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Old 12-01-2013, 02:48 PM   #1
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Land Based Homes??

I'm still relatively new to the forum, but I had a question for those who live aboard.

How many of you maintain a fixed land based "home", be it a condo, townhome or house?

I've noticed a lot of the posts were people have sold their homes, belongings, etc., and moved aboard permanently, or I guess until they no longer want or are able to.

We have a paid for home, and in my mid 50's, the thought of starting over if the need were to arise, really concerns me. I really like the idea of living aboard, and I can see me doing it for months at a time, maybe a year or so if the route is right, but not sure I would want to do it forever. So how many of you actually keep a "dirt" address as a backup plan?

Hopefully this is not a redundant question or one to stupid to be responded to

Thanks,

OD
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Old 12-01-2013, 05:45 PM   #2
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We maintain a home in AZ and as much as it would make sense to sell we are probably going to rent it out to any snowbirds for the winter, its tough maintaining a property that you are not at very much.

Our thought is that to replace a paid for house dpwn the road will be expensive and then you have to be careful you dont spend all your home money on your boat if you decide to sell the house.

We prefer the old adage of "not keeping all your eggs in one basket"

I am going to try and sell my car that sits in the garage in AZ, its a nice car and I really love it but not enough to keep it while we keep boating.

And no your question is not stupid or redundant, maintaining a home also helps your insurance premium as you are not deemed a liveaboard if you maintain a permanent residence.

Good luck
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Old 12-01-2013, 05:55 PM   #3
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Thanks GWKIWI.
That was exactly the feedback I was looking for.
You hit every concern I had and addressed them well.

Anyone else want to chime in?

Thanks all.

OD
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Old 12-01-2013, 06:13 PM   #4
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Our "plan" is to rent the house out through a property management agency I have a long standing relationship with. Our house is fairly modest so it lends itself well to that sort of thing. Frankly we would probably remodel the house after finished living aboard for a period of time anyway so whatever damage is done by renters is of no concern to us. I'm not a fan of concentrated eggs either, diversification and exit strategies are my stock in trade.
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Old 12-01-2013, 06:17 PM   #5
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We sold everything. We may or may not get another house. I know we won't purchase again.
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Old 12-01-2013, 06:27 PM   #6
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I have been interested in this issue for 15 years. My conclusion in asking everyone is that selling the house only works if it is strongly supported by the woman. Otherwise the cruising career is short. In the Caribbean about half the cruisers have land based homes and the other have are full time. Full time cruisers tend to have slightly larger boats than those who go home for months. Many of the full time cruisers have rented their homes rather than selling them for the reasons of staying in the real estate market, and also not losing a house they are comfortable in.

My suggestion is plan on cruising where you can get back to the house and then go back after 3 months and make a decision.

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I doubt I would survive if I suggest to my wife that we sell the house.
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Old 12-01-2013, 08:56 PM   #7
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I haven't lived aboard, but we moved to Canada for 5 years. This involved cutting back to 3 suitcases each. Rather than selling our house in Australia we reduced our belongings to what was really important, and stored it in half of the garage which we isolated with a temporary wall. Then rented out the house through an agent.

Upon returning, we didn't have to start over. We renovated, and replaced floor coverings (tax deductible) while the house was empty, then unpacked the garage. All too easy!

This approach avoided the hassle and costs of repurchasing a house, and storage and furniture moving costs. We ended up with renovated house and a garage that we could again fit two cars in. Something I hadn't been able to do for 20 years due to accumulated junk.
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Old 12-01-2013, 09:04 PM   #8
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I am going to try and sell my car that sits in the garage in AZ, its a nice car and I really love it but not enough to keep it while we keep boating.
gwkiwi, can you tell me more about the car? We have a place in the NW corner of Phoenix and have considered buying an inexpensive car to go along with our inexpensive truck.

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Old 12-02-2013, 09:20 AM   #9
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Had to chime in on this one. Lot of good points already, and one of the most important is getting the wife to buy in. Its different for everyone but our plan is this;
*Selling our 4 bdrm house and moving aboard fulltime, don't need a big house kids are gone and needed to downsize anyway.
*Selling everything we don't need and only keeping antiques and keepsakes that will fit in a 10X20 storage unit.
*Buying a modest yacht prob round 40 feet max,under 175K
*If for some reason things don't work out will buy a Condo on or near water and downsize boat a bit.
*Live aboard for 6-10 years while still healthy and sell boat and get RV
Everything is give and take, I had to convert from sailboats to a "trawler" to keep the wife happy and she agreed to get rid of 90% of clothes and shoes. Selling the house was a no brainer. I wish I was where you are, a lot of nice Ocean Alexanders out that way, cant seem to find what we want here on the East Coast........................................Brad& Michelle
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Old 12-02-2013, 10:14 AM   #10
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We been a live aboard for 18 years as my wife bought to big of a boat. We sold the house and down size to a condo, but we never did move into it. Our children and now grandchildren have lived in it while going to school. We plan on selling the condo next July when I retire and buy a motor home to be snow birds. We will not buy another land dwelling. We will rent and/or be mobile. Living on the boat June thru September and head south October thru May. Once you get rid of most of your worldly stuff, you find out you really do not need them, and they are a burden to have/maintain.
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Old 12-02-2013, 11:04 AM   #11
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We spend 50-70 percent of our time on the boat and have a place in the mountains. The Boss would not be comfortable without a land base. However the need to see grand children is almost always the thing that gets us off the boat.
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Old 12-02-2013, 12:55 PM   #12
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I lived aboard for almost 23 great years.

