Want to sell my house in Washington DC for big profit and move to good life, cheap housing and part-time work
 

We are only 45 but are tired of the corporate rate race and are thinking of selling our house in Washington DC, taking the profit and living the life of a part time semi retired person until ---whenever. Is 45 to early? and where should we go?<BR><BR>My husband, and I both 45 years old, both worked in well paying high stress jobs throughout the 1980 to 1990s. We bought a $400,000 home 15 years ago which is now worth over twice that. Now that the economy has turned bad we are now both unemployed techies! Though are started to lose interest in job hunting. (How many rejection letters can you take?)<BR><BR>I am looking for advice from travelers and people from all over the United States. Put your self in our shoes. Should we keep sending our resumes out to places that have 400 applicants until we get a job. OR sell the house get out of town and move to pace where our ($600,000 nest egg would allow us to pay for rent and living expenses) Maybe work some part-time jobs.<BR><BR>Has anyone done this before? Your stories!

Go fot it! I retired at 47 with a similar strategy and haven't regretted it for a minute. You'll be astonished at how much LIFE is out there apart from work!

Rent the movie "Lost in America" if you haven't already seen it. It's a laugh riot about a couple who "dropped" out of society with their nestegg to "find" themselves.<BR>Tip: Don't go to Vegas!

Not alot of professional jobs are part-time. So if you move to a town and need a part time job to make a few extra bucks and get out of the house- the work could be boring and pay poorly.

Well, congratulations on being one of those who benefitted from the Tech Bubble and still having money to show for it. And congratulations on having the opportunity to stop being productive and live on the fruits of your labor at so early an age that you are still very strong and healthy.<BR><BR>I commend you for wanting to downsize and live where lifestyle isn't so inflated. Anywhere away from the northeast or California will be cheaper. Consider the Raleigh-Durham area, where $200K will buy you 1500-2000 sq. feet and $1000/month will rent a palatial condo.<BR><BR>But most retired people who have any health at all get restless very quickly, and you two sound like you have way too much energy to be semi-retired.<BR><BR>If you have the option to work part-time or not at all, why not give back a little, too? Volunteer. Make a difference. You know how to do "techie" things -- help out older people trying to get on line. Teach. Help out poorer schools whose teachers are still struggling to get "wired." Work for Habitat. Help communities figure out what to do with mountains of obsolete computers. <BR><BR>Do something besides resting on your laurels -- laurels look better on your head than behind your butt.

OK, let's do the math.<BR><BR>I'm assuming you put $100K down on your house, and you've paiid down some of the mortagage. So you sell the house for $900K, pay the realtor about $55K for commission, pay off the rest of the mortage and walk away with about $550K.<BR><BR>Well, not quite. Uncle Sam is going to want capital gains on your profit (unless you buy another $900K house). So let's say your cap. gains tax comes to about $120K (28% x $450K). Now, you've got $430K (550-120). <BR><BR>And let's say you move somewhere where you can pick up a decent house for $150K (which is going to be out in boonies where the pay is low for almost any job). Now, you've got $280K and no mortage. Can you cut it on that, plus your job at Wal-Mart?

ever heard of the once in a lifetime tax credit? they could take the profit tax free.<BR><BR>honestly ted,<BR>i COMPLETELY understand you situation. me and my hubby are considering the same type of move from the MY metro area, i am not ready to move into a trailer park in arkansas and sit on the back porch all day. personally i dont think you have enough money to retire comfortably. besides private health insurance costs a fortune. also now that i am unemployed, by choice, i tend to spend more money in my free time than when i was working.

If you read Ted's post he is not looking for financial advice (that is another internet board), he is looking for advice on where to go where housing is cheap but the town still has something to offer he and his wife during their free time.<BR><BR>His request, as I see it: cheap living + good quality of life and stories from people who have downsized their stressful lives from working full time (60 hours a week in a corporate pressure cooker to a part time job).

great nance, thanks for the clarification...can you name any places to help ted instead of just trying to defend his question. please tell me...id love to know an affordable place to live with a good quality of life and culture. <BR><BR>PS. too early for heaven.

Two responses to other comments:<BR>1. Ted may not have asked for financial advice, but I was just pointing out that his premise was flawed. If he said he wanted to move to Alaska to take advantage of the warm weather, would you ignore that, too, and tell him them where to find cheap housing.<BR>2. Yes, I have heard of the once-in-lifetime tax credit on real estate profits. And I've also heard that it's available only to those 55 and older. (Or, as they say, read Ted's post. Age 45.)

