In June of 2015, I began planning my retirement and a dramatic new lifestyle of living full time in a motorhome so I could travel the country. With that came the decision to sell my home of 33 years and all its contents—a daunting task under any circumstance. At least I was doing it on my own terms and self-imposed deadline.

I had an epiphany one day when I thought about how much I was spending on the mortgage, property taxes and utilities to heat and cool a 1,200 square foot house full of things I rarely or never used. If I pared it all down to just the necessities, it would fit in my 250 square foot motorhome.

I didn’t make this decision lightly and there were a lot of emotions riding on it. My husband Mike and I bought this house just before we married in 1984. We raised two children here and Mike died here after a 4-year battle with cancer. I needed to know that my children were okay with my decision to leave the house that held all their memories of growing up and of their father.

The house as it looked when purchased in 1984. It was only two bedrooms at that time.

The house as it looked when it sold in 2017. New master bedroom suite added in 1998.

My children are adults now and have moved out of state to start their careers. They both expressed that they didn’t need the house to have their memories. That Dad lived in their hearts, not in the house and they were both excited at the prospects of my living an adventurous new lifestyle. Yeah, it makes me cry every time I think about it.

I put together a timetable to buy the motorhome and sell the house. I needed to get my credit card debt under control so I could qualify for a home equity loan to by the RV so I spent 6 months diligently paying them down and lived under a strict spending moratorium. By January of 2016, I qualified for the loan and went shopping for my new home on wheels. (I’ll discuss the RV buying process in another post.)

I knew I wanted to put the house on the market March 1, 2017, with the expectation of retiring and leaving New Jersey in May. A year before I would list it, I asked a realtor friend to come by and give me an honest evaluation of its selling price and advice on improvements that might be needed.

As a result, I had one of the bathrooms gutted and remodeled but everything else seemed to be in good enough condition to sell. I did the bathroom almost a year before moving because I felt that if I was going to spend all that money, I should have time to enjoy it myself.

I held several yard sales over the past two years to clean out as much “junk” as I could ahead of time and I spent an entire month getting the house ready to show. It may be the hardest work I’ve ever done. The back-breaking and emotionally draining challenge of getting rid of everything left me in tears on a few occasions. In the end, I gave away or donated all my furniture and household items.

I didn’t want any surprises when it came time for a buyer to have the house inspected so I paid for a preemptive inspection of my own. It was very educational on the things they look for and it gave me peace of mind that we had maintained the house well over the years and there were no real problems that needed to be fixed.

My daughter, Michelle, with me on my last day in the house after nearly 33 years.

The house was listed on March 1, as planned, and sold in 11 days. The sale went remarkably smoothly with no issues from the home inspection or the C.O. inspection and we closed on May 1.

RETIREMENT:

I was privileged to have a successful and rewarding 44-year career as a graphic artist and on May 26, 2017, I retired after nearly 10 years with my current employer. It was bittersweet in that I was eager to retire and move on to my next phase of life but I left behind many dear friends.

Queen for a Day… My coworkers made me wear a tiara and sash announcing it was my retirement celebration.

Some of my colleagues helping me celebrate my retirement.

 

 

My name is Lindsay Reed and I’m a photographer and graphic artist with a passion for both lighthouses and road trips. I am living as a full-time solo RVer in my 31 foot Coachmen motorhome and plan to spend the next few years traveling the U.S. and Canada photographing not only lighthouses, but everything else there is to see in this wonderful land. I hope you enjoy my blog and will follow my adventures in the months and years ahead.