What do we need to Know? - Montana Owners Club

GeorgiaDave · 10-04-2009, 06:08 AM

We are planning on going full time in our Montana in 5 yearts. I look around my house and think about what to sell and what to store. I'm planning a garage sale in the Spring. But, what are your suggestions about what to do and when. We're hoping that with 5 years to work with we can get some stuff done each year. Can you help us?

Mrs. CountryGuy · 10-04-2009, 06:43 AM

From everything I read store as little as possible.

Clean out a room at a time, heavens, start with a drawer or closet at a time if you have to.

Read the archives here at the MOC, lots of good posts in the past.

Good luck with your plan.

dsprik · 10-04-2009, 07:19 AM

I have a suggestion. It worked well for us, but may not be for everyone. Try to sell the house a year before you plan on getting going fulltime. Move into an apartment or small house.

Start downsizing - read: garage sale, garage sale and then another garage sale. Then another garage sale... The just before moving into your Montana - at the end of your lease (don't have to worry about the house selling, as you sold it a year or so ago...) have an "Estate Sale". Be prepared for "Who died?" questions...

This worked well for us. The stress of hoping the house sells was a non-issue this way. As I said, this worked well for us.

vickir · 10-04-2009, 07:45 AM

Excellent suggestion, Dave, especially in the current housing market.

Our rule-of-thumb for downsizing was if it could be replaced, it was gone. Only things that couldn't be replaced (read family heirlooms, photos and such) were kept. We had the advantage that we've been able to store these items at our oldest son's home.

Since our house sold in February, the weather is not terribly favorable for garage sales in the winter in Kansas. So, what we didn't give to the kids or sell to the neighbors or give to Goodwill, was picked up by an auction service which then held a living estate sale at its facility ... they even sold my car.

It's a really good idea to start planning and down-sizing this far in advance ...

GeorgiaDave · 10-04-2009, 07:49 AM

Wow - you guys are giving me great ideas! Keep them coming please!
Georgia

Glenn and Lorraine · 10-04-2009, 09:33 AM

When Lorraine and I decided to go Fulltime we didn't even own an RV.

Mid summer of 2003 we made a decision to buy a 5th wheel and be Fulltiming by November.
We immediately put the house up for sale. We called our kids and they came over and took what they wanted. Surprisingly they didn't take that much.
Remember, if your kids are grown and raising a family they usually already have a lot of the same stuff you want to get rid of. A friend wanted to pass onto her daughter a beautiful bed room and dining room set. They were surprised when the daughter didn't want them as they already had their own.
We than went thru the house and garage and put everything we hadn't used in the past year in the middle of the garage. Than we went back and pulled everything we hadn't used in 6 months. Than 3 months and than 1 month. Luckily the garage was 24 X 32 as we needed all that space.
Starting on Friday of Labor Day weekend we had a well advertised garage sale. As the sale went along we brought more stuff out. By Monday we had sold close to 2000 bucks worth of stuff. Of course, 2000 bucks was no where near it's true value. The following weekend we were giving stuff away. The last week we contacted an auction house for what was remaining. Got 800 bucks for what was left. We paced nothing into storage.

We left New York as Fulltimers in a 2004 Montana on October 20th 2003

exav8tr · 10-04-2009, 12:34 PM

I had a "neighborhood" sale in which I invited all my neighbors to give them "first crack", Then I had two weekends of garage sales. My two boys decided what they wanted first so we sent that stuff to them. Sold everything else, except what we needed in the 5er. Sold house and moved into an apartment for a month until weather cleared enough to travel (Alaska). Getting rid of things after being married for 38 years was tough, to say the least, a lot of memories came back after all those years. Just keep telling yoursel, "It's just stuff". Fulltiming is a HUGE comittment and one should not enter into it lightly. You have plenty of time to downsize so take it slowly. We made the decicsion to do this after one trip in an RV, then we were hooked. Good luck....

Tom S. · 10-04-2009, 01:47 PM

I have heard a few people say that as they go through their stuff, if they find something they haven't used in a year, they get rid of it. Kind of makes sense.

wingerphil · 10-04-2009, 03:36 PM

We also sold our house early. We did not rent an apartment though, we went ahead and moved into the Montana. Our plan is to be retired in 5 years so we can start traveling and this move was part of that plan. We started probably 3 years ago putting our plan together. Last summer was "fix up" time for the house. We cleaned, painted, landscaped etc. getting the house ready to sell. Our first garage sale was last fall and went well. It was so liberating getting rid of all that "stuff".

We put the house on the market the last of December not really expecting any action until well after the first of the year. The house sold in 12 weeks. The new owners could not do the closing until May so that gave us plenty of time to get rid of the rest of our things. We had our final, "it's all gotta go sale" in April. We had moved into the 5th wheel in March so we could empty the house out and not have to actually be living there.
We have now been "fulltimers" for almost 7 months and are loving it. We are still working our full time jobs and will be for another 4 years 11 months and 4 days (but who's counting) while living in the Montana at a campground about 20 miles from our former house.

So far this has worked well for us. We have been able to save money and we don't miss having the house at all. This winter will be a nice test but we have prepared ourselves and our rig for it and should do fine.

Feel free to check out my blog, the address is below in my signature.

Good luck on your adventure. Maybe in 5 years when we are both starting out on our travels we will be able to meet out there on the road somewhere.

Phil and Rudee

stiles watson · 10-04-2009, 05:28 PM

We hate holding garage sales. We found an estate seller group that did everything. We had put a few items in storage prior to making that contact. Big Mistake!!! At this point, we wish we had not saved anything. The estate sellers did a great job and what did not sell, they took to the charity of our choice. Before enlisting the estate sellers, we had the kids come and take what they wanted.

The things we put in storage are just an albatross around our neck. We have to pay about $80 a month for our sentimentalism. Any thing we don't use now we sell or give away.

sreigle · 10-07-2009, 03:00 PM

I understand Stiles' position, but we had some things there is no way we'd get rid of. For example, there is no way we'll get rid of some things the kids made for us when they were in kindergarten. Anotehr is a rocking chair Vicki was given for Christmas at age 12. Etc.

But other than those type items, what didn't go with us in the Montana went to the estate sale place. We probably got less than we could have got at garage sales, but, as Vicki said, February and early March in Kansas just doesn't work for garage sales. And, as Stiles said, we don't like holding garage sales, either. The estate sale was quick and easy and worked for us.

exav8tr · 10-07-2009, 03:18 PM

A good idea, if you plan on garage sales, is to have them as early in the season as possible. We were among the first in Anchorage in '07 and when I was getting ready to open the garage doors I heard folks outside already, about a half hour early. Sold many items that first morning, of course, they were probably pros looking for a good deal and would sell them at flea markets in the area. That was OK as I did not have to haggle much.....

JimF · 10-08-2009, 02:46 PM

Unlike the previous folks, we planned on storing most of our stuff. If it was upholstered it went, wood stayed, along with all keepsakes, sentimental mementoes, my gun collection and anything the wife wanted. We rented a POD for long term storage and started loading it, when all we wanted was loaded there was ample room for me to store my complete woodwork shop. Been paying 108/mth for the last 3 years and will continue for the foreseeable future. Our stuff survived 3 long tour deployments to Europe (12 years) and a couple to the Far East (3 years) and survived just fine.
If and when I settle back down or die that stuff is there for the kids and they want it. Most is fairly irreplaceable. At least to my family, and I want them to have something at that time.

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