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Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: paul102a3 on December 07, 2017, 04:31:00 AM
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For those of you that sold your house to full time, how did you dispose/sell of all your “stuff”?
We have decided to sell the house and full time but getting rid of 35 years worth of stuff is rather daunting.
Besides the normal household items, I have a lot of tools, both wood and metal and things like scissors lift, welders, tractor and implements, etc.
Historically, I have sold a lot of items on the E place and C place but the volume of stuff makes that impractical.
I am guessing an auction house or estate sale company but any other ideas would be appreciated.
Paul
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If you want it easy, an auction can do it. Our local auctioneer does this all the time. After my mother passed, my father did this to all the household belongings, furniture etc. He was 80 at the time and too much to do it any other way.With auctions, expect that your Mona Lisa bring less than you think they are worth. When you buy at an auction, it seems many things go for far more than they are worth. Also, auctions that accept credit cards seem to get more money for many items. Also the phase of moon or the way the wind blows seems to have an effect on prices.
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We held our own estate sale the first time many years ago when we were younger and more capable. (early 90's)The last time in 2002 we sold our farm in Mo at auction. That was much more fun than the estate sale and things brought more monies than we were expecting. We kept the farm truck and bought a 5th whl that time. 10 yrs ago we sold the fiver and truck and moved up to the bus.
Will and wife
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My stuff and all my vehicles are in storage in a barn
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Many times estate sales have tagged items, in this decision I would rather select estate auction.
I honestly think this value for owner is related to the items. Or I might say a majority of the type items so bringing in and attracting that crowd.
I should say many rural Ag type interest can bring a rip roaring crowd at 0 to 30 degree temps with rain, and then again in some in town sales you couldnt get the doughnut shop to open if temps or rain in some inclimate weather as mentioned. With that a good weather pattern may be a time to consider, also the work season is a real stickler imo.
My recomendation is shop around for your local, best advertised, auctioneer company that has great posters and a nice internet presence, but dont think for a second every one interested will look at the internet, thats a big mistake.
Good day there
Floyd
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How many times have I heard of people who sold everything they had to full time, only to get tired of it, and have no resources to get back into a house.
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We decided to full time for a couple years before our kids had to go to school. Our big items like tractor, cars, trailers and equipment I sold through Ebay and Craigslist and it went fairly fast and easy and I got dang good money for them. We donated most all our personal stuff off, We found it a lot easier, less time consuming and not to depressing to donating then seeing it bring pennies on the dollar. We were so excited on what we wanted to do and financially stable that it afforded us the ability to do it.
It was the most amazing time of our life. I have always had a time consuming career and it brought our family together that to this day is still evident. We found traveling from place to place and staying for about a month was the best. Staying in one place and just living in an RV would be hell for us. We also learned mindsets that we still live with to this day. Mostly that we really don't need that much stuff to be happy and enjoy life. We meet the people that we still consider our best friends while we were traveling. One couple spends holidays with us and visits us every few months.
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Paul, we are straddling the house/RV divide too. Debating selling our home and downsizing to a home base in Sacramento, where we both grew up and have family. Like you, after decades of accumulating stuff, what do you do? Like Geoff says, I've heard too many sad stories of people selling everything off and jumping into RV FT. Then for many valid reasons plans change and need a steady home again. They get trapped if they made that fatal decision going to an RV lot with a checkbook. Sadly, buying that shiny new S&S RV is so underwater, drowning would be a blessing. Getting out of it and having to rekit a house and cars again is really hard for some.
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When we sold our house we had a three way method. 1 estate sale, that got rid of a lot of things and they cleaned up all the stuff left over unless we had a place for it.
2 we gave any tools we had and that was a lot of them too two groups that are teaching young people to be creative. What ever was left we had 3 days of free giveaway yard sales. The rest if worth anything we gave away to friends or needy people we thought could use it.
3 we took the rest to the dump.
