don't know where to start..........
 

We have been in a whirlwind, and basically still are.

We got the house on the market last Thursday and before one day of being listed was over, the first couple that looked at it submitted a full price offer. We certainly didn't expect that - hoped for it - but did not expect it. Especially when there are houses in our development that have been on the market for over a year.

However, being firm believers in the old "bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush" theory, we accepted the offer. The only down side is that we have to be out on Aug 31st.

Oh My Gosh.....now what? Where do we go? What do we do with the STUFF?

That's where the whirlwind comes in........we have to get this stuff packed and out of here. So, making decisions on the run, we have decided to rent an unfurnished place in The Villages until our house can be built. The earliest we can get together with the people on the "design team" is Nov 20th, and that is when they can start building. Figure about 90 days to get it up and we're looking at a Feb - March move-in date.

But at least we won't be shoveling snow this winter!! And we can start all the things we want to try, etc.

Still a million things to do ..... no need to take snow shovels, for example. But how do you get rid of things like that?

Well, one way is to have the prospective owners over this Friday evening and let them take a look at the stuff we know we don't want to take, (Is there really a need for a 24' ladder when you are going to be in a one story rambler?) and maybe they'll make an offer. Just keep our fingers crossed on a lot of it. Otherwise, there's going to be a lot of trips out to the dump....or maybe Goodwill.

And in the meantime I can forget about any carving, watching TV, or reading. Life is so unfair! Woe is me!

Well, just thought we'd let you know what was happening with us.....and now that I have fulfilled my orders, I can go to bed.

So, "farewell, sweet Prince ... until the non!"

John & Marie

Forgot to mention - we got a lot in Gilchrist when we were down for our LSV the first week in June. Boy, that koolaid goes down smooth!

Wannab, You will be busy over the next 6 weeks -- but I guess I don't need to tell you that. If you need to look for a unfurnished rental, try The Villages 4 Rent, Rentals in The Villages or your TV sales rep. may be able to help you locate a rental home. You may also want to check the homes for rent section of TOTV. Best of luck to you, and I hope your packing and moving go smoothly. :wave:

Congrats wannab! Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you over the next couple of months. Hope it all goes well.

Bill :)

Another Gilchristian
 

Welcome to Gilchrist! We bought our lot in May...design meeting in mid-September.

Having just moved my parents (to The Villages, I might add) and having just cleared out my grandmother's house (so she could move to assisted living in NC), I feel somewhat qualified to address your moving issue and I have 4 words of advice: don't bring snow shovels! Hahahahaha!

Don't panic! Even if you end up bringing a bunch of stuff you don't need, it's all good. Take it as sign: your house sold while others linger on the market! Everything happens for a reason! You are obviously supposed to move!

You are doing what we were doing a year ago. Our house in Ohio was on the market for nine days and sold,we surely didn't expect THAT!. We had been previously talked into selling our first house here in Hadley. We were homeless. What we had was a housefull of stuff and the background drilled into us by parents who went through the great depression, and things that we had worked hard to get and things that we had taken good care of and things that we had enjoyed and some that we had loved and things that our kids didn't want????? Plus an idea or image of maybe having a lot of new, white, beachy things...

It was the most stressful time in our lives that was not important.

We so understand. We will be waiting here for you with a huge hug and a stiff drink and a reassurance, at least from our point of view, and level of happiness...

It was ALL WORTH IT!

I've often thought about what we would do with all of our 'stuff' if we sold our Michigan home and moved to TV full time. There are only a few pieces of 'keepsake' furniture and some personal items that I would want to move with us - what to do with the rest?? Here's my plan - I would pack my wanted items, and along with the furniture I would want to keep, put everything in a pod - ready to move. After letting the children pick and choose from the items remaining - have a huge moving sale. Anything left after the sale would be donated or go to the dump. The extra $ would help towards the cost of moving OR better yet, maybe a well deserved vacation. But then again - you're already moving to lower paradise - it's like a permanent vacation here.

Congratulations and good luck.

:welcome: to the TOTV forum. I understand about too much stuff. Even Delbert McClinton has a song about it. :laugh:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXyDJiUXqXY&feature]Too Much Stuff - Delbert McClinton - YouTube[/ame]

Gather up all the unwanted's. Schedule garage sale weekend. Left overs...Goodwill, Salvation Army. Furniture move to storage in TV. Rent furnished, easier to find. Your house will be built in 65 days.

I would take a close look at houses already built and see if 1 met my needs.

We had 3 weeks to leave HI and buy a house here. We flew over and bought a preowned house and flew back. We decided not to move old furniture so we sold it or donated it for tax write off. We only moved selected items that would go with our new lifestyle. The movers packed everything for us (for insurance purposes). Decide what you really need and want and pare down! Good luck...see you at Happy Hour when you get here!

For what it is worth
 

We decided to start over. Gave all the "family heirlooms" to family members. Kept only a few items. Our furniture did not fit the "Florida thing". Sent a few truck loads to auction. Loaded a 17' U-Haul with my tools and clothes. Rented a 10x20 storage shed for about $95/month. Rented a furnished 2 BR Villa for 5 months. Had the House built and started over. But many people can not give up "their Stuff". Do what fits You. It only gets better.:pepper2:

congratulation! the hard part is over-getting the house sold! i was lucky and my buyers wanted everything in my house and were willing to pay for it! i spent $1800 to transport my stuff down here to sell it at a garage sale for a quarter! hehe, well worth it!

there are many things i thought i wanted to bring then we had a power outage for 6 days, i can now tell you i loved that sectional until i had to sleep on it for 6 days so its not making the trip. That storm cut our move by half

