We did it! This past Saturday morning we put our house on the market! There are still a few minor repairs needed on our house, but we'll be working on those in the next week or two. Just like there's no need to put off cruising for the "perfect boat" ... we didn't want to wait until we had the "perfect house" to put it on the market.
Although the real estate market is terrible, we're optimistic that our house will sell before the end of the year. Our house is fairly priced, and the waterfront community that we live in has very little houses on the market right now. This means no competition in a desirable area. That's a great thing! We're thinking positive.
We're excited and anxious at the same time. We're not looking forward to having people walk through our house and critique it. We're not looking forward to the job of moving. However, we are looking forward to lowering our monthly bills and getting Nirvana ready for cruising in 2013. After going through the entire weekend without one phone call, I joked with Ken ... wondering why our phone wasn't ringing off the hook!
The past couple of weeks we've run into a few people that we haven't seen in a while. Some of them have casually asked, "So, are you still gonna do that cruising thing"? It was fun to watch their reaction as we told them, "Yes. In fact, our house will be for sale in a week or two". So many people hear our plans, not familiar with such a concept, and immediately assume that we've got our head in the clouds. They're starting to realize that such "crazy ideas" are possible! Of course, those that really know us shouldn't be surprised. Ken and I have always followed through with our goals by having a plan. We planned on graduating from college, getting married only after graduating, my pregnancy, living frugal and retiring early ... and then in 2009 came up with the plan of cruising.
A few people have asked if we're getting scared. I wouldn't say "scared" ... that won't happen till we're stuck in a storm or preparing for our first night sail. At this point, I'd say we're just excited. We're excited about less debt and more freedom! We're trying not to get too ahead of ourselves, as we know we need a buyer. We're cautiously optimistic.
The doubts and problems with "letting go" haven't set in. However, I will admit that we do experience some mixed feelings when it comes to our daughter. She's an amazing young woman and we really enjoy the company of her and her boyfriend. Our relationship with her has blossomed and we couldn't ask for more in a daughter. We're already planning on visits from them and trips back home. I told her to just pretend we're on a long vacation. We'll only be a phone call away, and she'll be busy finishing college the next 2-3 years.
So how did we celebrate this milestone of putting our house on the market? We went sailing for the weekend! More about that in our next post!
Hasta luego ... until then. Mid-Life Cruising!
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11 comments:
Wow, congratulations! I hope it sells quick!!
I hope you sell quick. ours was sold in 6 days which wasnt even enough time to get emotionally settled with listing it. so we are living in a rental to wrap up loose ends and boat shop. Hope you are just as lucky!
Congratulations. You are doing what you want to do and that's all that matters. We each can live as we wish and yours is living aboard Nirvana. Excellent! I hope your home sells soon.
Have a terrific day. :)
You only go through life once so you might as well do what you've dreamed about when you still can. Life has a nasty habit of getting in the way so if you see that light at the end of the tunnell right now..... go for it and be happy!
If you need a ship mate who likes to cook... I'm available! I love sailing!
AWESOME!! Congrats. I am really hoping you get a quick sale.
Congrats on taking this BIG step toward your new lives!
Happy for you guys. You have some exciting times ahead. Let the journey begin!
PB
I'm trying to imagine what it must feel like to have your home on the market! Have you lived there long? I'd really like to do this thing without selling the house, by renting it out and having our friend, who owns a property management business, manage the rental. But then that starts to feel like it's risky. I guess I'm still on the fence about it. Looking forward to seeing how you manage the transition to a boat with a kid in college. We're in that position, too. How is your daughter handling it?
Congratulations on getting your house on the market. Ours is also on te market in Tallahassee Florida although we don't intend to set sail for three and a half years. We are house sitting for a couple who have sailed off to Europe and plan to be gone for several years. Let's hope yours and ours sell quickly.
Thanks everyone! Shawna ... your house sold in 6 days! Wow, I could only hope we find a buyer in a month or two!
Scott ... good luck with finding a buyer for your house too!
LCP ... We've been living here for 5 years. The entire time we've been slowly finishing our house since we bought it "gutted" after Hurricane Katrina. A labor of love! We've had some great experiences with rental property ... and some real nightmares! We'd like to cruise without worrying about deadbeat tenants. =)
We broke the news to our daughter about 3 years ago and we've tried to be sensitive to her feelings. At first she didn't like the idea, but we gave her plenty of time to get used to the idea. She seems to be a lot better about it now. We'll have visits often! =)
Congratulations on getting your house on the market! I am just now getting caught up on 300 blog posts in my google reader since our trip to the US (during which I didn't read any blog posts as I wanted to spend most of my time DOING things!), so please forgive this tardy comment. I really hope your house will sell fast! Ours sold in 60 days, much to our surprise. We were hardly ready as we figured it would take a year or more!
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