Flying The Coop

[Charlotte's Web]

Greetings!
Like most all here, I've got decisions to make.   Big decisions.  Life changing decisions.
And like most of you, I imagine, I find it tricky to make decisions with so many things in our world wildly unpredictable & changing faster than sanity allows. 

All my life I have been an adventure traveler.  But also a homebody, with gardens & goats & bee hives.  And just when I'd decided the wise & liberating thing would be to sell my little farm & join the wandering tribe, I began to realize that, this world being what it is, (& what it may become) it might be wiser to rent my cottage & homestead so that, if the proverbial SHFT happens, this might still be a *damn good place*  to come home to. 

I am feeling overwhelmed getting my place ready to rent by this time next year.  My cottage has suffered from years of deferred maintenance, the result of lower income. rising taxes & higher living costs.  I am guessing many of you know exactly what I mean.  So I must tackle most home repairs myself, some involving high ladders.  A miracle is what's needed.   But courage & elbow grease will have to do! 

Have some of you been thru anything resembling this?  How it is going?  How are you managing it?  (Vacating a rural home after many decades is not like moving out of a college dorm room!)  Have any of you rented your homes and flown the coop?   How has that worked out?  Any tips, suggestions, reports, or learned lessons would be much appreciated.
 
Looking forward to the journey with all of you!

:shy:

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums, CW! I know a few people went the rental route. I'd say it's a pretty even split as to how it worked out. I haven't been a home owner for many years and love not having that rock around my neck.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[Wabbit]

Hi Charlotte's Web! There are some here on the forum(myself included), that would love a bolt hole(own property). Is it possible for you to not worry about the property (except for taxes lol) and still chase what you're looking for? Do the math, what are property taxes divided by 12? You have a storage place(granted not that secure with no one on site), you have security if shat does hit the fan. A real residential address? Priceless(almost, give it a few years and it might be). Take your time, try it before you buy it, blah blah, insert A-dult thinking here.

With a homestead?already there, you have options lots of them! Whatever you do, trust yourself. You got this far in life, you're doing great!!!! Its almost all gravy now...lol. Take care!

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I find my mind is in a constant battle on whether or not to keep my house and live full time on the road or not. I like having chickens and a garden as well as a workshop for woodworking so not sure how I'd do giving all that up. I've always traveled a lot though, taking multi month trips on the road and it's always been a good compromise. However, keeping a property and traveling like that takes a fair amount of money. Now that i'm on disability, I have to ponder if it's financially wise to do both. Luckily I don't have a mortgage on the house so that takes a lot of the edge off, but there's still taxes, utilities, etc.

Personally I'd never consider renting, especially my personal home. I've worked for too many landlords over the years and I can count on one finger how many of them would do it again if they could start over. A bad tenant can do thousands in damage between pets peeing inside to letting water spill all over the bathroom every time they take a shower and everything in between. On the other hand, the same landlords say when you get a good tenant they're worth their weight in gold, but sometimes you have to cycle through quite a few tenants to find them.

 

[Charlotte's Web]

With a homestead?  already there, you have options lots of them! Whatever you do, trust yourself. You got this far in life, you're doing great!!!! Its almost all gravy now...lol. Take care!

Hi Wabbit & thank you for the encouragement!
Yes, I have done the math.  Housing is in high demand in my neck of the woods,  rents are high.  I could travel on what I would receive in rent & still have half left over to put aside.  Even after taxes & homeowners insurance.  Leaving this homestead unattended would be foolish.   Out of the question.   It would be ransacked & squatters ensue.   It needs looking after, orchard pruned, fruit picked, wild animals kept at bay.

I created this homestead from the ground up.  Designed and built the cottage and big barn, & planted a good sized orchard years ago which bears much fruit.   I also developed a nice organic garden, with asparagus bed, artichokes, and culinary herbs along with all the rest of the annual summer veges.  I have two citrus trees that give many lemons and limes.  I still have 3 milk goats, make yogurt and cheese, keep chickens, pick huge quantities of edible mushroom on my land every winter, can and pickle and grind my own flour. 

But I am feeling burned out, much as I love all of these activities.  I  need some serious travel time.  I have been at this since the mid seventies. Even tho I managed to travel three months every winter! 

My plan is to find a young couple to rent to for one year.  Then I will reassess the situation.  They would have to have homesteading in mind & the skills to look after and care for a country place and keep up with repairs.  This homesteading/organic lifestyle is popular here, but land and housing is too expensive now for most young couples to afford.  I've got ten acres and a sustainable amount of hardwood trees to fire  my woodstove and then some.  Also, I have a deep drilled well with good clean water that meets all my needs.  I love life here, but I also have itchy feet...

