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Many of my friends and family have asked me:
How can you leave California? How can you leave Sierra Madre? There are a number of reasons I could give. Among them were:
- My parents are aging – Now I can be a half day’s drive or less away, even on short notice, instead of a whole day’s flight time.
- Hot real estate market – If we didn’t cash out now, would it be years before we could sell at a good price?
- An increasing number of my insurance clients seemed to be going out of business, moving out of CA or merging out of business.
- Our kids are either in Texas or plan to be relocate back East.
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| Yes, I will miss this. |
When we looked around, Tennessee really seemed to work.
- Nashville, a major Southwest Airlines hub, is only one hour away, or about the same time as it took to get to LAX from Sierra Madre most days.
- Home prices are very reasonable even with an acre or two of land attached.
- Lots of super nice folks.
- Not a lot of traffic.
- Lots of great state parks, lakes and hiking trails.
- And, by golly, no state income tax.
The overwhelming answer was: It was time for a change.
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| Wish I could send y'all some! |
Q: When did you make your final decision?
Around the beginning of May, Halcyon and I took a short trip to Florida. I was burned out. Too much work for too many years, I suppose. After talking it over with Halcyon and some prayer (actually, a lot!) it came to me – what if we could sell my share of New Century Insurance Services as well as our house this summer (2014)? The Insurance agency was doing well and the Sierra Madre Real Estate market was hot.
We could relocate to a lower cost area. And I could get back to the business I love; helping people save enough with which to retire!
After we made the decision, everything went so quickly. Sandi Siraganian of Sotheby’s International Realty took care of the listing and selling of our home and did a great job! My attorney negotiated the sale of my share of the insurance business in less than 2 months. Be careful for what you wish for – it could just come true!
So here we are, in Cookeville, Tennessee. I’m working from home for now and really enjoying the pace – it seems like I get a lot more done in a lot less time, too.
With all the packing and business move planning happening at the same time, we hardly got to say a proper good-bye. Sorry about that.
We miss our Sierra Madre friends but are enjoying settling into a simpler life here. And, let’s face it; some of the luster of the “Golden State” has unfortunately faded away.
When we stopped in Dallas on the way to Tennessee, I described the new plastic bag ban that had just passed. Upon hearing that, my future daughter-in-law remarked: “California sure has a lot of rules.”
Yes, it does. But not for us. Not anymore.
(Mod: If you want to get in touch with Chris you can do so by clickinghere.)
http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com