Well, it is time for us to officially announce changes in our lives that a few people knew were coming and many have suspected.
Linda & I will be discontinuing our full-time RV lifestyle very soon. We'll continue to be RVers, we'll still speak at RV shows, and we'll still do our educational rallies if there is enough demand, but it has come time for a new chapter in our lives after almost 15 years on the road living in an RV.
The Decision
This decision has come about a bit quicker than either of us suspected. In 2017 when we purchased a patio villa home in The Villages (located in Central Florida), ....
we knew that the house would be a different "exit plan" than we had envisioned up to that point. Until then, we figured we would park our fifth wheel in an RV community somewhere when we were ready to cut back on traveling or unable to travel.
Most of you know the story about that purchase. All along, we thought we would be selling the home of my elderly parents in Louisville, Kentucky to pay for their long-term care at end of life. However, my mother passed away rather suddenly in 2014, and we were able to tap into a relatively unknown veterans benefit to keep my father in the house until he passed away at the age of 94 in late 2016. In the end, we owned a house in Louisville that we didn't want, and rather than investing the proceeds of the sale in the financial markets, we decided to use those proceeds to purchase a house in The Villages.
That decision was based on the instability of financial markets, the opportunity to produce some rental income for as long as we continued to travel, and as a new, more solid exit plan in case something happened to either of us or we felt it was time to get off the road.
The Villages is a 55+ community and is a big playground with so many sports options for me and so many artistic and social options for Linda, plus her mother lives in The Villages and her sister isn't far away.
At the time of the house purchase in the summer of 2017, I was hoping for five more years of full-timing while Linda was ready to settle down anytime. In fact, she decorated the home as if we were moving in, although the plan all along was to rent it.
The purchase of that villa led to selling our beloved fifth wheel and downsizing to our current Class C motorhome, since we then knew that we would not ultimately be living out our later years stationary in an RV.
Again, I was hoping to RV another five years. However, during the holidays at the end of 2018, I announced that I too was ready to become a "Villager". Linda was shocked that I was the one that decided we would be moving into a house sooner rather than later.
While visiting The Villages, I loved getting up early in the morning, hopping on a golf cart and going out to play pickleball, basketball, ping pong, or golf. Sometimes I would play three sports in the same day, and I met the nicest people.
My love for nature and travel is only matched by my love for athletics and competition. Apparently, for me, the endorphins released by experiencing natural beauty on a hike are also released at favorable levels by competitive sports and the related exercise. It's one of the very few things I've missed during our travels.
The Villages is billed as "Florida's Friendliest Hometown", and while there are news reports and incidents that may suggest otherwise, the more time we've spent here, the more we have enjoyed being here. It was already starting to feel like home and, even though the side-by-side houses and closeness of neighbors isn't what we envisioned as a place to settle, the other aspects of living in this very active community are quite appealing.
For those that may be interested in learning more, here is a 33-minute "lifestyle" video. It was made four years ago, so some things have changed, but it's a really good overview.
All I can say is 1) we'll be happy to answer any questions anyone has about the community, and 2) don't believe everything you read online about The Villages posted by people that don't live here. There are, for some reason, a lot of people that really hate The Villages, but the residents feel like it's paradise. There are at least three other RV-Dreams family couples that have settled here that we know of. And we'll be happy to be ambassadors for any others that may be contemplating this community as an option.
So, the decision was actually made at the end of 2018, and our 2019 Alaska trip was sort of the big finish of our full-timing adventures. Alaska was where it all started with our visit back in 2004 which ultimately led us into RV living, and it would be our final major RV trip 15 years later.
The Move-In Plan
We had a tenant in our villa whose lease was up November 1, 2019, and that was our projected move-in date. However, he skipped out on the lease, and rather than have the house vacant and not producing income for several months (and rather than suing him), we acquired another tenant for a year and the new lease extended the date to July 1, 2020.
That threw a bit of a wrench into our plans, but being RVers for this long, we have come to expect such changes and we rolled with it. We decided we would just hang out at Recreation Plantation, an RV park just outside The Villages, for the winter. With guest passes from Linda's Mom, we could still "play" in The Villages and get to know more of the people and activities that we wanted to be involved with.
We could also get set up with new doctors, dentists, and various other service providers.
In addition, Linda had an idea for a business as a Personal Home Project Assistant helping "Villagers" with projects that they can't physically do by themselves anymore or for which they would just like an assistant. So, we thought we'd get her business up and running in November/December as one of her specialties will be holiday decorating and take-down.
In the Spring, the plan was to head north, hold our 2020 Spring Educational Rally in Tennessee, and travel for a couple more months until we returned in the summer to move in.
Linda's New Business
Well, since we arrived at Recreation Plantation on November 1, things have changed again.
Before I get to that, we worked quickly on getting Linda's business set up. It's called "Your 2nd Pair of Hands" and offers:
- Home Organizing
- Decluttering
- Holiday Decorating & Take-down
- Packing & Unpacking
- Party Planning & Assistance
- Yard Sale/Garage Sale Assistance
- Minor Home Modifications
- And Much More
We got a logo, .....
and we're working on a website. We did what we needed to do to have the business officially recognized, and we bought her a van - a 1999 Nissan Quest in great shape. She designed some car magnets for the van, and we got her a business cell phone with a local area code.
Unfortunately, the van turned out to have a couple of issues, but after a few days in the shop and a little more cash investment than we'd hoped, it's now running great.