I see you have a Dodge with a 360.  I am looking for a new- to- me travel rig, and there is something about the older Dodge vans I like.  I am exceedingly partial, however, to those little Toyota rigs.  I care not that they are slow and underpowered, I am a rubbernecker & anyway used to my Westy!  I have a really nice '85 VW Westfalia I've owned almost 20 years, but am getting ready to sell.  They are just too expensive for me to maintain anymore.  I've been all over mainland Mexico and back at least a dozen times in that Westy and she's never failed me.   Who knows what rig I'll decide on.  That's the least of my worries at the moment.
Cheers!

 

[Charlotte's Web]

Hello, ARLH, thank you for your thoughts on this matter.
Like you, I am not a bit comfortable with even the thought, yet, of anyone living in my own home.  But I realized some time ago that I could no longer afford to live here & keep up with the work and expense on my own while continuing to travel months out of the year.  It's a wrenching choice.

I hear what you say about tenants.  I only hope that I can find a responsible young couple through leads in my greater community.  Only recently in my life am I finding so many decisions and choices to be made so full of land mines.  It is the times we live in, I think.  

I feel sure now, as opposed to a year ago when I still entertained the notion of selling and full timing, that no matter how challenging, financially and otherwise, I must hang on to my pretty and productive little homestead.   It could get ugly out there.   Gasoline could become an issue.  Boondocking might become less viable, etc.  It's all a crap shoot, let's face it!  

So we must all get on with our lives, follow our chosen paths, adapt and overcome.   As a friend said recently, "the new normal may be horrifying, it may be anxiety producing, & may be deeply troubling, but at least it ain't boring".

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. 











[/quote]

 

[AbuelaLoca]

Welcome to the forum, Charlotte's Web! I have the opposite problem as you; I rent and my paycheck barely covers all the living expenses! The biggest obstacle for me is a source of income once I hit the road. It sounds like you've made your decision, though, as have I, that being on the road full-time is the ultimate goal! Lots of folks here with experience and knowledge worth millions of dollars and willing to share!

 

[VanKitten]

CHarolette,

I have been a landlord for most of 30 years. With very short periods of time, I have not lived anywhere near the properties.

Also, I have been an active member of the Upstate Realestate Club. Sadly, far too many people think just what you are thinking. "I'll fix it up and rent it..make money". It almost never happens until after the new landlord goes through an expensive school of hard knocks.

Before you decide to rent. Learn all of your State landlord/tenant law. Memorize it. Join an investors club for rental property or real estate club. You have a lot of things to know, and making a mistake can cost you a lot of money (not just lost rent...legal fees, damages, court cost, etc).

DO NOT hire a property management company. Their interest in not the same as yours! They are trying to make money...they get it from you. They are not interested in your bottom line..only their own.

Ok...this is quite doable. Hire your own guys to do jobs for you. Have a list of professionals (plumbers, handyman, etc) that you have a relationship with to call on. Keep all decision in your own hands. And..rule one... Never rent to friends or family...they will take advantage of you. Two... No tenant is always cheaper than a bad tenant. Three... screen, screen, screen. Never believe anything until you verify it for yourself. PM me if you want a few links to various good sources of information and help.

 

[ArtW]

Hi CW! I'm sort of on the other side of this: I'm renting to own a bit of dirt in an unincorporated township with no codes
another year and it's mine, then I can fast track paying my other debt, and start saving for better times
Good luck with your endeavors, whichever way you choose to go

 

[Charlotte's Web]

!Hola AbuelaLoca!
I've been following your progress and was pleased to see you've found a pretty blue van and brought her home.  Congratulations.

I am *so grateful* for all the technical help available here.  (Not to mention moral support)  Goddess, I need that! Once I've found a new-to-me rig, I too,  will be excited to dig in & start getting her outfitted.

My travels began in the 60's with my first VW bus, then the adventure deepened in the mid-70's when I drove my VW bus from CA to Guatemala.  I lived & explored a year there, in that magical land, before slowly making my way back thru Mexico to CA.   Karl & Lorena Franz were my mentors.  I am eternally grateful to them.

Since then I've made dozens of trip to mainland Mexico, traveling & living months on end out of my VW Westfalia.  

I've read your posts & I've *no doubts* you will manage quite well in the matter of earned income on the road.  I have never let an obstacle keep me from reaching a goal I have envisioned.  You are the same, Abuela.
!Andele!

 

[Queen]

Hello and welcome!

