Change of Plans....

[Boomer]

I've reached an abrupt crossroads with my '66 300 project: as of Friday evening I learned there is a move in my immediate future. I've got 2 months tops to deal with everything involved with this, including finding a home, moving my family, getting the current place ready and on the market, and moving all my 'stuff' which includes not only the 300 but a 1955 IHC R-140 pickup and '51 Farmall Super A tractor as well. And two garages full of other stuff.

I'm trying figure out what is best to do - keep the car or sell it. On the days I'm not cursing it, I love it. It's beautiful and fairly well optioned, but it wasn't supposed to be the project it ended up being. I already had the truck underway a year earlier.

The biggest issue is time vs place to store it. The move will be roughly 4-5 hours north to the Arlington, VA area. Real estate within commuting distance is considerably higher than here in backwoods NC, and I'm not likely to end up with 3 acres and a place for everything I have now.

So the dilemma is - do I put it up for sale now while I have a little time to sell it? Or do I roll the dice and hope I can find a place where I can keep it? I currently have as much or more money in the car than Stan just got for his '67 fastback, and it's not as nice or as roadworthy as Stan's. So I know I'll lose money selling it. But if I hold onto it and find out it has to go on short notice, then I'm really hosed.

I know this is something only I can decide, but I figure if I think out loud here and get some input from others who have possibly faced similar situations, it might help make sense of it. Right now my already-challenged mind is going a thousand miles an hour trying to figure out everything else. I'm leaning toward selling it, even at a loss, if I could find someone who likes the car as much as me and could follow through on it. Leaving it stored somewhere is pretty much out - just no good for the car, as I've learned already.

 

[commando1]

Start selling it now. Then see what happens.

 

[Boomer]

Start selling it now. Then see what happens.

Thanks Stan - exactly what I was looking for: clear and concise. Everything my mind isn't right now.

Makes perfect sense, too - always a plus.

 

[Fury440]

January 4, 2013 we put an offer in on a new house across town, took possession March 1 and finally got all the car stuff relocated by May 11th. That was just over 4 1/2 months to relocate 38 years worth of "stuff". It would have been impossible to do it in 2 months. I can't remember ever being so busy. So my recommendation to you.

- Selling stuff is very time consuming unless you give it away.
- around here a 12' x 30' ground floor vehicle storage locker rents for $90/mth or $1080/year. Rent a couple, stuff in your cars and all your car goodies. Two grand will buy you a year of thinking time.
- Hire a mover to move the household goods that you and your family will pack.
- Be careful to time possession date of the new house with the possession date of your existing house. You will need some bridge financing which will take a lot of paper pushing to make happen. In my case I just kept the old house and rented it out at a rate high enough to cover all the costs with some left over to help pay for the new one.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[The Horvaths]

You could always find a friend to "babysit" your car until your ready to pick it up.

 

[Boomer]

Well, in the event that it doesn't get a serious buyer (and believe me - you'd have to be serious to want it), I'm going to drop C Body Bob a message and see if he can introduce me to his friend who has the hot rod business. I figure it can't hurt to talk to someone about getting at least enough done on it so it can be driven and enjoyed. I can't afford to do as much as I'd like due to the upcoming move, but some.

Bill, thanks for the tips. 38 years.....wow! When I moved down here from VT I did it myself, multiple trips with the biggest Penske trucks they rent (26 footers, I think). Took me 5+ trips, over 800 miles each way. And I only had 14 yrs worth to move then! I've cut back some since, but still have a lot to get rid of.

I think we're going to have to bite the bullet and just buy a place up there, then put this place on the market after or during. I have some equipment that can't go into storage or be moved without me, which means having a place to take it all lined up.

Took your advice Stan, and got it listed this morning. If it sells, great, if not - we'll figure it out from there.

 

[Wollfen]

I am 95 miles from your place and know a person who could move it here for about $200 if you want to rent some storage area from me in the short term. PM me if you think its an option, cheers,
Gary

 

[Jim 68cuda]

