.

[the Parkies]

Originally Posted by marian2005

HI

Have enjoyed your chronicle so much. Please continue, as John has suggested.

Also wondering, when you say tending to your house in San Diego, do you have a realtor taking care of these things at a distance? Or a friend checking on the place? Renting it out? Just wondering about logistics and mechanics of doing all this long distance. Az is almost as far.

Thank you, Marian! We have a couple of gardeners (a team of brothers) stopping by once a week for an hour to keep the property up and turn on the sprinkler systems. If there's a big job that takes more time than that hour allows, they let us know and we negotiate that job separately. That has worked out very well for more than two months now.

Our realtor and her husband happen to live in the house next door, eight feet away, and have been close friends for many years. They have stayed in touch with us every few days about everything related to our house and have provided access to painters, carpet-layers, and repair crews. (Realtors use a lock-box.) They have even communicated with the gardeners, telling them, for example, not to water today because the staircase paint's not dry enough.

Granted, not everyone trying to sell a house is as lucky as we are in this special relationship we have with our realtor. But long-distance house tending can still be done, simply by hiring a property manager to tend to things. For the long term, that is exactly what we may soon be doing. Read on:

We will be working up a lease-purchase option soon to offer to an interested couple or two. If that doesn't pan out, we will rent our house for a year or so, then put it back on the market again. In a rental situation, we will pay our realtor-friends as property managers to find and screen the renter, negotiate the contract, collect the rent, and manage our property on an ongoing basis. That's what property managers do!

I don't know the fee for management services, but it's taken out of the rental income. We will also have to pay income tax on rental proceeds. Insurance may be higher if there are renters. And we'll still have to maintain the house and hire the gardeners. We'd still come out way ahead of just letting the house sit there vacant.)

Hope that helps.

Jan

[a2zmom]

Jan, I have a friend in San Jose who is reluctantly going to rent out her townhouse (she's moving to New Mexico) because of that reason...she doesn't want it to sit empty and the rent will help her pay the mortgage on it.

[the Parkies]

Exactly. I suspect we're ALL reluctant to rent, but at some point it's the only reasonable option. Just hope we don't get a glut of rental properties across the USA so that we can't even rent what we can't sell!

[marian2005]

Hi Jan,

Thanks for the input. It is mind boggling think of moving from AZ to NC and getting everything done in the best way. I have been watching FJ's comments for sure.

[Xenah]

Originally Posted by Father John

God Bless you, Jan! Please start a new thread "Life of the new North Carolinians" and keep telling us about your great adventures! You are an inspiration to us all and we are so very grateful!

Hi Jan,
I've been away for a couple of weeks and just read of your intent to end the Diary. It has been a delight to share these months with you. I will suffer serious withdrawal if you don't continue to write about the place I hope to some day call home.

Please consider Father John's suggestion to start a new thread. I look forward to the continuing adventures of Jan and Bill, Father John, Loves Mountains, mm34b, Live Love Laugh, a2zmom and of all the others.

I thank you all!
-Xenah

[2kate]

Originally Posted by the Parkies

Gosh... sorry... I meant to say that downtown Asheville is only about 15 minutes from downtown BLACK MOUNTAIN!! I was trying to say that Black Mountain to Asheville involves quite a bit less driving than Black Mountain to Asheville Racquet Club!

Thanks, mm34b, for helping me to clarify.

Hello to the Parkies & Happy Holidays to all! Thank you so much for the info about the settings etc- I haven't been on this site for a while & haven't totally figured it out mechanically. I'm just in the in between uncomfortable spot of still living in the "current life" in the house that's not sold yet & wanting to explore & imagine the "new life" & all the possibilities of a new place. What did people ever do before google?

[the Parkies]

Originally Posted by 2kate

Hello to the Parkies & Happy Holidays to all! Thank you so much for the info about the settings etc- I haven't been on this site for a while & haven't totally figured it out mechanically. I'm just in the in between uncomfortable spot of still living in the "current life" in the house that's not sold yet & wanting to explore & imagine the "new life" & all the possibilities of a new place. What did people ever do before google?

Just found your post, 2kate, and you're very welcome. I'm too new in NC to be able to answer many questions but am glad to help when I can.

Let's hope this is THE YEAR for all of us trying to sell houses. Meanwhile we'll give thanks for the great gift of imagination!

Jan