Touching on what VanKitten said,learn your local tenant laws and codes, here in IL where I currently am, I wouldn't be a landlord if you gave me free property in perfect condition. It is a small university town and in order to keep the parents of students happy, they have made so many rules to support the tenant, the landlord is screwed. I managed properties for the mental health center when I was a clinician, they were for our clients but were still subject to local rules... the only acceptable reason for an eviction was non payment of rent, and they had to be at least six months in arrears before you could even start the process to evict. It typically took almost a year to get rid of someone and they usually trashed the place before they left; we averaged over $5000 in repair costs alone after each eviction, plus the lost rent and legal fees. I also had a client who was a substance abuser, she had more the 16 lease violations in three months including setting her unit on fire cooking crank, and the judge refused to "make her homeless".

In the biz horror stories abound, I share these to make you aware that "renting it out and making money" are a possibility, but by no means a given.

 

[eDJ_]

I'll offer a brief story about a  girl I've known for a number of years.  She's a Librarian at the near by University where I live.

She wanted this "farm" that is mostly hillside and un-farmable 80 acres.  There was this cabin/shack her Grand Dad lived in.  He worked as a minister for the most part. 

When he died she wanted the property and it was deeded to her and she started living in this wood heated place with no plumbing.   She was young and would use the Gym at UNI for showers and restroom needs. in the meanwhile she
did some basic renovation to the old place, new roof and some siding.   She installed a warm morning propane heater which automatically cycled on and off to keep the place (un-insulated) warm.   She would carry plastic jugs of water in from her mom's home for her
needs.  She lived like this for a number of years.  Taxes and Propane cost ate up most of her pay check and she did make decent money with a Masters Degree.

This worked out fine when she was younger but it took it's toll on her health.  She had to take a medical disability and wound up going into a Personal Care home/Nursing home after deeding the property over to them. 

She had brothers who she would ask to come out and help her with her home.  They were willing but once they were married their wives began to think it was unfair to be "designing" on their husbands for free home repair.  So  her place fell into disrepair which forced the issue of her deeding it over to a care facility when her health failed from living in it. 

She wasn't able to rent it and if she did the only people who would have wanted it would have been "Meth makers",  who would have likely burnt it down to destroy evidence.

When I think about her,  I think of that Kenny Rogers song about the Gambler.  (Know when to hold them and know when to fold them)  ..........and know when to avoid a money pit that will take your resources, time,
and ultimately limit your options in life to your home and garden.

If home and garden is  what you want that's fine.  But in time one may do better to locate closer into a town
on a small piece of property in a small cottage type of home which is all one floor.   Such a home with a new roof may be expect 20 years of service.  Vinyl rain gutters, siding, and windows may offer up to 40 years      of service.  So for those considering a place to spend their last years such a structure may be the way to go.
Nobody plans to fail,  they just fail to plan.

 

[Charlotte's Web]

I have been a landlord for most of 30 years. 
Before you decide to rent.   Learn all of your State landlord/tenant law.  

DO NOT hire a property management company.   Their interest in not the same as yours!  They are not interested in your bottom line..only their own.  

Hire your own guys to do jobs for you.  Have a list of professionals (plumbers, handyman, etc) that you have a relationship with to call on.  Keep all decision in your own hands. 

Hello RK,
Thank you for these suggestions & guidelines. 

I hear what you say about PMC's.  I have a good friend, a local realtor, who was born and raised in my community with deep roots here and a solid reputation as a good human being & ethical realtor.  She has offered to handle the renting situation and I will likely go with that.  My community is small and tightly knit, a place where relationships are highly valued.  

As to acting as my own contractor for repairs:  I have *always* been my own contractor, but have also done a great deal of the work myself.  The cottage is freshly re-roofed.   Remaining repairs involve replacing some rotting deck boards,  repainting interior (nearly done), hanging two exterior French doors.  There are new vinyl gutters to hang, & were it not for one run 20 feet in the air, I could do it myself.  I intend doing all I can manage, then subbing out each little job individually.  I have very little dough to work with, which has always been the case here, so I am good at improvising. 

Thank you for reminding me of the importance of understanding the legal ramifications of renting!  I am not renting a "house".  I am renting a small cottage with a big barn & workshop on ten acres with mature orchard, hen house, goat yard, and organic vege garden.  I am renting a lifestyle.  I intend to find renters from within my own close-knit community.  I will not rent to complete strangers.  

In these parts, first & last with an equal amount as damage/cleaning deposit is standard.  Rentals are scarce here & rentals are pricey.  There are dozens of adds on craigslist for this area from people willing to pay $400-600  for RV sites on one's rural property.  Just to give you an idea of costs here.    I don't need to make a killing, I just need to cover expenses.  I will not take a chance on renters I don't feel pretty damn confident about.

