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Old 05-19-2008, 09:05 AM   #1
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After months of preperation and anxiety, we started our fulltime lifestyle yesterday! We sold the house, cleaned it out and got out of Dodge. The house sale was incredible in itself. The wife and I have watched several months of HGTV, and came to the conclusion that the only houses that were selling quick were super clean and staged. A fact our realtor enphasized.

I went through the whole house, painted it inside and out, put granite counters in the kitchen, and remodeled the kitchen cabnets with fresh paint and new hardware. We "decluttered" the house, and took out all the "personal" items on the walls.

When we put it on the market I got up and cleaned and vaccummed the whole house every day (we have an inside dog) so it had to be pristeen. We had about 25 to 30 realtors bring potential buyers through in 3 weeks. We accepted an offer at 3 weeks, and the escrow wound up being 3 weeks. We were hustling big time, but we made it. We gave away or sold most everything, and only kept some pictures and momentos that didn't fill a 5X5 storage unit.

Loading the MH was an experience as well! We had to keep reminding ourselves that if it didn't fit, it had to go. In the end we did pretty good, but there will still be some refining to do.

I did have some modifications done to the inside of the MH to make it more useful. I had the bank of drawers next to the kitchen sink nearly doubled in size (depth). While Winnie did a good job with the interior design of the Itasca, the builders took the easy way out on some stuff. By remodeling the structure of the drawers, we were able to add about 8" to every drawer, and completely add a 4th drawer that had just been a false front. I will add some pics of the new drawers when things settle a bit.

Also added was a new clothes hamper in the corner of the bedroom, under the existing TV which is mounted from the roof. By mirroring the shape of the TV cabinet, my carpenter was able to make the cabinet look better than the factory cabinets. It has a top that lifts up to deposit clothes, and a big door on the front that opens to make the removal of the clothes a breeze. It is made out of the same wood as the RV cabinets and the stain matching was perfect. The cabinet is 40" tall and does not interfere with movement in the bedroom. I will post up some pics of this mod as well.

We also had a long narrow cabinet at the end of the existing cabinets that the wife had a hard time making useful. At the wifes suggestion, my carpenter added 3 shelves to the cabinet, and now she has a place to store the variety of spices that she cooks with. Another great idea!

Next I am going to have my carpenter build a wine rack for the wife on the end of one of the kitchen cabinets. Gotta take care of the important stuff!!

Next I want to find a place to get another 4 corner weight in case I need to make an adjustment in the tire pressures.

We are fulltiming local for the next month and a half, until the wife can retire, then we are off and running!!

Sarge
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Old 05-19-2008, 09:05 AM   #2
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After months of preperation and anxiety, we started our fulltime lifestyle yesterday! We sold the house, cleaned it out and got out of Dodge. The house sale was incredible in itself. The wife and I have watched several months of HGTV, and came to the conclusion that the only houses that were selling quick were super clean and staged. A fact our realtor enphasized.

I went through the whole house, painted it inside and out, put granite counters in the kitchen, and remodeled the kitchen cabnets with fresh paint and new hardware. We "decluttered" the house, and took out all the "personal" items on the walls.

When we put it on the market I got up and cleaned and vaccummed the whole house every day (we have an inside dog) so it had to be pristeen. We had about 25 to 30 realtors bring potential buyers through in 3 weeks. We accepted an offer at 3 weeks, and the escrow wound up being 3 weeks. We were hustling big time, but we made it. We gave away or sold most everything, and only kept some pictures and momentos that didn't fill a 5X5 storage unit.

Loading the MH was an experience as well! We had to keep reminding ourselves that if it didn't fit, it had to go. In the end we did pretty good, but there will still be some refining to do.

I did have some modifications done to the inside of the MH to make it more useful. I had the bank of drawers next to the kitchen sink nearly doubled in size (depth). While Winnie did a good job with the interior design of the Itasca, the builders took the easy way out on some stuff. By remodeling the structure of the drawers, we were able to add about 8" to every drawer, and completely add a 4th drawer that had just been a false front. I will add some pics of the new drawers when things settle a bit.

Also added was a new clothes hamper in the corner of the bedroom, under the existing TV which is mounted from the roof. By mirroring the shape of the TV cabinet, my carpenter was able to make the cabinet look better than the factory cabinets. It has a top that lifts up to deposit clothes, and a big door on the front that opens to make the removal of the clothes a breeze. It is made out of the same wood as the RV cabinets and the stain matching was perfect. The cabinet is 40" tall and does not interfere with movement in the bedroom. I will post up some pics of this mod as well.

