Buying Our Retirement Home in the Country near Boise Idaho

We bought our new home in the country outside of Boise Idaho a few months ago. We are excited to have room for family gatherings and 3 acres for the grandkids to run around and have fun. Jeannie and I can live on the main level, kitchen, master, office and all needs met. No stairs to negotiate when we get "old". There is plenty of property for our organic garden and orchard.

Views to die for; farms and orchards in the Payette River Valley. Blue sky, sunshine, and very little snow. The appraisal came back hirer than what we are paying, with $21,000 of new landscaping just installed.

We learned huge lessons that may help others who are contemplating retirement. If you buy your retirement home early enough you can qualify at current salary. Most retirement income is not substantiated for a year or two after leaving employment. Your options are limited if a mortgage is involved until you can prove your retirement income. That's why many retiring couples buy smaller condos for which they qualify or they must live mortgage free.

If you would like to know more, join my secure email group by signing in to the left of this post. 

Getting Firearms Through Canada---Ouch!

Getting firearms through Canada can be a major pain in the proverbial backside.  They are paranoid about guns, especially hand guns.  There is absolutely no “right to bear arms” in Canada.  It is best to just not even attempt to carry hand-guns through the border. 

Now rifles are a different beast all together, but paperwork and dealing with ammunition can be complicated. Here is a link to a website that explains the Canadian laws: 

http://panda.com/canadaguns/ 

It's probably best to ship hand-guns to a dealer or gunsmith near your destination or sell them for the best price you can and start from scratch when you get relocated.  But going to a local gun dealer to sell your firearms will get you ripped off.  Good websites to sell guns yourself for a decent price are:

www.alaskaslist.com
www.gunbroker.com/      

Americas Best Days are Ahead

The six months before a major national election are usually filled with all kinds of stressful banter between parties and candidates.  It is too bad we accept this as “politics-as-usual”.  The faint hearted could become, well, more faint hearted.  My strategy has always been to listen little and respond less. 

No need to raise anxieties by becoming manic about the future. Because of distortion and bias I watch the news less from May through October during election years.  I find a few publications and commentators whom I trust as honest and partake occasionally but not as a regular diet. 

I prefer conservative thinking since it has proven to help our nation prosper as a whole.  Since 9/11, after a few months of a turn toward spirituality, our trend has been to divisiveness.  What should have united us brought out opportunists who have exploited the fears of people in America.  It is exactly what the terrorists wanted. 

When we look broadly we can see how we have been duped into class-warfare.  Since Barack Obama was elected, the one hope I had was that he would unite, but instead he has divided our nation.  Congress has not helped by retreating to their respective corners and pummeling each other. 

One important purpose of our Constitution was to provide that divisiveness could not happen.  I am confident it will not last.  As always, elections bring us back to reality and toward the middle where progress can happen.  Our nation and economy will survive.  It always has and always will.

Though a bit messy at times, the balance of power and constitutionally mandated processes will work.  We can disagree on policy and procedure while we enjoy the debate, but we don’t need to think we are on the brink of disaster.  I believe in American’s continuing greatness.  

Dealing With Home Inspection Upgrade Requests

We are busy each day working on the list of upgrades requested due to the Home Inspection report.  Nothing major but lots of little petty things, and rather than fight (negotiate) about it we just decided to take care of them; most we can do ourselves and a few will take a contractor, plumber, or an electrician. 

There have been code upgrades since we bought our home many years ago, like sheet rock lining the closet under the stairs in the basement.  We chip away at the list while packing boxes for our move. Our advise is to start early on the selling, inpsection, and moving process.  Give yourself at least 6 months or even a full year to get ready. 

It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate when you stay in one home for so many years.  We held 3 garage sales and sold some large items on Craigslist and/or Facebook.  Most of our moving costs will be covered by the income from those efforts. 

