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Old 05-02-2016, 01:33 PM
 
3,925 posts, read 4,109,062 times
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You have to determine how much you want to do it. If I told you all the obstacles that we had to climb over or blast out of the way between 2007 and 2011 when we actually did it, you would have wondered how we pulled it off. Part of it was that we were under the gun.

We bought the house in 2008, and had to rent it for three years. Those years were fragile dangerous years where we could ave lost our shirt if something serious went wrong with the house we bought and we had no renter. We also had to renovate the entire other house from top to bottom ourselves since we could NOT afford to pay a contractor $40,000. We did it ourselves for about 12,000, including the money we did have to pay for a new roof, and a new well system. The last year before we put it on the market we worked all day, and then worked all evenings and all weekends. I put in a complete new bathroom and washroom downstairs myself, moving plumbing and installing electricity. The entire house was painted, and new flooring was put in every room but one, I renovated the whole kitchen except for the counter with new appliances too. I put in a whole bedroom with a whole wall closet and big bi opening door, as well as a 10 x 40 foot deck in the back. When we were done the house was brand new.

But we were under the gun. And through all this we had to see another property too in the middle of the loan crises. We had road block after road block. Just as we were about to put it on the market we had a month of continuous raid every day, and the half wall concrete block in the basement of the bi-level leaked water for the first time in 25 years. It destroyed the whole paneling in half the basement, and we had to rip it all off, fix the down spouts outside to drain all possible water away from the house, drylock the concrete block, and re-do half of the entire basement for another $700.

And then there were the issues with the renters here in Maine. You have to want it bad. If you don;t want it BAD, you'll never get here. It doesn't sound like you want it bad enough.

I did it when I was 62. With all the packing, and the moving van, etc, I doubt that I could do it now at age 67. I know that if we'd waited until i was 70. it would not have happened.

But we both wanted it BAD.
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Old 05-03-2016, 06:15 AM
 
600 posts, read 606,972 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OpinionExperience View Post
Make the commitment with yourself. Pick a realistic date to list the house, like next spring. You will have time to go through all your belongings and interview Realtors. Also time to do the needed repairs to make it more sellable. Don't go overboard though just neaten things up to give it the curb appeal.

Start looking for a place to stay in Maine. If you are completely sure where you want to go for your final move you can buy something. If not 100% sure, rent for a year until the dust settles and you feel comfortable.

Have a house contents sale. Put a post-it with a price or Not For Sale on everything and put all your personal belongings in one room. Call a few consignment shops to get some prices for there sale tactics.
Thank you, OpinionExperience! Very helpful suggestions. My plan is to reduce my belongings as much as possible, put essential furniture etc in storage, and rent a room in a private home in the Brunswick/Bath area. I want to either buy or build a very small house around 800 square feet.
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Old 05-03-2016, 06:31 AM
 
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Originally Posted by seasallyttle View Post
So, the question is, how do you want to spend that time? Slowly fixing up your house, hoping for another 20k in profit - or moving on and spending your time the way you want to. . . ."You either get busy living or get busy dying"
You hit the nail on the head. Each year is precious now because the center of my life is outdoor activities that take health and strength. I've already given up too many years of relative youth (my 50s) to maintaining my house. You're right: If I gain another $10,000 for each year I spend fixing up my house, that's not a good trade-off, $10,000 for a year of my life not spent doing what I really want to do. Thank you very much for these reminders!
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Old 05-03-2016, 06:39 AM
 
600 posts, read 606,972 times
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Originally Posted by TPBodine View Post
Sometimes getting the most incremental value out of your house means selling at the right time. You can fix up your house all you want, but if you keep delaying and delaying hoping to squeeze every last drop of value, mortgage rates might finally start rising, which will effectively price more and more people out of the asking price you're hoping for. You can't count on historically low interest rates forever or even a relatively stable economy to support the housing market. Slap some paint on the house, finish up a few weekend projects, and get it on the market. The sooner you do, the sooner you get to Maine.
More very good points. Thank you so much to everyone who has responded. These insights are very helpful. It's not that I didn't realize all these things, but hearing them confirmed by experienced people is a very good reminder of what's at stake and what the outcome of further procrastination is likely to be, like rising interest rates.
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Old 05-03-2016, 07:41 AM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
30,340 posts, read 16,077,668 times
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Originally Posted by Last1Standing View Post
When I had realtors look at the house in the past they seemed to be mostly interested in getting the house on the market quickly and making the sale. That serves their interest. But my interest is to maximize the sale price because each $10,000 would mean a lot to me. Last year I renovated (not remodeled) a bedroom and I'm pretty sure that that did in fact add $10,000, so it was worth it. Some of the repairs aren't major but they're cosmetically important, like replacing the kitchen tiles, painting, and so on.
Of course that's what they want. And they're probably assuming that's what you want too.