To answer the previous post:<BR><BR>No place in the USA is perfect but if I had enough money to move and just wanted to work part time from now on (and did not worry about having to live in a big city with lots of opportunities for professional jobs) I would choice the following places (were housing is relatively cheap but living is good):<BR><BR>Raleigh NC<BR>Charlotte, NC<BR>Charleston SC<BR>Orlando FL<BR>Tampa Fl (area)<BR>Fort Meyers, Fl<BR>Nashville, TN<BR>Salem Oregon<BR>

You might also want to add Birmingham, AL and Houston, TX

a couple who have lived in thier home for two of the last five years can exclude upto $500,000 from taxes on the sale of a primary residence. $250,000 for single taxpayers.

After seeing the traffic on the beltway (outside Washington DC) this morning, I would love to move to a less stressful place too.<BR><BR>Just remember that in many cities, people will judge you by your job. If you are a part-time clerk at Sears, at age 45, and your peers in age, education, experience and intelligence are working executive positions, you will be an outsider at your age.<BR><BR>Now if you were 55, 60, or older it may not be such an issue.<BR><BR>I would choice a town where you will not be judged by your job, if there is such a place!

Einstein, the tax credit hasn't had the age requirement for awhile. Your info is out of date.

Why are you sitting on 495/95 in rush hour traffic? Jeeez, make a change. Try someplace closer in, and get the heck on Metro. You want to leave the DC area - for what?

Ted and Tammy, good for you. Many people would love to have your options. To start with, perhaps consider a university town, where you are more likely to find cultural activities and opportunities for some part time professional work. I suggest taking a look at Eugene, OR. Enough cultural activities to keep you interested, plus you're only an hour or so from the coast and another hour from the big mountains--and the city itself has wonderful biking and walking paths. Good restaurants and coffee hangouts, too. In particular, I recommend you look at the Boulders apartment complex. It's right on the banks of the Willamette River and near a pedestrian/bike bridge into a park that takes you right to downtown. The Boulders apartments are well constructed, with large terraces or balconies and woodburning fireplaces, plus nice landscaping. <BR>My second choice, although not a university area, would be the Olympic Peninsula. You could, if you wanted to, buy a decent property in Sequim (pronounced Skwim) or rent in Port Ludlow. Both of those towns are near Port Townsend, a wonderful small town with a lively cultural scene. But PT is rather expensive for housing and rentals are hard to come by (although right now there are a few VERY attractive homes for sale at $250k). The weather in the Sequim/PT area is not as gray/rainy as the rest of the Puget Sound area; Sequim in particular is quite sunny and has one of the nicest climates in the entire U.S.--mild springlike weather for about 8 months of the year and easy to handle winters. Great for gardening or enjoying outdoor activities. <BR>I admit, I am highly partial to the Pacific NW. The communities I mentioned are well suited for adults looking for new directions in life. PT, for example, has a famous wooden-boat building school whose student body includes many former white collar professionals--lawyers, IT types, architects, and so on. You'll find kindred souls in PT and Eugene, I think.

I'm going to ignore the spats about the financial (mis?)information here...Ted - my recommendation would be to pick up and head to a college town in a locale where you both like the weather. Actually I mean a town with a good university or two. The university will provide some culture, professional people to inteact with, and very often part-time jobs for professionals whether on grants or as consultants. Do check the housing market first as some of these towns are also very expensive, but many others are not. (I must congratulate you on sticking it out in the DC rat race for 15 years - we only managed it for 2 before retreating back to rural New England).<BR><BR>I also highly recoomed you read the book Mindful Money Guide by Marshall Glickman, who "retired" from Wall Street after 3 years and then moved to Vermont.

Can't help much with the financial discussions but my husband and I actually did totally re-route our lives just 5 years ago in our mid-40's and are Poster Kids for making the big break. <BR><BR>I'm not suggesting you copy what we did because it is very specific to our interests, but tailor to meet your own.<BR><BR>I was a senior executive in the publishing industry and went back to school to become a minister (pastor). My husband was a senior civil servant and went back to school to become a high-school teacher.<BR><BR>We sold our home in the big city, lived like students for a couple of years (same time as our only daughter) and now live in a small university community on the east coast. (I should say we are Canadians-I was on this forum looing for info on a proposed vacation in Maine when I found I couldn't resist chiming in to this thread-I don't think the border makes a difference to this life experience)<BR><BR>Our combined household income has gone from $350,000 to $90,000- our house investment went from $450,000 to $125,000- our happiness and quality of life and marriage has gone from 20% to 90%. DO IT!!!!

Go for it - I can't because, although I am close to your age, I had kids later so there are still many more years that we need to support them. Make sure you can get/have lined up health insurance, since it is a long time until you can get Medicare.