Moving boxes are making their way into the garage to facilitate the truck loading day.  Even with all the things we have sold, we will still look like a wagon train going slowly down the Alaska Highway 3000 miles to Idaho.  When we pull out of Eagle River we will have a 17 foot U-Haul truck towing a car and our Itasca RV towing a car.  If you have an automatic transmission front wheel drive vehicles, you will need a tow dolly or trailer to get the wheels off the ground. 

We will drive 10-12 hours per day and stop at plug-in camping sites along the way.   Our planned stops are at Destruction Bay, Teslin, Laird Hot Springs (ahhhhhh!), Edmonton Mall at the indoor water park, Northern Idaho, and our new home.  If all goes well we are thinking 6 total days of travel…but we have left a few extra days for flat tires and tired bodies.  Somewhere between 6 – 8 days max.  This is our 7th and probably last trip on the Alaska Highway (sad face). 

If we return to Alaska for a visit it will be on the Alaska State Ferry.  Flying has become too much of an ordeal because I have flown for over 200,000 miles during my career and Jeannie’s  compromised immune system can’t take being confined on an airplane any more. 

We are making progress toward the “wagons hoe” departure date while we try to soak in as much of Alaska and our friends as possible.  I know 20 years just barely qualifies us to be considered true Alaskans and we will forever think of Alaska as our home, with grand memories.  

THE 2012 MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE ROADSHIP “ENTERPRISE”: it takes a highly trained crew --- by Jeannie Snow VanOrden

I can’t help it.  I’m a Star Trek geek through and through.  From the first season of Star Trek when I was a kid lounging on the carpet of my parent’s living room to the latest incarnation of the franchise, I love them all good, bad, indifferent, it’s my entertainment comfort food.

So what better name to give my own mega-ship, an Itasca Latitude home on wheels, than the roadship “Enterprise”.  We’ve used our motorhome for three summers and finally I’ve come up with a name grand and complex enough to describe our homey (not homely) behemoth. The moment we step inside it after its long winter’s sleep we feel a comfy sigh escape our lips, and a breathless pulse of anticipation course through our veins and as we look forward to another season of adventures.

Like its starship name sake, our “Enterprise” requires a knowledgeable and well trained crew.  From the beginning of our motorhome ownership it was clear that a class on each of the vehicle’s systems would have been very helpful but we managed to learn on the go, on our feet, from study and experience how our home on wheels functions.  The running of our “Enterprise” requires an engineer (Ralph), a communications officer (me), a navigator (me), a pilot (Ralph), a ship’s psychologist (me), a mechanic (Ralph), a cook  (me),  an assistant cook (Ralph), a ship’s plumber (Ralph), quick thinking trouble shooters all.  You get the idea.  This RVing is a major undertaking and the more you know about your vehicle the more you save in repairs and anxious moments. 

Every season the first camping trip is the shake-down cruise when we learn how much we don’t know and don’t remember about this complex, high-tech vehicle. The first two season’s maiden voyages we camped just across the river from our neighborhood at the Eagle River Campground within easy access of home and stores where supplies and tools could be fetched quickly. This proved a bright move since we were all thumbs and remembering to pack everything we needed was not yet second nature.  Our first big venture the first summer was a trip to Denali.  Since then we’ve gone to Denali two more times; Homer, Alaska; Hope, Alaska and places in between.  Each time we become more confident in our roles as crew members and each time we find new things we don’t know.

Our first RV summer,  we lived without the hot water because no matter what we studied or did, we could not figure out how to get the hot water heater working.  The second summer we discovered the services of an RV supply and storage business whose owner cheerfully shared helpful information, for example: the shut-off valve to the hot water heater.  This resource is probably number one on the list of essential tools for the RVer: a generous expert willing to share knowledge. Next would be other RV owners whose difficult experiences we don’t have to repeat because they post their stories on the internet, or they happen to be chatty camping neighbors. 