Having grown up close to Arlington, VA in the neighboring town of Falls Church, and living most of my life in the area, I can tell you that you probably won't have a place to use the Farmall tractor. Sell that. I have a friend who collects letter series Farmalls, but I think he already has an A.
Also, as you search for a property to move to, keep in mind that some of the worst traffic in the country is in this area. And some of the worst traffic in the area is along the I 95/ RT 1 corridor in Virginia. I live in Sterling, west of that area. I will be selling my house this summer and moving 35 minutes further west so I'll have room to build a garage. I have outgrown my existing two car garage and there is no room to expand. If you look at property to the west such as Herndon, Reston, Sterling, and Leesburg, the commute may be easier than using 95 coming from the south, but there are toll roads that are not cheap. if you use a toll road, get the "Speed Pass". Some of the toll lanes and toll roads can't be used without it and those you can use without the speed pass may take 20 minutes to get through a toll booth if you don't have a whole lot of quarters with you. Also the Metro subway goes as far as Herndon and Reston, but in addition to the cost of riding, there is a cost to park in the commuter lots near the stations. We also have express lanes on the DC Beltway on the Virginia side and these will soon be coming to I 66, that you need to pay to use, but they will get you past some of the heavy traffic if you are in a hurry. These are called Lexus Lanes. If you do choose a property along the RT 1/ I 95 corridor, you probably shouldn't look much farther from Arlington than the Springfield area (Metro also goes to Springfield and Alexandria area, but good luck finding a place to park in the commuter lots by the subway stations). Last summer a buddy and I decided to go to a Friday evening cruise in at Fredricksburg, Virginia, using 95 south from the DC beltway. Took us 3 hours to get there (left home 2pm arrived there 5pm), yet the drive home at 10pm was only an hour. If at all possible do a trial morning and evening rush hour trip from your new place of employment to any areas you may consider purchasing.
Good luck with your move. By the way, a couple of my car buddies are realtors (one of whom I'm currently working with on the purchase of a new place myself). If you need a realtor for Virginia, I'll get you their contact info.

 

[65 500]

I'd move back to VT. and never look back !

 

[kenmdale]

I'm going to moving as well in a month and a half, but only an hour away. The best thing I have done is to sort through everything I have and to PURGE a lot of things we have collected over the years . its amazing how much junk I have collected over the years. I have found multiple copies of some tools still in wrappers (couldn't find a tool so had to buy another one )
If I were you I would store the car ,then after things have settled decide what to do. There will already be to many decisions to make .

Cheers

Ken

 

[traintech55]

I've reached an abrupt crossroads with my '66 300 project: as of Friday evening I learned there is a move in my immediate future. I've got 2 months tops to deal with everything involved with this, including finding a home, moving my family, getting the current place ready and on the market, and moving all my 'stuff' which includes not only the 300 but a 1955 IHC R-140 pickup and '51 Farmall Super A tractor as well. And two garages full of other stuff.

I'm trying figure out what is best to do - keep the car or sell it. On the days I'm not cursing it, I love it. It's beautiful and fairly well optioned, but it wasn't supposed to be the project it ended up being. I already had the truck underway a year earlier.

The biggest issue is time vs place to store it. The move will be roughly 4-5 hours north to the Arlington, VA area. Real estate within commuting distance is considerably higher than here in backwoods NC, and I'm not likely to end up with 3 acres and a place for everything I have now.

So the dilemma is - do I put it up for sale now while I have a little time to sell it? Or do I roll the dice and hope I can find a place where I can keep it? I currently have as much or more money in the car than Stan just got for his '67 fastback, and it's not as nice or as roadworthy as Stan's. So I know I'll lose money selling it. But if I hold onto it and find out it has to go on short notice, then I'm really hosed.

I know this is something only I can decide, but I figure if I think out loud here and get some input from others who have possibly faced similar situations, it might help make sense of it. Right now my already-challenged mind is going a thousand miles an hour trying to figure out everything else. I'm leaning toward selling it, even at a loss, if I could find someone who likes the car as much as me and could follow through on it. Leaving it stored somewhere is pretty much out - just no good for the car, as I've learned already.

I know how hard this can be, I just did the same thing last year, and I only moved 25 miles. Good luck with your decision.

 

[1978 NYB]

I lived outdoors for 20 years.

I'm 99.9% sure that I'm never moving again!

 

[Jim 68cuda]

Before you sell the car, just remember, you can live in your car, but you can't drive your house. I offer this wisdom in hope that it will help you get your priorities straight.

 

[Yatzee]

Never do anything in haste or imposed desperation.Things happen in time and have their own time to occur. Anyone knowing that your packing up and moving will lowball you on the price especially if they know time is running out for the move. Where are you most likely to get top dollar? Are you fairly fond of the vehicle and may regret disposing of it down the road? Can you store/move it fairly inexpensively for a short period of time until you're settled? Instead of SELLING the car right away, BUY yourself some time to think it through free of the distractions of your current situation. If not, I'll give you $3000 bucks for the lot, just like the next guy will. Not an insult, just reality.

