DOWNSIZING KEEPS A MAN BUSY

[Peyton Manning]

hi kids, several years ago we( wife dua lipa)decided to downsize. I stopped working end of may to do repairs and make house more appealing.
Trouble is I have had no time to detect or fish.
I?m hoping to cash in on the real estate market, then with a smaller home with less property, I can get back to fun.
Any suggestions or experiences on downsizing?

 

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[smokeythecat]

I am an expert downsizer. First get rid of all garbage. Every last scrap or broken thing you don't want to fix. That's round one. Then, do a "Goodwill tour". Look for usable stuff you don't really want and take a trip to Goodwill or any other charity you want. OR have a yard sale. I found out those here are about worthless.

Look at pieces of boards, bricks, lumber, etc. that won't be used. Broken tools. That 7th bucket. We only need 6. After all that was gone, I found a few good tools I didn't want and gave them to a couple neighborhood guys who do me favors. Works well.

After all has settled. Go through the books and magazines. We don't need more than a few magazines at a time, and the DVD's and other tape devices.

Antiques, firearms, coins, sell with a reputable dealer or dealers. I sold one Civil War gun this year I just didn't want anymore. Duplicate old pots and pans. Broken kids toys. The whole nine yards. And it will take a long time. Each piece needs to be thought out.

One horrible project is to go through photos and old papers. I shredded a pickup truck's worth over the last few years. They got recycled.

You can do garbage and just plain junk first, then either do it by what sticks out as a useless thing to you or do it a room at a time. I only required two SUV loads (small ones) to the dump to get rid of fluorescent light fixtures and some kerosene cans and the old kerosene heater. So most stuff went a little at a time.

 

[Peyton Manning]

Are you absolutely sure six buckets are enough?

 

[Doubter in MD]

If you have that extra bucket lying around you might accidentally kick it. You wouldn't want that.

 

[DizzyDigger]

 

[fistfulladirt]

I retired at 58 last year and wife and I are discussing downsizing. Problem is, when you want to relocate and all these folks overpaying on RE, thinking a dump is a diamond.

 

[ARC]

When and where is the YardSale ? ? ?

 

[Peyton Manning]

Yeah, I’m gonna live in a mobile home temporarily till prices drop. It’ll be soft sitting on all the cash

 

[Mackaydon]

If you haven't worn it in the last two years, get rid of it.
Don....

 

[Clad2Silver]

The quickest way to downsize is to NOT accumulate a pile of junk to begin with.

 

[ticndig]

I downsized two years ago , went thru 30 years worth of stuff. now it seems at least once a month I have to buy something I all ready had and got rid of. I'm not talking junk or old cloths , I'm talking building and maintenance items , tools and such.

 

[Truth]

hi kids, several years ago we( wife dua lipa)decided to downsize. I stopped working end of may to do repairs and make house more appealing.
Trouble is I have had no time to detect or fish.
I?m hoping to cash in on the real estate market, then with a smaller home with less property, I can get back to fun.
Any suggestions or experiences on downsizing?

We?re actually in the same place I quit my job fixing up the house and with the market where it is we will easily have $90,000 equity. Where I live in Covington Louisiana on the border of Abita Springs Covington is becoming as hectic as Metairie La where we ran from to get away from New Orleans. So the wife suggests we fix up we new floors and landscape and move further into the sticks and buy a sizable piece of property with a modest home and be mortgage free. So I?m at an age where I always wanted more needed more and now just appreciating what I have and it?ll fit just right in a nice little home for me and my wife?.. oh and of course my 800 )))

 

[Megalodon]

When the weather cooperates - metal detect the old place! We downsized three years to four years ago. The new owner of our old place has been hunting the 3 acres and showed me what I didn't dig in the oh - only 26 years there. Turns out there is a good view of an anchorage used by the British in 1814 when they burned nearly everything in the county and looted all the farms - before going on to burn Washington DC. It appears the militia kept an eye on the British so they could run away when they landed. I was nearly sick when he showed me a flintlock among other artifacts, complete with the flint still intact.