The first major issue we had with our motorhome was with one of the sliding rooms on the side.  The kitchen/bedroom slide-out began to slide cockeyed, the rear end of it lagging behind the forward end.  Through our own study we learned that there are manual functions to help remedy the situation when the motorized slide is out of sync.  Through serendipitous investigation we found that the pedestal under the king-size bed had pulled loose from the wood floor and was hanging up the sliding process. We were able to repair it ourselves and felt quite proud of ourselves for figuring it out.  However, the pedestal pulled loose several more times and finally we took it to a repair shop.  The solution: build a whole new pedestal. The expert at Alaska Performance RV was willing to figure out a much better and much cheaper sliding pedestal for the bed.  He was baffled as to why Itasca had installed the original pedestal which was so clumsy, prone to break, and expensive to replace. We now have another important tool for our RV, a kindly and informative repair service.

Our maiden voyage this year was to Seward.  We thought we would surely have a smooth beginning to the camping season with two summers of RVing under our belt.   This is a particularly important year because we are selling our home and moving out of Alaska by driving our roadship “Enterprise” down the Alaska Highway.  There is a spacious bridge with two captain’s chairs and a mind blowing collection of gages, buttons, and a closed circuit television for observing the rear of the vehicle while driving. 

There is also a large control panel in the wall mid-ship filled with switches and red, yellow, and green lights that indicate important information about all the systems of the ship.  All systems must be in tip-top shape and the crew fully conversant in the functions and failings of each.  What are those systems? Here are the ones I can think of right now.

First of all there is the engine, a gas pusher, meaning it’s in the rear of the vehicle. This is the least of our worries.  The engine has very few miles on it.  Change the oil and check the fluids and she should run great. 

Second:  The chassis. This is a large class A motorhome with a solid Workhorse truck foundation on a long wheel base.  No worries here.  This is the most rock-solid kind of chassis for a motorhome.  It keeps the RV moving smoothly if we drive gently and slowly over bumps and frost heaves.
Third is the electrical system.  This is where things get crazy.  There is a battery for starting the engine, which is separate from the other electrical systems but sometimes it mysteriously goes dead. 

We have “shore power” when we plug the motorhome into our house electrical or an RV hook-up at a campground.  It gives us power without concern of running out of juice for heat, hot water, refrigerator, outlets, television, dvd player, stereo, microwave oven, etc..   But you have to watch the system’s console and make sure you don’t use over 30 amps at any one time or you’ll throw a breaker on the electrical source.  

A word about the outlets:  Some can be used only on full hook-up power, some can be used on battery power, some on generator power.  In case you don’t have a plug in RV site, the roadship has 12 volts auxiliary battery power.  We have installed two golf-cart batteries to give us plenty of reliable power when we are “dry camping,” meaning camping where there are no hook-ups.  These batteries, when running low, can be recharged by the gas generator which is upfront on the chassis of the motorhome. The microwave oven will not work unless the RV is on an electric hook-up or the generator is running. Keeping all this straight is a challenge.  And sometimes complications ensue that just seem plain contrary to logic. 

Fourth: the propane system. The kitchen stove works on propane only.  The refrigerator, and hot water heater, can be run on either propane or electric power.  There is a gas leak detector that will chirp if propane is leaking into the motorhome and/or if the power gets so low that the detector senses the batteries running low so it will be unable to detect.  Got that? 

The detector seems to be a poor substitute for your nose because our bed pedestal problem nicked the gas line at one point and we experienced a strong odor of propane even though the gas alarm didn’t go off.  This made us think we were having a sewer problem.  Well, the bed is fixed, the leak is fixed, and we didn’t die.  But if you are going RVing make sure you know the difference between the smell of propane and the smell of the black-water holding tank.

That brings us to a fifth system: the water system.  We have hot and cold running water in the kitchen and bathroom.  The motorhome is equipped with a cozy little shower that feels down-right luxurious on a lengthy camping trip.  We have a holding tank beneath the floor for fresh water and a gage to tell us when it is running low.  When dry camping, it is necessary to keep an eye on the water level because you just might run out.  If your RV site has water supply, a hose stored in the belly of the ship can be hooked up, thus sparing the crew worries about sufficient water.