We also had a long narrow cabinet at the end of the existing cabinets that the wife had a hard time making useful. At the wifes suggestion, my carpenter added 3 shelves to the cabinet, and now she has a place to store the variety of spices that she cooks with. Another great idea!

Next I am going to have my carpenter build a wine rack for the wife on the end of one of the kitchen cabinets. Gotta take care of the important stuff!!

Next I want to find a place to get another 4 corner weight in case I need to make an adjustment in the tire pressures.

We are fulltiming local for the next month and a half, until the wife can retire, then we are off and running!!

Sarge
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Old 05-19-2008, 09:45 AM   #3
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Congratulations and good luck on taking the big step. Makes many of us very jealous but will travel with you vicariously. Will be anxious to see picts of your mods.
Bon voyage!
Bill
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Old 05-19-2008, 09:53 AM   #4
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Wow, congratulations! It sounds like you did a great job on your house, I am a real estate broker, so I know it isn't easy to "de-personalize" your home, but all of your work obviously paid off. The modifications on your Itasca sound really great, too!

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Old 05-19-2008, 09:56 AM   #5
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Congratulations I can't wait until we can put our house on the block.
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Old 05-19-2008, 10:19 AM   #6
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I can identify!!!!!! We have to be out next Wed. Taking the MH out friday and will make that home for 2 weeks, last day of work is June 10 for both of us. Followed pretty much the same routine you did to sell, seemed very strange to not have any Grandkids pictures on the wall. But it worked. We have a cabin in the mountians so we won't be full timeing it. I looked at the stack of boxes yesterday and said to the DW I wonder how people get down to just the Motor Home ? Sold and gave away tons of furniture and clothes as it is. ( Goodwill likes us ) Best of everything to You !!!
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Old 05-19-2008, 10:56 AM   #7
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Yeah, I had my doubts for a while wether we would make the deadline or not. Seperating yourself from "stuff" is a little nerve wracking, and liberating at the same time. I can't emphasize enough the staging and decluttering the house. Everyone that walked through thought that it was beautiful. My realtor made a point of calling each realtor that came through with clients and asked what their buyers thought of the house. Even if they thought the layout wasn't to their liking, or not big enough (1700 sq ft) they always thought it shown well.

Being pro-active in this market is really important.
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Old 05-19-2008, 01:22 PM   #8
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SargeW...
Congrats on what sounds to be an easy transition!
I am sure you will keep us up to date on your travels and adventures!


MM



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Old 05-19-2008, 01:40 PM   #9
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SargeW, again congratulations on the sale and retirement. Glad to hear that you are weighing the coach to be sure you are not overloaded and setting of tire pressures. We did this 6 years ago and know what you have accomplished. Good luck and stay safe.
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Old 05-19-2008, 01:55 PM   #10
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Thanks Mama, Mike. hey Mike, how would you rate your fulltime experience for the last 6 years? Still glad you did, and would you do anything different?

Sarge
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Old 05-21-2008, 01:39 AM   #11
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Sarge,

We are very glad we went full time and would do it again in a heartbeat. We had a learning curve but with the help of iRV2.com we did our homework and the transition was very good. Since we are not retired we have to earn our way as we go. I guess now I would have found a job that might move every 6 to 8 weeks and paid for the move and perdiem. We are now looking for work in the CHattanooga, Tn area; wish us luck.
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Old 05-21-2008, 05:00 AM   #12
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I didn't realize that you were still working Mike. That would definitely add a different dimension to day to day life. Are you a RV tech by trade? Or is that just a hobby? I wish you lots of luck with your search. Since we are just starting out, I'm sure that we will go through the same curve. But it's still exciting!

Sarge
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Old 05-21-2008, 06:26 AM   #13
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SargeW,congrats on seeing your dream come true. I'm sure it will be a great adventure for you,keep us posted.

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Old 05-21-2008, 06:31 AM   #14
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I am so envious of many of you full-timers. I am a Vice-Principal with a wife and 2 young daughters and would so love to travel around this great continent with them. To have my children grow up learning about life from real experiences is so appealing unfortunately we are not independently wealthy yet. Two months of full-time RVing is the best we can hope for at the moment. Enjoy your time and thanks for posting your story makes me yearn for the time when my wife and I will become full-time RVer's.
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