One thing you will realize if you are ready to go that your stuff is just that "stuff". The house is nice but it keeps you from really discovering what life is about. IMHO
We used to have a lot of artwork given to us by artist we know and family who are artist. It was nice and people loved most of it to look at but we realized we were just the curator of it at the time and when we went out of the house we gave it to anyone who had admired any of it.
It is really elevating doing all of this and leaves the rest of you to give more, help others, see the world and meet new people.
Remember it is not always about the destination, It's about the Journey.
You can't take it with you. Just sayin ;D
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Store all your stuff. Get a 40ft container and have a professional mover pack it for you-they can get a lot more in a small area.
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Store all your stuff. Get a 40ft container and have a professional mover pack it for you-they can get a lot more in a small area.
But Tom, if you're on the road for a couple of years or more what you spend in storage fees could replace all the old stuff with new if you go back to a stationary house. Have you seen the junk some people pay to store (storage wars)? ::) Just saying. In the end it's just 'stuff' ;D People are important, not possessions. :)
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We have been toying with the idea but admit that it's still down the road if we even go full time. I think the best thing for us is to store everything and see if we enjoy it as much as we think we will. I don't even know if I would sell the house at first. It would be nice to be able to afford not selling it but that wouldn't work long term.
I'm still worried that there isn't enough room for us and pets and we end up getting major cabin fever.
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Try the life style 1 st for a year it is not for everyone,we tried it for a year and decided it wasn't for us
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I could go with out the house ( rent it for a time ) but would have a hard time if I had to give up my garage with all the toys and tools that give me something to do
dave
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One other idea we're considering is rent the house, maybe even furnished. That defers the what do you do with lots of "stuff" and the I hate FT in a bus. Being in the Bay Area cuts both ways. Hella expensive to live here and hella lot of crazy rental rates. LOL
My wife and I rather cash out of the Bay Area as the BIG one is coming sooner rather than later and we live a couple miles off the Hayward fault and not that much further than the San Andreas. Then are are plenty of smaller ones just east of us. After seeing how long it takes to recover from the big Oakland fire (3000+ homes burned) and the Loma Prieta earthquake, we'll be dead and dust by the time the place recovers. Coverage for earthquakes is a joke so most are rolling the dice on how much damage might occur to our own properties. Time to go.
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LOL after writing checks for our property taxes F/T is looking better every year,damn shame you never own property you just lease it from a government agency
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Don, with the fires down here in Ventura this week, my wife and I stayed in our home with no power one night. We are not far from the San Andreas fault and recently it has started to rumble. When the big one hits and if your coach is fully self contained with full fuel tanks, you will be golden.
When the big one hits, the thought of having to go to a public shelter is not appealing at our age. Having a coach ready to go even if we park it in front of our house when there is a tragedy is appealing to me. I know I sound like a prepper.
I don't have a coach yet, but this is the back of my mind. This week the State of CA said they are mulling outlawing gasoline engines by the year 2040. With their mindset in Sacramento I can't see them allowing the motor home exemption for two stroke Detroit engines much longer. Many of my truck driver friends have been forced to sell perfectly good tractors out of state because CA would not renew their registration because their engines were not "clean" enough. I am just saying we may not have the Detroit Diesel loophole much longer.
Mike
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I look for Ca to outlaw the 2 strokes in RV's in Jan 2023 when they enforce the requirements all trucks and buses must be 2010 or newer engines.there is going to be a lot of bus for sale then
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They should take that state and shove it up their San Andreas fault.jmo, of course.
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We like having our cake & eating it too.
I hope to down size to a small house with a shop big enough so I can do as much maintenance on the coach as I can. (Will need to be in an area with a very low cost of living . . . . )
That way, we can travel when we want to, & still have a base to call home.
We are trying to reduce our stuff now, if we haven't used it in the past several years . . . .
Well, that's what we are trying to plan for. . . . .