Now we just cruise a month up north and a month in Fl .

2 Homes , UGH property taxes , but keeping a 33ft , a 23 ft and a 50 ft on my own property reduces the cost of boating.

A pied a terre here on a FL canal at a Hurricane Hole is not that !! expensive , under $100k for a place with a dock and a small building , or a house trailer.

UP the river 55 miles from FT Meyers , so it takes a day to get to the Gulf (2 days to the Atlantic) , but its cruising .
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Old 12-02-2013, 01:27 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Off Duty View Post
How many of you maintain a fixed land based "home", be it a condo, townhome or house?

SNIP

We have a paid for home, and in my mid 50's, the thought of starting over if the need were to arise, really concerns me. I really like the idea of living aboard, and I can see me doing it for months at a time, maybe a year or so if the route is right, but not sure I would want to do it forever. So how many of you actually keep a "dirt" address as a backup plan?
I have no dirt though one box of autographed books is at my Kidlet's house in Pensacola. Seaweed is home.

HOWEVER I see you "really like the idea of living aboard, and I can see me doing it for months at a time, maybe a year or so if the route is right," and from your own words I would suggest that you not sell out. Boating is fine for me and perhaps you but at this stage cutting the cords to dirt would not be in my view a wise decision. It will be a lot easier to enjoy boating if you have a choice to return to your former life.

Anyway, that's my take on your particular situation. And as the fellows have stated "happy wife, happy life" ...

Good luck to you and yours.
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Old 12-02-2013, 03:21 PM   #14
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We paid our home off several years ago & I can't ever see my wife not wanting to keep it. We are both retired, I spend most of the time from March thru November on the boat, she will come over every couple of weeks for a few days, 3 or 4 days at a time. She likes her garden, flowers & having green grass to tend to, me not so much. She has said that next fall will be a good time to point the boat south and spend the winter somewhere more pleasant than the midwest. If she does go with me we'll be back here for the holidays with family & then back to the boat & bring it back to the Mississippi in the spring. I'am just a lot more comfortable on a boat & really miss it when I'am home, like now I'am counting the days till spring & I can be back aboard.
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Old 12-02-2013, 07:04 PM   #15
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gwkiwi, can you tell me more about the car? We have a place in the NW corner of Phoenix and have considered buying an inexpensive car to go along with our inexpensive truck.

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Its a 2007 Mercedes 320E Blue Tech Diesel fully loaded in immaculate condition and its not cheap, I am thinking around 19K I think, was over $60K new.
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Old 12-02-2013, 07:23 PM   #16
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Kudo's to "Off Duty", great post. To sell or not to sell, the wife & I are agonizing over this very decision. It was always a part of our plan to sell the house when we moved aboard but as the day draws rapidly closer, we are having serious second thoughts.

Financially and logically it makes no sense whatsoever to keep it, it's too big, maintenance intensive and not suitable to renting out. Part of our problem is it is a very unique home that would be impossible to replace should we want to move back to land, the other hard part is that by virtue of size it has become a repository of family antiques and mementos that have been passed down for generations. In keeping with our plan I started selling this stuff off but it is getting increasingly difficult as I get down to our so-called prized possessions.

It is encouraging to know that so many have somehow gotten over these hurdles, as far as the stuff goes I'm thinking of renting a storage unit for the things we seemingly can't part with and see how things go. As to the house we are at an impasse and simply can't decide but I suspect common sense will eventually have to prevail.

I am thinking of one of those reverse mortgage type deals where they pay you a monthly amount and you get to stay in the house until death, has anybody gone this route? At a glance, it seems to me this might offer the best of both worlds and eliminates the need to sell anything. Thoughts anyone?
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Old 12-02-2013, 08:18 PM   #17
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Capt Kangeroo

First question is in which country is your house. My comments pertain only to the United States.

Reverse mortgages usually have a provision that the note is called if you are no longer living in the house. While this clearly rules out any rental it may or may not stop you from cruising depending upon the language in the mortgage/note and how the lender interprets the clause. You would need to be careful as to how many months you will be out of the house or whether you are essentially moving out. Same is true with your home insurance which also typically has a no vacant house provision.

Marty
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Old 12-02-2013, 08:51 PM   #18
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Capt Kangeroo

First question is in which country is your house. My comments pertain only to the United States.

Reverse mortgages usually have a provision that the note is called if you are no longer living in the house. While this clearly rules out any rental it may or may not stop you from cruising depending upon the language in the mortgage/note and how the lender interprets the clause. You would need to be careful as to how many months you will be out of the house or whether you are essentially moving out. Same is true with your home insurance which also typically has a no vacant house provision.

Marty
An unoccupied home can be difficult to insure. For some reason unoccupied homes can cause spontaneous combustion.
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Old 12-02-2013, 10:23 PM   #19
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I'm land-bound 93 percent of the time, so I'm keeping my land-based home.

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Old 12-02-2013, 10:37 PM   #20
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We are full time liveaboards, and the only land based property we have is a rented storage unit. Kathy and I are not addicted to stuff, and prefer the scaled down lifestyle.

If and when we move back onto dirt, it'll be a small rented place. That being said, we have no immediate plans to do so- we're having too much fun doing what we are doing.
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