The decision to sell our home has been the most controversial part of our roving retirement lifestyle for most of our friends and family. For us, it has been freeing because we no longer have to worry about our stuff and taking care of things when we are gone.
How We Decided to Sell Our Home
Mike and I first talked about moving abroad, specifically to France, about 10 years ago because he had a job opportunity. He had always wanted to live abroad but hadn’t done it yet. At that time, our kids were about 11 years old and a move to France wasn’t sitting well with me, even though I had lived in France before we met. Being the super organized person that I am, I sat down and made a pros and cons list. It turned out our house was the top con for me, surprisingly enough.
When Mike’s job opportunity came up, our plan was to rent out our home for the two years that we would be gone. That idea really bothered me because we had done so much remodeling that the thought of someone else living in my space just felt wrong.
The result of this exercise was that I promised we would live abroad when the kids were done with college and we were ready to sell our home.
Many of our friends seem anxious for us when we tell them we are selling our home. Some even say, “why don’t you rent your house out while you are gone, so you have someplace to come back to?” I’ve come to understand that being homeless is a very uncomfortable proposition for most people, but we are ok with it.
Not a Hasty Decision
Selling our home wasn’t a hasty decision; we’ve had 11 years to get used to the idea.
To be honest, the real reason we are selling the house is that it would be silly to leave so much money tied up in Silicon Valley real estate and we want the money for retirement. You see, even though we both grew up in this area, there are other, nice, much less expensive places to live and we can always buy another house.
For more information about our decision, see Major Life Changes as we Begin Chapter 2.
Will your next chapter include staying in your current home?