Next we have the sewer system.  There are two gray-water holding tanks: one for the bathroom sink and shower, and one for the kitchen sink.  The kitchen tank always fills-up first. Then we use the bathroom sink drain as a back-up for the last few hours of camping, or we fold up the ship and drive over to a dump station to empty our tanks and to fill up with potable water.  There is a black-water tank for the toilet.  A blue treatment chemical is flushed down the toilet to keep it fresh and unnoticed by happy campers.  It is important to always empty the holding tanks before traveling.  Thus unpleasant experiences with sewage odor in the cabin are avoided. 

There is also the fun and comfort system.  This is the whole point of the above systems.  We have very much enjoyed our family and couple campouts in the motorhome.  Clearly we have to stay sharp and educated about its complexities.  But the point is to be comfortable while having a lot of fun. Games, bikes, movies, hikes, photography, naps, and just being still and looking at the view are the fun.  Comfortable beds, comfort food, hearty breakfasts, a warm place to sleep are some of the comforts.

On our trip to Seward, the first of this summer camping season, we took lots of notes on things that we needed to fix and supplies we needed to remember to load next time.  But we had a great time.  We found ourselves relearning things we later remembered from last year, and becoming acquainted with things we hadn’t yet tackled: like setting the clocks on the complex stereo systems in the dashboard and the bedroom.   Oh, yeah, that reminds me – there is a surround sound system!

Seward gave us lots of opportunities for fun.  We road our bikes on the coastal trail, picnicked by the Iditarod monument, rode to the marina to eat fish and chips, bike-toured the old downtown.  Best of all we sat by the fire by the beach stuffing ourselves with smores and watching the otters and loons play in Resurrection Bay. 

Our “Enterprise” keeps us sharp as we try to keep up with it. We look forward to our trip down the Alaska Highway, grateful for other RVers in Seward who shared their recent travels from Washington and California.   Our roadship takes some extra preparation and work but overall it has given us countless stories to tell and great journey’s to remember and beautiful views of life.

Seward Alaska and No Rain---How Could it Be?

Leaving Alaska is harder than I thought it would be.  As we RV to some of our favorite places I find myself saying, “If we hadn’t already bought a nice home in the Boise area, I could just stay right here forever.”  Then I remember why we bought the home and realize we really did the right thing. 
We spent three days in Seward and it did not rain once…that has to be a record.  We even had blue sky for long stretches each day.  We figured out how to secure a nice RV site by riding our bikes around in the morning to “reserve” a recently vacated spot near the beach. 
We planted two camp chairs by one of the empty rock fire-rings by the beach and had a bit of heaven for a few days.  I did ignore my diet and enjoyed camp food but I am back to my effort to continue from 280 lbs last September 2011, down to 199 at some unknown point in the future.  We cancelled our gym membership which hasn’t helped, but we are out walking and biking as much as possible.
July 4th week in Seward is insane. 

Everyone in Alaska tries to get a camping site to be close to the action, including the Mount Marathon race straight up a local mountain.  I think the race is harder than a regular marathon and if you are not in shape forget it. We noticed some RV site were reserved days before we arrived but not used for severasl days prior to the arrival of a nice RV.  You have to send a car down early to prowl the parks.  One camp chair with a simple sign saying "RESERVED" is sufficent to assure your peace of paradise.  People know it is the only way to get the best sites.
We enjoyed the quaint marina shopping and eatery area with some gelato, homemade fudge, and seafood galore.  We rode our bikes for miles and walked the grand promenade along the beach on Resurrection Bay.  We picnicked on the edge of the bay, watching fishermen, sea kayakers, otters, loons, and over abundant gulls. 
We talked with other Class-A RVers who had recently made their way up the Alaska Highway.  We took note of several hundred miles of frost-heaves and good places to “camp”.  Though we have 3000 miles to cover on our way to Boise, it sounds like the road is in relatively decent shape with good services for the North Country.  Not much like our first trip up the road in 1976 when we encountered 1100 miles of gravel, long stretches of impassable mud, complete washouts, and spotty services. 
Farwell camping expeditions will be a nice way for us to say goodbye to this beautiful state that will always be fondly remembered.  Alaska truly is the last frontier and every bit as awesome as the travel brochures pontificate. 