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I think Don (windtrader) might have the answer to his own question. Rent out your place fully furnished and use the money for travel in the bus. Moving down the road is expensive, parking in an RV park or your kid's back yard, not so much. Just budget your travels according to your income and you'll be fine. Then if you decide it isn't for you, kick out those great renters that have totally trashed your house and possessions while you were an absentee landlord and spend the rest of your life rehabbing the old place. Where's Crabby Milton, here's a subject for him to rant about. ;D Oh, when did that pipe start leaking??? You mean chimney's don't clean themselves, what? Smoke damage? Shoot, I didn't know the roof was leaking. ??? Just wait till you get home, in the driveway and right back out. haha
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Man what a bunch of old Curmudgeons, LOL.
Wow that a first a guy with a name that depicts poor jokes (Chessie4905)from PA, hates California and probably only knows what he's heard on this board about it, :o LOL
And everyone worried about disasters that may or may not happen. You guys probably shouldn't be Fulltimers because you'all worry to much.
Life is short. My Grandfather used to say," If you go through life worrying about what you are going to die from, you will probably die from an ulcer." ;D
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I'd think selling it all is fairly irriverasable . So many unknown unknowns. I like the idea of storing the main items for 12 -18 months. Yeah it's going to cost some money but I'd think muchess than having to rebut if it doesn't work out. The couple of thousand for stage is cheap insurance. Once you kids are familiar with it all and know that you know this is what you want sell it.
There is a new app, LetGo it works so nice, you can lost things so quickly. Might be worth looking into. Just put the important bits in the title, no one reads the description.
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And everyone worried about disasters that may or may not happen.
The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared", so it is best to at least consider the potential pitfalls.
The fact is that there are things that, IF they happened, could cause financial ruin.
There are also lots of things that look good on paper, but lose their luster quickly when when experienced first hand.
The better you are at repairing things, the easier it will be to full time, so, one must consider all the possibilities.
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@Mike - One of the reasons for getting the bus, pretty low on the list, was as a mobile second domicile, free to move where desired in case of natural disaster or doomsday event. I certainly am not a card carrying prepper or survivalist but conditions and events just make me more uneasy that some big shiiite could go down. It is highly comforting to know that as long as we can escape the bay area and get to the bus, we can survive a whole lot better than most folks.
Clifford and Mike, the effect of the CARB rules on older two strokes has pretty much run its course through the commercial truck industry in CA, at least from what I know. Any that has not had the PM conversion is virtually off the road for any commercial use now as the last of the extensions have run out January 2016. That was allowing some to remain in fleets based on the percentage of the fleet being otherwise compliant and current. There is one other exemption allowing some minimal use, like under 5,000 miles a year. I think that one still is in force.
https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/faqLowuse.pdf (https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/faqLowuse.pdf)
https://www.overdriveonline.com/carb-to-boost-low-use-mileage-exemption/ (https://www.overdriveonline.com/carb-to-boost-low-use-mileage-exemption/)
https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/FSRegSum.pdf (https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/FSRegSum.pdf)
Agree with you on the coming glut of old buses for sale. The way I read the regulation (3rd link) is just before 2020 there may be a great buy opportunity for mid-late 90's 4 stroke like a MCI 102 Series 60 motor. It seems that by 2020, heavy trucks/buses with 1996-1999 motors will need to have at least a 2010 or newer motor. Operators will surely be dumping them cheap and getting new ones. Time to buy stock in the large truck companies.
As long as the motorhome conversion rules remain intact then we can still use the loophole to buy an old commercial non-compliant bus, convert it, and register it as a motorhome, bypassing the regulation. Much like how we run the old two strokes on the road today.
Until they get rid of diesel vehicles altogether it seems to me that we old busnuts will still be able to run down the road. But as we already experience getting supplies and parts will continue to diminish; take getting low ash straight 40 weight oil for example.