As things progress I may take you up on your offer to "consult" lol.  Right now I am waiting for the rain to break for the season so I can get back to work in earnest. 
Cheers!

 

[Charlotte's Web]

...This worked out fine when she was younger but it took it's toll on her health.  She had to take a medical disability and wound up going into a Personal Care home/Nursing home after deeding the property over to them. 

..........and know when to avoid a money pit that will take your resources, time, and ultimately limit your options in life to your home and garden.   ...If home and garden is  what you want that's fine.  Nobody plans to fail,  they just fail to plan.

Hello dDJ,
There is much in what you say.  And much of it is grim, but then much of life is shaping up to be pretty grim as well.  I don't consider my homestead a "money pit" (yet) & after 42 years here, having started from scratch and four corner markers, it has certainly *not* taken a toll of my health!  On the contrary.  I am in perfect health, never use doctors, weigh 120 lbs and look twenty years younger than others my age.  I attribute this to decades of daily physical work/exercise, fresh air, clean well water, and home grown organic food.  Not to mention my connection to nature and the profound quiet of my surroundings. 

Yes, I admit I can't double dig the garden for four hours straight anymore; now I dig for no more than 1 hour a day.  Yes, my feet are itching & I have burn out, but the burn out is not physical.  I just need to take a year off to travel.  Then I will reassess. 

I have never been afraid to face head on any of the grim possibilities than might beset any of us.   I have always lived in the moment.  I have never made long term plans.   I've had an interesting and adventure filled life & plan on more of the same.  None of us ever know how our "end" will come!  

Years ago, I took off alone with a carry on bag & spent three months exploring South America.  Friends warned me I'd be kidnapped in Peru with the bloody civil war going on there at the time.  Some feared I'd be killed, or injured trekking in the Andes, or fall from a great height in Macchu Pichu, or be infested with incurable parasites!  I confess I did survive some dicey circumstances, but lived to tell the tale.  I had the time of my life!

I am not ready to inch my way toward "assisted living."  Once I fly the coop once again, I'll head for Mexico's Pacific coast.  I know fully well that, given the current political situation, that new "wall" on the border may keep some *in* as well as out.  If that happens, I'll be happy to take the opportunity to RV through the gorgeous South West, including Utah, which I've never explored.  One day at a time & make it a *good* day.  My motto.
Thanks for the food for thought, eDJ

 

[rvpopeye]

(One of my friends growing up had a little sister named Charlotte and we called her Cha Cha)

A very interesting plan , having lived almost all of my life on wheels I can't help much with your homestead situation.

You seem to also have pretty extensive travel experience as well.

SO....I'll offer a warm welcome aboard and will be here to help answer any questions you have about the things you need to learn about this lifestyle.

Many happy trails to you Cha Cha !

 

[Charlotte's Web]

(One of my friends growing up had a little sister named Charlotte and we called her Cha Cha

Many happy trails to you  Cha Cha !

Popeye, thank's for the welcome!  Cha Cha, I like it....I am good in exotic lands, but find the prospect of navigating this "stranger in a strange land" landscape of the new USA daunting.  Culture shock.

 

[Charlotte's Web]

Hi CW! I'm sort of on the other side of this: I'm renting to own a bit of dirt in an unincorporated township with no codes
another year and it's mine, then I can fast track paying my other debt, and start saving for better times
Good luck with your endeavors, whichever way you choose to go

Greetings Art,
It has taken me a bit more time to reply to your welcome because I needed time to ponder your circumstance, as you have described it.

You have made a wise decision to own "a bit of dirt" wherever it may be.  And you have done well to choose an unincorporated area.  So much is hanging in the balance in our world.  However we may try, we cannot be prepared for everything, goddess knows.  But, push come to shove, there could come a time, sooner even than we might imagine, when it would be good to have, as one poster aptly named it, a "bolt hole."

Get out of debt quickly as you can.  Sounds like you are on the right track.  Best of luck!

 

[VanKitten]

Oh, sorry you misunderstood.

I wasn't offering to consult. Only offered to drop you a few links to other resources if you wanted them.

 

[Charlotte's Web]

Oh,  sorry you misunderstood.

I wasn't offering to consult.   Only offered to drop you a few links to other resources if you wanted them.

Hi RK, I didn't misunderstand.  I knew just what you meant!  l was using the term loosely, is all.

 

[ArtW]

Well, I didn't so much 'choose' this ownership of a piece of dirt as it was thrust upon me by circumstance, but that's ok, as it has worked out for me pretty well