How to get Ready for a Home Inspection

Our home inspection has passed without major problems.  Oh, what a relief that is.  Everything noted can be fixed to the satisfaction of both parties.  A few plugs need rewiring, some sheet rock needs to be installed under the stairs in the basement, a couple of roof shingles need to be replaced due to a wind storm a few years ago, and a slowly-leaking pipe in the storage room downstairs needs a plumbers attention.  A few tips: 

Stage the house like a prospective buyer is coming to visit.

Unseal the attic access. 

Replace any burned-out light bulbs.

Make sure the gas fireplace lights on demand.

Service the furnace. 

Don’t try to anticipate every possible repair prior to the inspection or you may spend some money you don’t need to.
Leave some obvious cookies and milk; just kidding. 
After making the requested corrections, the final two selling steps are the Appraisal and the Closing. 

The appraisal shouldn’t be a problem since similar homes in our area are selling for similar prices.  We have a 90% letter from the buyers bank which means he probably will qualify for the loan.  So it looks good from here, but the fat lady hasn’t quite sung her tune yet, or in this case I should probably say the fat "guy" since I still need to lose some more weight. 

Moving on, to the Future---A Very Good Thing

We spoke with our financial planner yesterday.  We are about 45 days away from being “retired” and the application process is feverishly going forward.  Everything looks good for take-off into retirement. 

It’s a bit scary but the cash flow looks “sufficient” for years to come.  We are glad to have a good financial planner who protects our investments. 

My career position in Alaska has been taken over by a young energetic educator who has new ideas and enthusiasm.  It has already proven to be right that I am getting out of the way to let things go forward with new eyes. 

Church Education has come a long way since I first came to Fairbanks Alaska in 1983.  Back then I think there were 2 stakes in Alaska and now there are seven.  Release-time seminary is established and progressing toward reality in two more locations in the state. 

My Master’s Thesis at the University of Alaska in 1987 was about the development of Release Time Religious Education in the state.  The program has proven to be an essential cog in the protection of our youth in Alaska, where most of the social wandering by young people is due to substance abuse and premature sexual exploitation.     

Two LDS Institute facilities have been built for young single adult members of the Church, one in Fairbanks, and the other in Anchorage.  Young Single Adult Wards have grown from zero to five. I was instrumental in establishing two of those YSA Wards.   I had the privilege of dedicating two new chapels.  Priesthood leaders have seen the wisdom in allowing Seminary & Institute programs to go forward.  A key person in all of this was a pioneer Church Educator Dennis Kendall, who spent his entire CES career in Alaska.   

An LDS Temple has been built in Alaska and expanded.  The Mormon Church is a bulwark of strength and safety for Church members and their Alaskan communities.  It has been a privilege for us to be a small part of these accomplishments.  But all good things must eventually come to an end so we are moving closer to our family and out of the long dark winters.  OK---there you have it, I have admitted this last winter finally did me in. 

Above all good things have been the people we met and served with.  They are true Alaskans, friends, and pioneers.  They will always be a source of happiness and strength as we remember mutual experiences.  Hopefully we can visit with you when you travel through the Boise Idaho area where our retirement home is being established, or perhaps when we sneak back up to Alaska for a visit.  You have had eternal impact on our lives. 

I am referring literally to 100’s of people.  We have been so blessed to meet and become closely affiliated with so many of you.  We extend a heartfelt thank for your friendship, kindness, dedication, and prayers.  We wish we could do this personally with each and every one of you.  You will be in our thoughts and prayers for evermore.