The thing with California, specifically the SF Bay Area, is people put up with all the BS, extreme costs and regulations, due to one thing. It is in the top ten most beautiful and enriched, culturally, socially, and geographically, weather, economically, etc locations in the world. Dec 9, sitting outside with a light shirt on, under clear blue skies, 60 degrees, overlooking the green rolling hills. Does not get any better. Now, don't ask once I have to leave to house and go anywhere. LOL
@Neodaddy - LetGo - the problem isn't finding ways to get rid of stuff. The problem is my wife accuses me of being a hoarder. I seen them shows and I am no hoarder but I'll admit it is hard to let go of anything that seems like it can be repurposed or reused down the road. Hey, my insurance covers seeing a shrink; maybe, I can get hypnotized to get rid of all the stuff. LOL
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Ahhh, but it does get better! Sitting outside with a light shirt on, under clear blue sky, not quite 60 degrees but close, green mountains, and best of all?..... very few people around. :)
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I’m with Geoff on this. Some full timers sell the house, feel rich and blow it all and when they are tired of traveling they have nothing to buy a house with... yikes
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Having done this a couple of times I will add my $.02 worth.
We got the Eagle in March of 96, took it home to Alaska for the summer. In September we let one of the daughters and her family live in the log home. We gave the kids whatever they wanted and had the Mother of all yard sales over a 4 day weekend. Did pretty good on the yard sale. The kids lived there for two years then built their own home. I went to the end of the driveway to nail up a for sale by owner sign. A car skidded into the driveway and nearly hit me. A lady jumped out and said "I have waited 12 years for this house to come up for sale". She bought it.
We lived a very interesting few years in the coach. I loved it. Wife not so much. Her stuff and Grandkids and all that.
So we bought a condo in Anchorage and lived there 4 years. Decided we wanted to relocate to the lower 48 and sold it and went down the Alcan like the Clampetts. Two 26' Uhaul trucks and an older bus. Should have sold everything in Alaska and flew out.
We could not decide where to go so wife suggested a home in South Dakota we had bought for my parents when they living. We were to stay only until we decided what we wanted to do. We stayed 10 years and spent way to much remodeling the home.
I got tired of no choice of restaurants or entertainment and driving over 2 hours to Doctor appointments. I started selling trucks and trailers and boats. We had 4 auctions. I could not believe the money folks paid for things they could have bought for less new at a store! We listed the house and it sold the third day to the first lady that looked at it for double the purchase price.
I decided I'm catching up with Clifford and did not want to move snow or mow big lawns.
We moved into a "Luxury" apartment in Sioux Falls. Turns out it's damned expensive and most of the other tenants (several hundred) appear to be third world and are subsidized by Section 8! The damn elevator is out about half the time and the grounds look like Juarez or Mogadishu!
We have now bought a 4000 SF home and are about to move in next week. I've already got folks to move snow and mow.
I get to buy back all the tools I sold. I did keep all my hand tools but they are 45 miles away in a trailer I kept. It's great, I get them all new again.
So before you jump make sure you are both on the same sheet of music. A bus can get pretty small if you are not best friends. We've been married 50 years and still like each other most of the time.
IT IS JUST JUNK! It can all be replaced. some will bring a lot more than you think and some will bring less. Some will have to be grouped to even get a bid, but it will all go away. If you cry a lot over spilt milk, full timing may not be for you!
My advice is to just go in the bus for 6 months or so and see if you like it. If you don't, sell the bus and pick up where you left off. This is certainly easier for those of us that have moved several times in our lives than for those that lived in one place all of theirs. If you do like it, Get a good auction company and let them do what they do. Don't even go to the auction. Be gone in the bus. I will tell you to know who you're hiring and don't cheap out on the advertising. good auction guys will advise you on when to sell if you don't already know.
As someone said, it's about the adventure! Talk it over and arrive at something you can both live with.
I'm at the twilight of 3 separate careers. I have different expectations in my 70's than I did in my 40's. Be adaptable and get on with it!
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That is a well thought out approach. Also being in my 70's and wifey about to hit 80, having even a small home base close to shopping and medical care would seem to be prudent. No matter how much one may like full timing, age will bring it to an end. Jack
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That is a well thought out approach. Also being in my 70's and wifey about to hit 80, having even a small home base close to shopping and medical care would seem to be prudent. No matter how much one may like full timing, age will bring it to an end. Jack
that's why one needs to get an early start :)
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We started when we were 29 and 27 respectively. We are now 35 and 32 have a two year old and another one due Feb 3 and are still loving it. But it’s not for the faint of heart....Bus problems aren’t like house problems. Very different scenarios. Fulltime and you’ll understand. We won’t do this forever. I can assure you of that.
