Land home, yes or no?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Always rented houses/apts... only ever bought boats and full time lived aboard/cruised/voyage'd on 5 of those..
So, have not voted

Yeah, you’re one of those complicated people .

I guess I should have allowed people to vote YES and NO.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by hpeer

It’s funny you mention this because it’s been on our minds, how do we retire from cruising? Where do we go then? 12 months in a remote outport is not appealing, it neither is the USA. Hopefully we have a long time to consider this because I’m stumped. For now as long as I can climb the companionway I’m good.

That is exactly the question we are pondering and ironically the same question I kept asking myself years ago when exploring the world as a Superyacht captain, with no home base.

Kept saying to myself...
..."I'll know when I see it."
....And that is exactly what happened when I sailed into Puerto Gallera in 1997....
Just said..."This is it"... and retired early, buying into a dive resort.

But Freedom is the price you pay when you commit to One Place, so I think this time we will have small simple options in more than one country.

The beauty of cruising is you can test each location for as long as you like, without commitment

[a64pilot]

See, that is why I sold, even though it was sort of the family farm, where I grew up and we raised our two youngest mostly.
I don’t know where I will want to be when I’m so old I need to grow roots, but I know darn sure that it’s not Albany Ga.
For almost all, cruising will end, almost all will have to return to land.

[fschaefer4]

This is interesting to me. We are planning to cruise, taking classes, etc. I’m lucky lucky lucky to have 3 houses in Austin TX. I’m hoping to sell one for the boat kitty and live off of rents. Also lucky that Austin is an appreciating market. Hoping the rental thing won’t be too onerous.

[billknny]

Have lived aboard since 1999. Don't miss a land based home even one tiny bit.

Well, OK, I DO miss gardening...but in return I get to go fishing more often!

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

That is exactly the question we are pondering and ironically the same question I kept asking myself years ago when exploring the world as a Superyacht captain, with no home base.

Kept saying to myself...
..."I'll know when I see it."
....And that is exactly what happened when I sailed into Puerto Gallera in 1997....
Just said..."This is it"... and retired early, buying into a dive resort.

But Freedom is the price you pay when you commit to One Place, so I think this time we will have small simple options in more than one country.

Our plan as well.
Between boats we spent a bit of time travelling spending 3 months a year checking out south east Asian places for future retirement.
Found a few spots in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand we could happily stay in and pool villa/ apartment rental if staying away from tourist areas and eating drinking local, not western worked out pretty cost effective.
Best part about it is ease of move if/when that karaoke bar opens next door as has happened to a few people I know who bought in.

[zboss]

We sold. I never much liked the big house anyway... always felt constricted and stuck in one place. I prefer to own REITs. I'm not opposed to owning a place in the future because we do wonder what we will do when we are in our 70s or later. In that case we are thinking about just buying some mountain land somewhere and maybe putting a somewhat tiny/small home on it. We just haven't started down that road yet but I did hear that mortgage rates in the USA are dropping quickly.

I've also owned property in the BVI and my general experience with owning foreign property is that they eventually don't want you there... doesn't matter if you put down roots or not. Small countries with affordable land in a tropical location switch political outlooks quickly.

[Mike OReilly]

Interesting how close the yeas and nays are remaining. The total numbers are still low, but it sure indicates a near 50:50 split on maintaining a land home or not.

I do know of places where it is possible to buy homes with my modest credit card limit. I’ve lived in such places, and they’re great. But I’ve grown to love small, remote living. I suspect as more and more people shift to large urban areas, that there will continue to be affordable housing for people willing to live a bit off the beaten path.

So I guess that’s my plan for it/when we decide to swallow the anchor.

[Mike OReilly]

I hope everyone noticed the new thread/poll started by Hpeer. It adds to the picture by trying to get an idea of how people are cruising:

How long do you cruise per year?

Would be great to get a good sampling there as well.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Interesting how close the yeas and nays are remaining. The total numbers are still low, but it sure indicates a near 50:50 split on maintaining a land home or not.

I do know of places where it is possible to buy homes with my modest credit card limit. I’ve lived in such places, and they’re great. But I’ve grown to love small, remote living. I suspect as more and more people shift to large urban areas, that there will continue to be affordable housing for people willing to live a bit off the beaten path.

So I guess that’s my plan for it/when we decide to swallow the anchor.

Catch there is as you age easy and better medical becomes important
Ambulance within a reasonable time could be important
For us now in our early 50's and younger, decent internet will be important , buying groceries online etc
shopping nearby , groceries delivered etc etc
Places in the boonies will likely not have these things.

[SteveG58]

I thinks I would always keep a land home!

[DenverSailors]

Thanks to all for sharing your stories. Below is our plan so it might not fit the original question, but I’d love your feedback.

We bought our retirement house with a dock on the Gulf of Mexico and “AirBnB” it while we raise 5 kids in our home in Denver. Long-term we aspire to cruise full-time, keep the Denver home to rent or house the kids (since Millennials and younger apparently have no desire to ever leave the nest), and cruise the Caribbean, circumnavigate, and then explore the rivers and canals of Europe. Retire to Winters in Florida and Summers in Denver. We’ve cruised about 1/2 of the Great Loop (awaiting the Spring thaw on the hard in Rogers City, Michigan!!) and know we love the lifestyle. Besides the inevitable unforeseeable...thoughts on the plan?

[Pigpen Pete]

"There probably should have been a 'never owned a house' option as well. That may have increased participation."
I lived and cruised on an old boat for twenty years until 1992 when Ruth and I could move onto a new one we had spent 5 years building. Cruised eastern Australia till 98 but before we took off for 11 years (most of it in Mediterranean or north Atlantic) we bought a small block of land suitable to build a little dwelling on later. Subsequently on our return to Oz we sold it to buy into a little strata title villa near where the boat is moored. We'll sell the boat sometime no doubt.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Catch there is as you age easy and better medical becomes important
Ambulance within a reasonable time could be important
For us now in our early 50's and younger, decent internet will be important , buying groceries online etc
shopping nearby , groceries delivered etc etc
Places in the boonies will likely not have these things.

This is a pretty easy standard to achieve these days Simi, at least here in Canada. There are hundreds of smaller communities which are de-populating, hence cheap, but still sustain all the basic services. I’m specifically thinking about towns in Northern Ontario (where I used to live), but I’m sure they can be found all over Canada, and I bet in most other countries as well.

[Cheechako]

We sold. But kept the most important stuff in storage.

But there is a big downside to selling: if you are not in the real estate market with ownership, the real estate world moves on and gets expensive to get back in (in many places) .
One example:
10 Years ago the average Seattle real estate was $279k. Today it is near $700k. So if you sold 10 years ago, not only did you leave $420k profit on the table, you are going to have a helluva time getting back in. If you kept that house somehow and went cruising, the profit would have paid for your boat, and your cruise + some. Free cruise!