We're Now Tenants

Escrow finally closed and we're renting our ex-house back for a month while we get ready to make the move. Unfortunately our appraisal was $20,000 less than the agreed upon sales price, so we had to drop the price more so the seller could get his loan. That hurt.

No use worrying about it now. Time to focus on the move. So far we've spent over a week doing nothing but making phone calls and pecking on the computer while arranging insurance, bank accounts, Visas, car insurance, changing car registration etc. etc.. Seems like the day is suddenly over and neither of us moved from our desks. The list is finally getting shorter and we're able to spend some time packing.

After seeing what it cost for someone to move us, we bought a 16' cargo trailer and plan to do the move ourselves. The carrying capacity is about 4800 lbs., so I'm weighing each box so we don't overload the trailer. I'd hate to have to deal with a broken axle somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I'm not looking forward to towing it on the narrow roads, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Just have to go slow.

We hope to get the move done in two trips. So far I have most of the heavy garage items packed at about 650 lbs. which isn't too bad. We're hopeful we can fit more in the trailer than we anticipated.

Mexico via South Dakota

I’m sitting in a hotel in the middle of the South Dakota plains. Flat, brown, featureless land as far as the eye can see, a stop on the way to Mexico from Southern California.

We’re not lost. With the new homeland security laws, in order to maintain bank accounts, credit cards and receive my pension, we need an address and phone number in the U.S.. The reason we picked South Dakota was twofold: One, there are no state income taxes; the other because South Dakota is one of the easiest of the non-income-tax states to register, and renew vehicle registration.

By the end of the day we will be residents of South Dakota. It’s weird to give up the California License. Feels like we’re dropping our membership to an expensive social club. Leaving California will give us a nearly 10% raise on our pension by not having to pay California income tax. A membership worth dropping.