Thoughts of a new life

Preface

Every now and then we talk about moving from HHF to somewhere else. In the past the talk has been about moving to a property which has rich deep soil not the rock pile that is HHF. Another attraction of moving is to have a blank (or semi blank) slate with which we could incorporate many of the ideas that seem impossible to do at HHF. Hot weather always gets Jean talking about a better climate i.e. Tasmania or NZ. Its not just the recent bout of hot weather but every Summer raises this issue.

There are some positive attractions about moving:

• Choosing a property with better attributes now that we have clearly established our requirements
• A chance to create an environment and layout that better suits our interests and needs
• The excitement of a new beginning
• Take the time to plan and develop unlike what happened at HHF

The downside:

• Going into the unknown
• Leaving behind many things
• The pain of moving all our stuff
• The first year will be turmoil as we observe, plan and interact
• The challenge of establishing in a new community

There are many other things to consider but that's a good start.

Now the Good/Bad News

Yesterday we took a day off to visit some old friends a couple of hours drive north in a valley next to the one where we had owned a property 20 years ago. This valley for what ever reason has lusher soils than our previous property and always seems perpetually green.

We try to see these  friends at least once each year or so. As part of our catch-up we inquire about friends and neighbours in their area whom we may have had some contact. Once such couple resided next door. To our surprise their property was on the market for what seemed a very attractive price. It had many of the attributes that we sought and so suddenly our interest sparked. We talked briefly about the property and the local community with our friends and then moved on to other topics.

So now we have a problem. Having talked about moving suddenly we have an opportunity. On the trip home we talked at length about the pros and cons of moving, discussed things we would miss, things that would have to be done, opportunities that would arise and some pretty drastic changes to the way we live.

After arriving home at 10.30 at night we immediately looked up the property. The price was more than what had been mentioned which dampened our excitement a little but still possibly quite achievable. The shock was that there was a second almost identical property only a kilometre away but with a far more attractive price.

A dilemma. We both in our different ways and for different reasons are attracted to moving. Out of the blue we are presented with two unique properties.

Well at least we have a plan:

1.  Organise a property inspection on both and establish whether either or both have the attributes we want and if they feel right
2. Have our own property valued to see if we can make the changeover
3. Prepare a detailed list of positives and negatives and rate each to see if there are any overwhelming issues
4. Prepare a detailed financial budget - if we move we have to give up our part time work and fully retire
5. Buy the property and sell ours

Pretty simple. Each step must be resolved before the next is undertaken. No resolution to a step and the decision is made.

Any words of advice?