Linda's first project was creating space in her Mom's laundry room. She re-organized and painted, and she even knocked out some drywall and installed recessed shelves. Now she has some "before and after" photos to add to her website.
All was going according to the plan we laid out above, but that didn't last long.
The New Move-In Plan
Our tenant is a wonderful widower that is so nice, prompt with payment, and he loves the house. We've visited him a few times and he has kept the house immaculate. His intent is to never own property again, and it was going to be tough to have to make him leave so we could move in next summer. If allowed, he would likely stay as long as his health holds up.
So that got us thinking again. We had sort of discussed buying another house, but I was resistant because I hate debt and being without debt for the last 15 years has been awesome.
However, on Friday, November 15, we seriously re-visited buying that second house. We went to the mortgage company to see what we could qualify for, and we got a commitment letter. I had somewhat reluctantly bought into this second house idea.
As long as we could buy another house where the rental income from our first patio villa would cover the mortgage and most of the costs of the second property, I was onboard. Oh, and we wanted a "turnkey" property that was furnished and had everything we would need to move in.
That same night, I found a furnished patio villa in our price range that was just put on the market a few hours earlier.
It looked like a great deal with a large screened patio (aka "birdcage") that is a rarity in these smaller homes, .....
and a golf cart was included.
A hot tub in the "birdcage" is also included, although we would need to have it inspected to make sure it's operating properly.
The interior looked move-in ready.
I called the realtor, and Linda arranged to see the house as soon as possible the next morning while I was participating in my first pickleball tournament.
Linda loved the house, and I loved the price and value. She made an offer requesting the house be "turnkey" rather than just "furnished", and I signed the contract electronically. The seller is motivated, and she accepted our offer. So, one day after deciding to "look" for a second house, we bought one. We're scheduled to close December 9 and we get possession on that day. We'll move in on December 10, Linda's birthday.
It's not in the central part of The Villages we would have preferred, but it's a nice house and priced right in the older, more mature section which is actually one of the prettier areas of the community. And since we'll be able to keep our rental property and the rent will cover the mortgage on the new house, we're no worse off from a cash flow standpoint with the bonus of now having two houses that will be appreciating in value over the years.
We've been working with our financial advisers, and we're in pretty good shape. But we don't want to draw out as much as we could while we're still healthy enough to generate some income. We're keeping our RV and we'll keep RV-Dreams alive, although it will be different. We're still figuring out how that might look going forward, and we will be asking you to help us with that down the road.
Linda's going to work her business while we're in The Villages, but she is determined to work only the projects she wants and the hours she is willing to work.
I'll be working on changes to RV-Dreams, and I'll get back to our NatureTravelers.com website which I've neglected. The ironic thing regarding the websites is that I'll now have more time to spend on them since we'll be traveling less. Well, in theory anyway. With all my potential sports endeavors, I probably won't have as much time as I think.
All in all, it looks like our new life in The Villages is going to cost us just about the same as our life on the road. So, we'll once again work on covering those expenses while still trying to keep the balance of work and play that we've strived to maintain the last fifteen years.
Of course, we have further ideas to supplement our income.
First, our intent is to rent out our new house for at least January through March each year, and we'll just travel in the RV or otherwise. The peak season brings in ridiculous rent and there is more demand than there is supply. Renting the house January through March would nearly cover all expenses of owning the house such as property taxes, homeowner's insurance, the monthly amenity fee, and all utilities for the year.
Second, we'll likely make the house available for short-term daily or weekly rentals during the rest of the year. It'll be great for friends and family that come to visit folks in The Villages or for those that are possibly considering the community for their retirement. We'll just move into the RV for those short periods.
Third, the plan is to use the peer-to-peer RV rental sites to rent out our RV during the times we aren't using it. If we can rent it enough to pay for RV insurance and our storage costs, that would be great. Of course, anyone renting our Class C motorhome will get wonderful training.
In Conclusion
So, there it is. We've been contemplating this announcement and when to make it for several months. It is our intent to still be a part of the RV world, but we're still unsure what that's going to look like going forward.
As I say at the end of every Rally, choking back tears, because of our life as full-time RVers, the places we've been, the people we've met, and the experiences we've had over the last fifteen years, I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and have absolutely no regrets. We did it our way, but with the love and support of so many people, and for that we'll be forever thankful and grateful.
With that said, our decision to stop RVing full-time has been easier because of all of our adventures. We certainly haven't seen it all, but we've experienced so much, that we're becoming harder and harder to impress. Places and sights that would have awed us in our first few years on the road no longer carry the same impact. When the excitement starts wearing off, the planning seems more burdensome, and, for us, it's time for a new chapter.
The good news is we're still relatively young, so if we tire of living in The Villages, we can go be full-time RVers again .... or we could start a whole different chapter. In the meantime, if we can still assist and inspire those seeking their RV-Dreams, we hope to in some way continue what has become a labor of love for us.
With all our hearts, thank you for your support and kindness and for being a part of these last fifteen amazing years. And if you are traveling through central Florida, please stop and see us.
Safe travels and continue to follow your dreams whatever they may be.
With love,
Howard & Linda
P.S. We will still be posting here periodically for the foreseeable future to update you on RV-Dreams and RV-related happenings. For example, there is a planned picnic for RV-Dreamers in the central Florida area scheduled for December 8, so we'll be posting a few details on that very soon.
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