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This has been great feedback so thanks. Our situation is a bit different than most, married 33 years, worked side by side in our own business for those same 33 years, no kids, only 2 living relatives on my wife’s side and we are recently retired.
We just return from a 4 1/2 month trip in a borrowed coach so we have a good perspective of what lies ahead. My wife and I are very lucky to be each other’s best friend so being together for long periods of time in small spaces is not a problem.
One thing that is so great about this forum is it opens your mind. I had not considered packing a shipping container or renting our home. I could easily see packing a shipping container with the household items, store it in the bus garage/workshop and rent the house out.
i just have to determine which is better for me, rental income (minus expenses) vs investment income.
Thanks again
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Renting brings a host of issues & potential pitfalls. You must consider who you will be renting to. Some renters we have had will make you question if humans are an advanced life form. :(
However, we currently have some that are amazing, responsible people that take very good care of everything.
So, no guarantees with renting.
Additionally, I don't think I would want the same house after full timing for several years . . . . I'm sure my needs will have changed.
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What Kyle said!
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If you are full time in it, both should be able to drive, at least interstates.
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Frankie has never driven nor wanted to drive the bus. There should be nowhere you have to be so the only other reason is illness.
There are many here that would help if the coach needed to be relocated.
Stop pole vaulting over ant hills and enjoy the ride!
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Try the life style 1 st for a year it is not for everyone,we tried it for a year and decided it wasn't for us
Do you mind telling us what issues bothered you?
I'm really torn down the middle with F/T. But I think the only way I can not go crazy is to upgrade to a bus with slides. My MCI just seems cramped with wife and I and two dogs. I've said it before but the idea of getting rid of all the stuff I've gotten gives me anxiety too.
I'm probably going to work for another 5yrs before I really retire and wish I could afford to keep the house and travel when I want to. Right now, we are going to continue to camp once a month and take vacations when we can. Next summer we are going to spend a month in Myrtle beach with the bus. But I'm going to continue to soak up everyone's experience of F/T.
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Why not try workamping? We did that for 18 months and it was fun. The other people there were a PITA but that finally stopped when 4 of them got fired. You just have to make sure you get it all in writing. 20 hours a week per person (couples at most places) free spot to live in your Bus or RV. Free electric and Gas plus some give you a small pay check 7 to 10 an hour plus overtime, but they are all different. That way you can get an idea of what it is like being out of the house and then rent your house to someone you know with the agreement that if you come back to it they have to leave with a reasonable time between that and when you come back. Just an idea.
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I think Dave5Cs hit the nail on the head if you're really undecided as to whether this is the lifestyle for you or not. Try workamping first. My wife was a volunteer coordinator for quite a few years for the FS and managed approx. 50 host sites year round. You will meet some of the nicest people and can learn valuable insights from the people that are doing it. It's definitely worth looking into if you're undecided. A free site with all amenities and sometimes even a small paycheck to boot. Expect to commit to at least 6 months, but if you don't like the site you're in, they're usually more than glad to move you around. Good luck in whatever you decide, but remember, we only live once.
Will and wife
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You can do it at RV parks, Amazon, for companies and live at a local RV park sometimes provided. When my wife broke her ankle we found a guy who needed some help at his ranch and invited us to stay. He had a 62x12 foot work trailer that we converted into a house. We stay in it when not on the road in our Bus. We work the ranch in exchange for the trailer and a place to keep and work on the Bus when needed. That saves on storage also. I work 20 to 30 hours when I want to and we go on the road when we want to and they go on the road also when we are here. Been here for 6 years now and we are all the same age and it works out well for both of us. It is about 4 acres and we live in the back and they live up front. I can work on the Bus when ever I want to. So we call it workamping with a base. We no longer own a house ( we sold it in 2009) got rid of our stuff and never looked back. We just got off the road and were out for about 2 months. Life is good. ;D
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Update on mobile - land based considerations.
