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We are having one heck of a time trying to find the perfect retirement home -we are picky-very picky. We have made numerous trips to TN looking at houses after finding them online -and have come close but no cigar. It's always something!
Does it make any sense that we should just find something "temporarily" that suits us but isn't the "dream home" just so we can get our stuff out of our home in NJ and get it sold?
Then while in our interim/temporary house we will be closer to the area and not have to make numerous long house hunting trips.
We may even build so we would be close enough to keep an eye on construction.
Does that make any sense? I know we could rent but my husband was a builder and is always remodeling stuff so I think buying would be better for us- we would probably even make money on the deal.
How did you go about finding your retirement home if it was several states away?
We're in a similar situation. My spouse is always chasing "the perfect" piece of land in his home state - and where I lived for over 15 years..... we haven't found it yet.
And he thinks we'll build a home that we will stay in - until he leaves - feet first.... but I know him better.
He moved as a kid - every three years - because his mother was unhappy about one thing or another with their home. He inherited that gene.
So I say never say never.
HOWEVER, that said - heed what everyone said about renting before buying.
Once we find that plot of land - we will either rent an apartment or an RV to be closeby to the build. Heck - we might even camp out with the relatives if they'll let us stay in their back yards
I suspect that the house will get built and we'll live there happyily - for perhaps 15 or 20 years....but then decisions will need to be made for the next transition.
Life is what happens to you when you're making plans.
Clean out your house, put it up for sale and give an attorney POA for sale only, have contents moved to storage unit near where you will be living, rent/buy either trailer, used 5th wheel or RV, move it onto the property where you are building.
We are having one heck of a time trying to find the perfect retirement home -we are picky-very picky. We have made numerous trips to TN looking at houses after finding them online -and have come close but no cigar. It's always something!
Does it make any sense that we should just find something "temporarily" that suits us but isn't the "dream home" just so we can get our stuff out of our home in NJ and get it sold?
Then while in our interim/temporary house we will be closer to the area and not have to make numerous long house hunting trips.
We may even build so we would be close enough to keep an eye on construction.
Does that make any sense? I know we could rent but my husband was a builder and is always remodeling stuff so I think buying would be better for us- we would probably even make money on the deal.
How did you go about finding your retirement home if it was several states away?
So, you are asking how to find a house, right? Not how to find a new place to live?
If the former, here is what we did. We moved to the PNW. We left our stuff stored with the mover, and we drove to our destination. We had rented via phone an apartment in our new home town, and we took possession the day we arrived. We rented minimal furniture for about 5 months total. We lived in the apartment for about 3 months until we found a house to buy.
We looked constantly for houses. We found houses online and had our realtor show them to us. She found houses to show us. We considered building. We considered moving to an over 55 golfing community. We finally found our house after two months of constant looking.
We kept the rental furniture while we had work done inside the house. We requested our furniture from the mover near the end of our fifth month, and had our rental furniture moved out the same day.
We spend about 2 weeks getting everything, even the details, done inside the house. Unpacking boxes took a long time! But we did it. By the end of the 6th month we were completely settled.
So, you are asking how to find a house, right? Not how to find a new place to live?
If the former, here is what we did. We moved to the PNW. We left our stuff stored with the mover, and we drove to our destination. We had rented via phone an apartment in our new home town, and we took possession the day we arrived. We rented minimal furniture for about 5 months total. We lived in the apartment for about 3 months until we found a house to buy.
We looked constantly for houses. We found houses online and had our realtor show them to us. She found houses to show us. We considered building. We considered moving to an over 55 golfing community. We finally found our house after two months of constant looking.
We kept the rental furniture while we had work done inside the house. We requested our furniture from the mover near the end of our fifth month, and had our rental furniture moved out the same day.
We spend about 2 weeks getting everything, even the details, done inside the house. Unpacking boxes took a long time! But we did it. By the end of the 6th month we were completely settled.
Oops! I meant to say this about receiving our furniture via our mover, " . . . and had our rental furniture moved the same day as our furniture arrived."
Thank you Shadow, The POD idea is a good one. I do not want to have our house on the market with our stuff in it. I think you are in our target area around Tellico lake? I wish the lots were bigger there, problem is we need a extra large garage and I don't know if my husbands banging around on cars will upset the HOA there (he also restores classic Mustangs). We were/are looking around Lake Tansi and Fairfield Glade- where we have a timeshare and have golfed every summer for 20 years around the area but same issue there- plus it's a bit in the boonies for me- I need/want to be within 25 miles of a Target (which is an indication of civilization to me) and I think the one in Marysville is close to that range-I don't want a Walmart- I want a Target (if I have to explain you wouldn't understand) Told you we were picky..
Yes, we're in Tellico Village. Next time you are in FFG, come on down to visit TV and other communities in the Tellico lake area (Rarity Bay, Wind River, Tennessee National). We have a visitors' center where they can hook you up with residents or realtors to tour the area and amenities. Some lots are bigger than others, although you won't get acreage in one of these communities. 1/2 acre is about the max. You can certainly have a large garage and make all the noise you want in it. Working on a car is certainly quieter than mowing a lawn or blowing leaves. We have two garages, one 2-car upstairs on the main level, and one 2.5-car with a single-wide door downstairs that my hubby uses for his classic car, auto work, motorcycle work, and welding. Three car garages are here, although they are in a minority, but a lot of new construction here has 3-car garages. If you build here, you could include it in your plans. A friend here built a house with a detached 6-car garage, and several friends in the vintage car club have lifts in their garages to allow stacking of their vehicles. Others have added onto their 2-car garages, if the property had enough room. It does have to be approved through the POA, but as long as it looks good and meets the rules, there is precedent and I don't see how it would be denied.
We are about 25 minutes (17 miles or so) to a Target at Turkey Creek, which is a HUGE shopping area with just about every store or restaurant you can think of. Kohl's is closer, and I prefer it to Target. Lenoir City is 10 minutes away and has basic shopping like Home Depot and Walmart, and numerous groceries, etc. Your husband will find a very active vintage car club here with multiple activities per month, and many Ford fans. A lot of Ford employees from up north are retired here.
We built our home in HI while living in CA. We had a highly recommended contractor who did a great job. It took about a year and we flew back every couple of months. We would alternate who flew out and do video chats. We also did video chats with the contractor. It went pretty smoothly actually and technology today's allows for that. We just finished a remodel of our CA house where we are living that was way more stressful than building in HI. We decided to build in HI since we wanted a really good location but could not afford to buy an existing home since most were built very large and we didn't need all the space or extra upgrades. We found a nice 3 acre lot that had been on and off the market for a while so sellers were motivated. It was a good decision and worked out well for us.
We're in our dream post-retirement location and love our new home.
Neither is "perfect", I guess. Taxes and groceries are higher here, and our new kitchen is a bit tight on storage.
Still we wake up every single morning pinching ourselves, we feel so blessed to have found this home in this neighborhood in this city.
Although we had been scouting new locations for a couple of years, this one wasn't on our radar at all. Two years ago, our son moved here to attend school and we drove up to help him move in. We made a couple of return trips to visit him and by the 3rd trip we realized we loved it here. Our visits became longer and more frequent (staying in a vacation rental). Finally we stayed a month. At the end of that month, we didn't want to leave so we hooked up with a realtor. It's a sellers' market so it took us 3 months to find our dream bungalow.
Yes- we are definitely leaning toward that but how do you monitor construction from 800 miles away?
Some ppl will buy a small travel trailer and live onsite during construction, then either sell the trailer or use it for vacations. (Household stuff goes into storage off-site or rent a POD onsite)
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