 

[1978 NYB]

I've had nice and not so nice cars for over 40 years. I think back and wish I still had some of those cars and should of never sold them. If I were you... I would store it somewhere for a year if you can't take it with you on the move and if you do without it for a year then I would say you can let it go and maybe have no regrets.

 

[traintech55]

Boomer, as I said earlier, I just went thru this last year, what I did was to decide what I was going to get rid of, what I was going to keep, and then found the new house. Once you decide to keep your car or not, the rest will come easy.

 

[Fury440]

For a grand a year, rent a big storage locker and defer all this drama forf a year.

 

[cantflip]

Moving SUCKS... even a move across the street without a truck is horrible. My sympathies...

You've heard it all before... simplify your decisions. Get rid of everything you don't care about, lots of easily replace items get stored for more $ than replacements would cost (like cheap furnishings). Done that a few times... when you finally clear the storage you realize the contents are worth less than the cost. CL will bring out the "yard sale" crowd, but I hate that stuff. I like looking for deals but zero desire to go through a sale. Donate... any charity that strikes your fancy will likely take anything they think they can flip, and some pick up... drop off boxes save embarrassment of "I used to wear this"...etc.

The not easy to replace stuff, like your vehicles, store someplace you can deal with them later. They cost to move, they cost to store and to go back to sort later you need to pick a location you are interested in staying a couple of days. None of this is fun... I have given away projects rather than suffer the pains of trying to sell... at least I know they went somewhere they were appreciated. At least I got to visit with friends or family when I backtracked to sort and retrieve my leavings, but its was always less fun than just visiting and only deferred the expense of moving it until later.

 

[Boomer]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and advice. And no offense taken on the selling realities. I know if I do sell it, I won't recover things like the transportation costs and time I've put into it.

If I seemed desperate, I apologize - more like being almost blind-sided and trying to get everything rolling at once. Half-expected it last year, didn't happen, was at the point where next year seemed more likely.

The biggest unknown is whether we can find a place to live up there with space for multiple vehicles - my wife drives a Ford Escape, I drive a Ranger, also have the 300, 55 IHC, and the tractor which is actually my lawn mower here. Once we get the 'house' part handled, the rest will fall into place. Aside from commuter vehicles, the IH pickup is the only non-negotiable.

Gary - thank you for the storage offer. Now, if I could rent your repair skills as well, that would be very tempting regardless. I'm thinking if it ends up going elsewhere for a period of time, it needs to be with someone who I can pay to get some of the basic problems straightened out so it's at least driveable and usable. Most places can't get to something like this for a number of months, which actually is in my favor. And after the dust settles from the move, I should have more $$ available to put into it.

Basically I acted on Stan's advice because it makes good, simple sense: get the wheels rolling on selling as that would simplify things on my end, at the very least. If it doesn't sell in the time I have, I can still resort to Plan B, which isn't clear but would mean putting the car somewhere in storage/repair.

Yatzee, you're really not too far off what I was expecting to hear. That's why I mentioned 'reality' in my listing. Just because I'm upside down in the car now doesn't mean the next person would want to be. And part of that reality is, I just don't have time for the car right now and won't have for at least 6 months or more. If it sold, I'd replace it as soon as time allows, because 'desire' isn't behind the sale. Simplicity is, nothing more. I've had the car less than a year, so I'm not really emotionally invested. I've even convinced myself that what I've learned so far should offset any financial loss. It only took one beer, too.

Jim, I'm going to send you a PM as I'd like to hear more about the real estate situation, commute, and Realtors up your way.

As to going back to VT, well.....let's just say it's not the blue collar farming state I grew up in. Many native Vermonters have left and been replaced with Bernie-types from the cities. Taxes are nuts, traditional values are considered bad now, and it's become the heroine capital or crossroads or whatever of the US. Look it up online. Still a beautiful state, just not a place I'd care to be anymore. No real work there to speak of, business and industry have been chased off unless you make ice cream or teddy bears. Not to mention being overruled by the War Dept (wife) who is a Tampa girl. Too cold! Instead we're going to live in the belly of the beast. Doesn't make sense from the 'family values' aspect, but does financially.

 

[Fury440]

One huge mistake I made during my move was to get rid of all my "cans" of misc unsorted nuts, bolts, screws, etc. I have since discovered you can't easily buy a 3/8" bolt, you need to buy a little bubble pack of 5 or 6 at an outrageous price.