Kim and I have been considering a move from our home in Port Orchard, WA to someplace in the Sacramento area. We first started thinking about making a move when Kim had some pretty serious health issues last year. After undergoing several tests, her doctor was thinking that Kim's respiratory issues were possibly due to the climate in the northwest. We think his suspicions may have been correct because when we spent a month in Hawaii and some time in California, Kim's respiratory problems stopped. They resumed when we returned to Washington.
If the decision to move was based solely on Kim's health, it would be a "no brainer". But the time we spent in Hawaii may have allowed Kim's respiratory system to improve. Although she still has some respiratory issues here in Washington, her symptoms have not been as bad.
We then began discussing the idea of moving anyway even if we didn't have to move because of Kim's health. Kim and I both love our blended family very much and desire to spend more time with them. Being a woman, Kim has an even stronger desire to be near her family especially with two more grandchildren due in 2013.
Having a blended family with my kids spread out across the west coast has been difficult. It simply has not been possible for us to travel enough to spend time with our children and grandchildren as much as we would like, not to mention the expense. As we get older, it will get harder and harder to travel.
With all of Kim's children in the Sacramento area (Folsom, Rocklin and Roseville), if we lived in that area and had the ability to see them more often, it would (in theory) free up our resources (time and money) to spend more time visiting my kids who were not in the area. If we made a move to California, our hope is that we would or could spend more time traveling elsewhere.
But making such a move is not as simple as a snap of the fingers. There is much to think about - the cost associated with selling a house, the cost of living in California vs. Washington, California state income taxes, higher property taxes, weather, congestion and insurance are just some of the factors we have to take into consideration. Another big factor to consider is trying to determine the right time to move based on what is happening with the real estate market and the economy. Our home is Washington is worth considerable less than it was when we purchased it in 2008 and we will have some income tax considerations to think about in 2014 due to us getting rid of our rental properties in Washington, so Kim and I feel a little under pressure because we may have only a short window of opportunity in which to act.
We met with our realtor Friday morning and got the good news that we would be able to list our house for more than we had been thinking. That's good news. The bad news is that our realtor reminded us than in addition to the 5% real estate commission we have to pay, there is also a 1.78% excise tax if we sell that house. That amounts to between $9k and $10k.
We have a beautiful home here in Washington right on the 4th hole of the McCormick Woods Golf Course. It would be very difficult to give that up, but we are also attracted to the idea of owning a smaller, more simple home with no mortgage, which may be possible. Our house is getting more and more difficult to maintain. But so far, we haven't seen much of anything we like in the Sacramento area.
Although Kim has been doing better, last night she had a severe attack of pleurisy, chest pain and asthma. It was severe enough to consider going to the hospital but we didn't because they really can't do much to treat it. Just when we were thinking that maybe her health was good enough to stay here in Washington, she gets her symptoms back again. Perhaps this is the "indication" we were looking for.
Although Kim has been doing better, last night she had a severe attack of pleurisy, chest pain and asthma. It was severe enough to consider going to the hospital but we didn't because they really can't do much to treat it. Just when we were thinking that maybe her health was good enough to stay here in Washington, she gets her symptoms back again. Perhaps this is the "indication" we were looking for.
We are expecting a call from our realtor this morning. We will either have to give him the go ahead to list our house or tell him we need more time to think about it. We'll keep everyone updated on this very important life-changing decision as it progresses.
Ted and Kim