Is your priority fixing up the house for money or moving to Maine for your life? Your call.
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Old 05-03-2016, 08:09 AM
 
Location: New Jersey
1,940 posts, read 1,020,020 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Last1Standing View Post
More very good points. Thank you so much to everyone who has responded. These insights are very helpful. It's not that I didn't realize all these things, but hearing them confirmed by experienced people is a very good reminder of what's at stake and what the outcome of further procrastination is likely to be, like rising interest rates.
Glad I could help! Yes, interest rates will begin rising and affect housing values and affordability eventually. You have done your research, get excited! I have a few friends in Brunswick it is a nice area.

Heating is the biggest expense in a cold climate. "Built tight and vent right" is the rule of thumb. Moisture problems arise from improper venting. When you build or buy a home make sure "ALL" appliances are properly vented to the outside, stove hoods, bathroom fans, dryers, furnace/boiler, hot water heater, etc. In a very tight house I install a continuous running bathroom fan that can be turned up during a shower. Air to Air heat exchangers are too costly and difficult to install in a finished house. They also use an air duct distribution system that can accumulate dust and mold and circulate it throughout the house over time. In new homes I install a whole house exhaust only system with a remote fan where applicable

There are a lot of people that read these forums more than post and are likely in the same situation as yourself. So there is no question that is not worth asking, reaching out in a time of need.

I am happy for you, if you do not like where you are at, change it! Go for it and have fun doing it!
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Old 05-03-2016, 08:27 AM
 
Location: Backwoods of Maine
7,487 posts, read 10,454,753 times
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Once I retired (3-1/2 years ago), the decision we had made to move to Maine started to take shape.

We'd lived in RI all of our lives. But I had roots in Maine since childhood. The very next summer, I was up here with my BIL and one of our daughters' husbands, and we built a 1120 sf ranch. Note, we did not 'have it built'; we built it. I was age 65/66 at the time, and my BIL was 69.

The following spring, we moved in. I allowed my wife the task of 'down-sizing' stuff while I was up here, building. You just can't have too 'precious' an attitude about "stuff". It doesn't make your life.

We just didn't waste any time. Our former home in RI was given to one of our daughters, and an equivalent amount of stock was given to the other one. Thus, we got the majority if the inheritances out of the way also, at a point in their lives when they could really use it.

Amazing how much you can get done, once you really make up your mind!
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Old 05-03-2016, 11:01 AM
 
600 posts, read 606,972 times
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Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah View Post
I allowed my wife the task of 'down-sizing' stuff while I was up here, building. Amazing how much you can get done, once you really make up your mind!
As a single person still working to support myself, things take quite a bit longer. Anyone else made this move on your own in your sixties??
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Old 05-03-2016, 02:11 PM
 
Location: Bath, Maine
89 posts, read 112,171 times
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This has been a very helpful thread. I've just turned 60 and my husband is 57. We're hoping to be up soon to house hunt but are trying to decide when to put our house on the market. I now think we'll do it sooner rather than waiting until next year. We were going to try to hold on to the house here for another year but go ahead and buy up there, and come back to finsh some projects over the winter. But now I think we should move quickly and put this one on the market later this summer. That is if I can get my pack rat husband to clean out his office/man-cave/basement!!
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Old 05-03-2016, 04:28 PM
 
3,925 posts, read 4,109,062 times
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Originally Posted by dogsandart View Post
That is if I can get my pack rat husband to clean out his office/man-cave/basement!!
It might work if your husband is only a pack rat and doesn't have hoarder's disease. My B-in-L has the disease. I found a bottle of pills on his refrigerator 3 weeks ago. In the past 17 years he's had 2 refrigerators, so it was moved from the old refrigerator. It said: "discard after 12-20-1999". I went to him and said "Dude, you really need to throw this away." He got this really constrained and difficult look on his face and said, "Yeah.... I guess... we ..... should throw a lot of things away." I said, "I'll throw it away for you." He said, with a clearly agitated quiver in his voice, "Nooooo.....it has to be taken.....to a special place." I said not a problem. He said, now with this extremely spacey and out of it look, "NNnnnooooo, nnnnot nnnow. We have to have a whole bunch of pills to take it there. Later..... We'll do it later.... yeah....later. Give it to me. I'll take care of it."

The next day it was back on top of the refrigerator in exactly, to the inch, of the place where I found it.

I realized then that he was unable to throw anything away---ever, not later.
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