Over the Christmas holiday, my wife and I agreed to sell our home and move back to Sacramento where most family resides. We are renting a furnished house where we'll store all our belongings in the garage. Rather than jump on-board the bus full time, we plan on taking a few month long trips to experience extended trips away from home. My gut tells me we'll never go full time as we need a home base even if occupied part time. Sacramento works fine now but another place might work better down the road.
Our tactic to sorting through the "stuff" is: 1) box and store keeper stuff, 2) box and move "not sure" stuff, 3) donate stuff and 4) stuff goes to dumpster.
Hoping we'll be through this move and on the road in the next month.
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Update on mobile - land based considerations.
Over the Christmas holiday, my wife and I agreed to sell our home and move back to Sacramento where most family resides. We are renting a furnished house where we'll store all our belongings in the garage. Rather than jump on-board the bus full time, we plan on taking a few month long trips to experience extended trips away from home. My gut tells me we'll never go full time as we need a home base even if occupied part time. Sacramento works fine now but another place might work better down the road.
Our tactic to sorting through the "stuff" is: 1) box and store keeper stuff, 2) box and move "not sure" stuff, 3) donate stuff and 4) stuff goes to dumpster.
Hoping we'll be through this move and on the road in the next month.
If I may ask, since this is an important topic to me. Did you decide to rent b/c there was that much of a difference in mortgage vs cost of rent? Or were you both planning on moving to Sacramento anyway? I ask b/c I'm trying to picture why I would get rid of current home in order to rent another one and I don't see the benefit unless it was one of the two reasons I mentioned earlier.
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There were many reasons to sell the house in the Bay Area and move to Sacramento. Key reasons - we are simply done with place: the crowds and traffic and high costs and hard left political leaning. Second reason is the next big earthquake. All predictions indicate the Bay Area is overdue for a big one, specifically the Hayward fault is cited and runs just two miles from us. After living through the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake and the '91 Oakland Hills fire, the bay area region is really show getting things fixed. Third reason is local real estate has been on a rage and it just feels like a pause or correction is due soon.
We don't have a decade or two waiting for the Bay Area to recover from a disastrous earthquake, massive firestorm, or real estate market collapse. My dad is 97 and my wife's mom is 102, soon 103. Both are in amazing health so we want to be closer to them.
There is a huge difference in rents but that has no influence in our decisions. Oddly, the rent will be more than the current mortgage payment but that is because we've been here so long.
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Wondered where you guys had gone too. Welcome to the Neighborhood. LOL ;D
Leaving the Bus where it was before or moving it up too?
Dave
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Hey Dave, The bus has been in Sacramento since Xmas, in your old stomping grounds, 5 minutes walk from Bel Air. As soon as the deal closes before 15 March, we're taking a trip just to recoup from all the BS involved in selling/moving. After that, follow the path most interesting. LOL
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We bought 7 Acres.
Just have a base camp. Even if you don't return for several years. You can find raw land for fairly cheap, 10k for an acre. Build a barn, or find one with an old barn. I'm sure there is family somewhere, ours is in Ohio.
J
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Do you plan on getting sewage and power put in on that land? If so, have you quoted or do you know how much that would cost? I have some land in FL and we do have power there and a septic tank connected to a small room but no hookups for power or sewage for the bus and no idea what it would cost to get it.
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Not answering your question but we locked our garage with my tools and personal stuff in it and rented out the house with all the furniture and linen and kitchen stuff included. Arrangement is we can park the RV next to the garage if we need a fixed base for a month or so and I mow the lawns during that time to compensate for the inconvenience.
House rental has been good to have over the last 11 years and when the time comes to hang up the keys, we will at least have a house to come back to with 3 months notice. Repaint, maybe new carpet and some furniture and we can settle straight in. If we decide to live elsewhere, we still have the increasing house equity to help make a new start rather than relying on decreasing equity of a motorhome plus whatever investments and savings are left after the various GFCs have taken their toll