Maintaining The Ties?

[markje4]

I know that there will be as many different opinions as there are cruisers but I was wondering just how many committed cruisers have disposed of their land-based residences to take up the life aquatic.

I am a couple of years away from the opportunity to take early retirement and would love to spend at least 5 years in the Med. trouble is, of course, I love my little house in the Blue Mountains (west of Sydney, Aust.) where I hand feed wild parrots and cockatoos and provide shelter for a family of ringtail possums - in the garage, not the house.

Fortunately (or not) I don't have a partner - just an aged cat so the decision to sell is all mine. I was just interested in how others came to the decisions that they did and whether or not they have regrets - not about the chosen lifestyle but on whether or not they kept the house.

Thanks

Mark

[SeaVenture]

You're quite right that everyone will have a different take on this--and I think the point of view will often be determined by the age, financial situation, and location of the respondent. For those taking off for short periods of time between work, they'll want a place to welcome them back. For those of us who are planning to make our boat our long-term home, the answers will still vary. My husband and I are old enough that we estimate another good ten years of cruising before we'll find the boat too much to handle. Fortunately, we have a home waiting for us when that becomes reality--and then we'll go back to sailing our smaller boats in local waters--unless we progress as Jeanne and others have onto an un-sailboat.

I can't imagine someone facing a re-entry into the California or New York real estate market making the decision lightly. I have no idea about other areas.

Blessings,

Normandie

[Swagman]

Hiyo Mark,

You'll be best to get advice from a local financial advisor, but IMHO real estate is a pretty good way to invest and if you could possibly retain the property, maybe rented out, you should try to do so.

We're ex POMS who became natuaralised Assies, and learnt when living there over 20 years from expat Italian and Greek people that if you can hold onto property however expensive it seems at the time, it does not take long for it to begin to work in your favour.

I can't say I always prcatice wnat I'm preaching, as sods law saw us sell our place two years after we left Perth - as the market appeared to remaine flat for maybe 5 years - and we wanted the dosh to help buy in the UK.

Four years on the Freo place had quadrupled in value - so I now regret not taking my own advice!!

Good luck with whatever you do.

JOHN

[JeanneP]

I advise people heading off cruising to postpone the decision to sell their home. There are so many things that can happen, and sometimes knowing you have a home to return to if things don't go too well is a comfort. I think that I embraced our cruising lifestyle more enthusiastically because I always knew that it didn't have to be a permanent choice - I could always bail. As it turns out, cruising suits us, but holding onto that last piece of property was a very good idea from a financial standpoint. We finally sold that last property, only to buy a more modest home that we can use as a part-time home without straining our budget. Inflation could have impoverished us, but instead it enriched us (well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I think you understand).

Nobody expects things to go terribly wrong, but sometimes they do. The people who owned Flying Pig, the boat that went up on a reef near Marathon, FL have been having a tough time of it, as the boat, so badly damaged, is their only home. They don't have lots of options, and that is when decisions are made due to expediency, not because they are the best decisions.

When it comes to liquidating one's possessions, delaying the action can't hurt, and that delay might be turn out to be a very wise decision.