Hold the Presses---Looks Like Our Home is Sold

Stop the presses.  Just about the time we decided to lease our home for three years, we got a call from our real estate agent begging us to show it one last time.  Since we still had not received the $2000 security deposit from our potential lessee, we somewhat reluctantly gave in and started to clean up as much as possible. 

We told our agent the house was full of boxes.  We had started to pack for moving.   He told us the buyer was super motivated and it probably wouldn’t matter, so one last showing after two months of staging our home for people to see.  Bingo:  by 2pm the next day we had a good signed offer.  

We did a counter since we could walk away and still lease, and it was accepted by that evening.  We are getting very close to full asking price.  WOW, so now we get ready for the dreaded “inspection” and appraisal.  Then serious packing and complete cleanout of 14 years of accumulated stuff.

One little hint that may help if you put your home up for sale:  have a huge beautiful stainless steel refrigerator in the kitchen that any potential buyer would love to have.  I suspected it would be attractive and intentionally left it off the listing since we wanted to take it with us to Idaho.  But secretly I knew an offer would request the fridge as part of the negotiation.  So we “gave-in” and are leaving the fridge for the new owners.  It turned out to be a good bargaining chip. 

A beautiful kitchen is what sells a home to prospective buyers.  The first of four similar sized competing homes to sell on our street this summer went quickly because it was decked out with real fancy appliances and granite counter tops.  So make your kitchen as irresistible as possible.  By the way, ours does not have granite counter tops.  We did put in a new floor covering for the kitchen and carpet throughout the house.  So there’s more than one way to make it attractive.    

We did find another home just like ours, minus the walkout basement for the young couple who almost rented ours.  Selling rather than leasing is best for us so we don’t have to worry as landlords 3000 miles away.  Tender mercies continue to come our way as we make progress toward retirement and our trip down the Alaska Highway.

Shhhhhhh---don't tell my wife:  I might just start looking for a small cabin so I can keep a small portion of Alaska to come back to and visit.

Secrets: While Leasing Your Home to Strangers

THE NEWS---We are in process of considering a lease of our Alaskan home for 3 years starting July 1st.  Who knows, maybe we will decide to move back someday.  If we can keep it leased for long enough, our oldest daughter and her husband want to buy it for their home once they retire from the Marines. 

Now here are some details that have come to light as we have pondered this decision.

1) If we live in the home for 2 years during the 5 year period prior to it selling then we will not have to pay capital gains tax.  Those two years don’t even have to be consecutive.  So if we sell it prior to June 30, 2015 we will satisfy the tax man without giving him more of our money.

2) Finding a good family to lease the home wasn’t terribly difficult once we made it known we were thinking about doing so. Word of mouth brought us three potential renters. 

3) With the help of a good friend I found the lease agreement online which spelled out all the necessary details to protect our investment. 

4) If word of mouth advertizing doesn’t work,  a good online system to seek applications is through the military housing website: http://www.ahrn.com/index.php

5) You can list your home and all the parameters you wish to set for renters, such as, no pets, non-smokers, etc. 

6) Try to meet the potential renters in person and let them see the home before deciding if they want to lease it.  This really helped us make up our minds to go ahead and do the lease to a young military family.  He is a dentist and she is a gem.  They have two young children.   

7) You should check with a tax accountant to figure out if rental income will affect your tax liability. Ask about the potential for depreciating your home while it is a rental unit.      

Large family homes are hard to find for rent in the Anchorage area right now as of June 2012.  They are renting for approximately $1.00 per square foot.  Do the math to make sure you have sufficient rental income to cover all expenses; mortgage payment, taxes, and repairs.  Utilities can and I think should be the responsibility of the renter.

Check back in a few years and I will be able to tell you if we found being a landlord a good experience or if it just brought us too many headaches. But for now, we still have a foot in the door in our beloved Alaska.