 

[Megalodon]

If you can, buy the new place before selling the old. That way, when you clean out the place (do you have a pickup truck ?) you can also move gradually into the new place. And you can sell the old place empty of all your stuff.

When I retired at 62, we already owned a perfect downsized house with a manageable 1.5 acres, walking distance to excellent Miocene fossil beaches. That place was a wedding gift to my son - just free rent for three years and then it went back to me. My wife also retired and focused on repairs to the old place to the point where it was over-improved, including new decks, new concrete walks, landscaping, refinished 2000 feet of hardwood floors, all new paint, etc., something that is not necessary in today's bubble market. This bubble is so out of control that my daughter has toured 62 houses for sale on the west coast and made offers on 7, the most recent being 105K offer over listing price and the place, one that needed a lot of work, went for 175K over listing price - for all cash. Its crazy out there. Our old house sold the day it was listed and I even accepted a VA loan - the most expensive way for a seller to sell. We were still working on it the day of closing, with the sellers basically telling us we'd already exceeded expectations as they tried to kick me out when finishing the crown molding in the third bathroom.

There has never been a seller's market like this one. Lots of sellers are selling immediately for all cash, as-is and way over list price. The toughest thing you will face is not selling the old house, but buying a new one - unless you want to live where nobody else wants to go.

 

[Megalodon]

Yeah, I’m gonna live in a mobile home temporarily till prices drop. It’ll be soft sitting on all the cash

Mortgage rates have never been this low. Waiting for prices to fall is fine if your plan is to pay all cash. Prices should fall, in theory, when rates go up. I remember 19% mortage rates - and CD's. If it was me, and it is not, I would try to buy now, finance at these artificially low crazy rates and invest the cash in safe dividend stocks paying far more than today's mortgage rates.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

From past experiences, as prices drop loan rates usually go up so you are still getting same house but more money is going to be interest.

As megalodon said, I also remember 19% interest rates on homes.



Example $125,000 home at 3% for 30 years loan payment excluding taxes and insurance is....

Monthly payment $527

Interest paid $64,722

Total amount paid $189,722

Example $125,000 home at 5% for 30 years loan payment excluding taxes and insurance is....

Monthly payment $671

Interest paid $116,570

Total amount paid $241,570

Example $125,000 home at 8% for 30 years loan payment excluding taxes and insurance is....

Monthly payment $917

Interest paid $205,194

Total amount paid $330,194

Example $125,000 home at 19% for 30 years loan payment excluding taxes and insurance is....

Monthly payment $1,986

Interest paid $590,002

Total amount paid $715,002

 

[Jeff Beaumont]

When in doubt, chuck it out!

 

[fistfulladirt]

Recently rid of 600+ magazines. Guitar player, Auto Restorer, Hemmings muscle, Backyard Chickens, Mother Earth…many more all pristine, and free! Craigslist, set ‘em at the end of the drive. Old push mower, don?t care to mess wit it. End of drive, 2 of ?em, gone! Any other junk? Don?t pay to get rid, do it free!

 

[Truth]

I was a loan originator for 16 years at this particular time it?s also wise to consider a 15yr fixed.

 

[Megalodon]

I was a loan originator for 16 years at this particular time it?s also wise to consider a 15yr fixed.

Yes. Its even more of a no-brainer for a re-fi.

In some places where prices have doubled every 2 to 3 years, and sellers are selling cash only, it may not be possible. Its daunting for young first-time buyers where the tear-downs on tiny lots sell for 750K cash.

Its so crazy out there now, if I wanted another place, I'd be looking at good higher elevation land with utilities and buy a nice factory built modular house, built indoors with minimal waste of expensive lumber, that could be put on my foundation right off the truck. People are not generally aware of the quality available for houses made in factories under controlled conditions today.