OMG, that is exactly what happened to us in June 2010. We bought the lot in Pennecamp in May, put house on market, 8 couples looked on 1st day, got 2 offers, full price and over. PANIC! First, put the word out to neighbors. Got rid of a lot of tools, shovels, yard equipment, ladders that way. Offer any major appliances to the buyers. (too expensive to move and buy down here). Yard sale everything quick that you have no attachment to so you can get in the swing of it. Craig's list big items, hope chest, furniture, rugs, guitars, appliances, anything worth a good amount of money. Yard salers don't want to pay big. Books...donate to library, or like us, a Literacy Program (they were thrilled to get them). Too expensive to move and with Nooks and Kindles not necessary to keep. Have second yard sale and make sure newspaper notice mentions it will be new selection of items. This is when you get rid of some of the stuff you're attached to. I also invited all family and friends to visit and I didn't let anyone leave unless they took something. Our buyers bought our refrigerator and our front load washer and dryer. Went to Appliance Direct down here and bought scratch/dent washer/dryer for same amount I sold my set for and didn't have the expense or aggravation of moving them. Then, when you get here and realize you still have too much STUFF or it just doesn't work in the new house, consign, donate, trade. It's exhausting but SO WORTH IT! You may want to reconsider and buy a spec house already up. When we bought, THE VILLAGES let you change your mind once. Good luck!
Nancy

Get rid of as much stuff as you possibly can:

- Give away to the kids and neighbors

- Some churches have "furniture ministry" or a home goods thrift store, and some will pick up donated stuff

- Call furniture consignment stores and have them pick up the things you want to sell

- Get an Estate Sale or "Tag Sale" company to have a sale of the household things you don't want/need. They clean out and organize the stuff to be sold and they get rid of junk. The "stuff" will be gone in one day, once the sale is on.

- Find a Goodwill Store with a drive-thru for dropping off bags of clothing, shoes, BOOTS, (don't need those!), and housewares. After lifting, carrying up and down stairs, and loading the "stuff" into the trunk several times, it's nice to have the drive-thru donation workers take the stuff out of your trunk with no lifting on your part.

- If you get almost to the end of emptying the house and still have stuff you want to keep, rent a storage unit for about $40/month and "think about that later". Once you're in TV for awhile, the appeal of all that stuff grows less and less. Downsizing the home and amount of "stuff" is extremely liberating.

Think "Go without encumbrances".

Note about changing your mind......
 

When we changed our mind "once" that forced an immediate build. Make sure you read the second contract if you change lots. Not sure about going from a lot to a pre-owned home. You could lose your deposit - just be sure to ask what the penalty is.

Hey Everybody: Thanks so much for all the words of wisdom. We really appreciate it. We're looking forward to the down time between closing up here and the design meeting down there - gives us a chance to really think through decisions on options, etc. Won't be rushing and screwing things up for ourselves that have to go back and be corrected. In the meantime - have another sip of the Kool-Aid! Onward.....

One more suggestion. See if you can find some college age kids. We happen to have two nieces who were glad to have our stuff. We borrowed a big trailer from a friend and made two trips with a piled up trailer and heaped truck bed full of all sorts of stuff. I told them they could keep it, sell it, give to friends etc.
So far they have kept everything.
Books went to the library for their book sale.
we sold some stuff on craigslist which was a pain, but we had some big items we did not want to give away or donate.
Funny story, DH put a canoe up and said he would deliver. Someone contacted us from about 500 miles away for a $500 canoe wanting us to deliver. So be careful how you word stuff. someone ended up buying it three miles away.
I made about two dozen trips to goodwill (they come out and empty your car for you and give you a tax receipt) and every week we had a huge pile of garbage. Usually we have less than one bag of garbage in the bottom of the pail, and suddenly we had four or five huge bags a week.
We just spent five weeks cleaning and purging before our house went on the market, the last house we sold went the first weekend and we decided to clean the house out first. especially since we'll be paying for the move and losing at least half our space.

We just purchased a 2 bedroom plus den house in rio ponderosa exactly between both town squares. There is minimal furniture left in there from the old owner. It's available immediately for rent for as long as u need it. If interested, please contact jeffreymarderesq@gmail.com ( my husband) or call him at 9734762812.

Sonja

Congrats on the quick sale of your home.

Moving to TV is a nice kind of stress to have. :smiley:

Best wishes as you start livivng the dream.

when we moved to Florida (from VA) we needed to get rid of some large items so we tacked that early on. I took photos of the items that I wanted to sell, posted them on Craig's list (very easy and no charge). I sold my dining room set, a large sofa, a tall filing cabinet, amongst other things within a week's time. I just had to make sure I was home to show items. Some of our tools (including shovels) were the first things to go when we had a one-day garage sale. Then we researched places that would pick up donations (some allowed us to schedule pick-up days via the web). Good luck with the move.

We moved July of last year from about 50 miles east of you, that was Bel Air, Maryland. Since we were downsizing to a CYV we gave the buyers almost all of our furniture for $2500 and they took the deal. That also included area rugs, lawn mowers, etc., they got a great deal.

Then I had found a flyer for a guy who for $75 brought over a 7'x10' trailer and parked it in our driveway for a day and then after we filled it he took it to the dump, we had him come over twice. I even sold him my 1997 Chevy Lumina. I did hate having to part with 4,000 record albums.

We then held two yard sales. When everything was done I packed 71 boxes of household goods, clothes, etc. We were moved by Mayflower for $2700, however I would not recommend them. United Van Lines would be my first choice now, in fact they actually made the move because Mayflower was unable to take our load and after 3 weeks we changed movers. It was a mess but we did get a $2000 refund from Mayflower and we only spent $700 for the movers.

I like the term, Gilchristian! From one to another....hope to meet you when we visit the first week of September!!