My wife and I lived in a town of about 100,000 people when I decided to retire for the second time. I retired at age 65 and then went back to work at age 68 and worked another five years. The job I had for the last five years was stressful but at the same time rewarding. I was a Certified Public Accountant for many years during my main working years. When I returned to the workforce I accepted a job auditing real estate appraisals and real estate broker price opinions. We would work up to 60 hours a week depending on the volume submitted to the company I worked for. I was there during the good years in the real estate markets and also when the market turned and real estate values plummeted in Arizona, Nevada, and large sections of the country. I was paid an hourly rate that was not the greatest but my boss was good to me and the employees. I started with the company when there was only ten employees and the workforce grew to over fifty employees in the five years I worked for them. At the annual company Christmas Party held at an upscale restaurant and night club, my boss passed out cards and envelopes with an annual bonus. My bonuses ranged from $500 the first year I worked for them to $4,500 the last year I worked for them. When I retired after the fifth year my wife and I used my Christmas bonus to take a trip to New York City. Neither of us had been to New York City and I had sciatic nerve problems and was being treated by a physical therapist to regain my ability to walk. I bought a cane with a chair on it before going to New York City. We stayed near Times Square so I would not have to walk too far to enjoy that area. We visited Central Park, Rockefeller Plaza taking the NBC tour, went on the harbor boat trip, went to the Statue of Liberty and Immigration Island, went to two Broadway shows, and had a really memorable time.

We had a comfortable home in the town where we lived and maintained two booths at an indoor flea market open Thursday thru Sunday. We sold essential oils, lotion bars, clocks, electronic cigarettes, scarfs in one booth, and the other booth was a holiday Christmas booth. After three years we decided to close this business because it was not profitable. My wife was ask to take one of the people we worked with at the flea market to Campground of the Rockies south of Fairplay Colorado to familiarize her mother with doTerra Essential oils. My wife had no idea that her mother lived at 10,000 feet elevation near the continental divide. When they got to her mothers trailer located in the high pines south of Fairplay Colorado. It was an impressive place with great views of 14,000 ft peaks , and 500 properties at the level they lived on. They took my wife on a tour of the properties and showed her several that were for sale, at about $20,000 a lot plus the cost of what was on the lot. My wife was impressed with one property that had two lots and three trailers on it for $48,000. The cost of living on a quarter acre lot with a trailer on it and sheds was less than $1,000 a year($500 for CORA Dues, $300 for insurance, and $200 for property taxes. There were three service centers located evenly across the 500 properties that contained six men’s and six women’s bathrooms, vanities, and showers. There was also a fresh drinking water source and a dump for trailer waste and blueboys.

The week following my wife’s return from CORA, she convinced me to go look at the properties. We had 1983 Volkswagon Vanagon that we took to CORA. After looking at the properties we went home and discussed our options and decided to return to CORA the next weekend. The second weekend we decided to make an offer an a property that had two sheds, two refrigerators, golf cart, and a large deck surrounding a 1985 Montana Trailer. A man lived in trailer by himself, he and his wife decided they got along better if they spent three months apart each year , so he went to CORA and she stayed in Arizona. The man was difficult to deal with, I made an offer of $40,000 and he wanted $50,000, I increased my offer to $46,500 and he raised his price to $55,000. I told him I could tell he was not interested in selling at the present time. The 2004 Everest 5th Wheel next located next to his property had been for sale for about a year started at $78,000 and had been steadily decreasing in asking price to the point it was $48,000 when we looked at it. The trailer had been purchased new for $66,000 in 2005 and the people had only lived in the trailer less than six months time in the five years they had it , so it was just like new. When I called the owner and ask if the price was $48,000 he said oh that is too much , how about $40,000? I ask if we could meet him the following Sunday at the property and if it was everything he said it was , I would pay him $38,500 for the 5th Wheel and the lot. I ask him if I was in the ballpark? He said yes you are in the ballpark. We met the owner and bought the property the following weekend. We love it up there. After we got the property , we put a redwood deck around the the 39 foot Everest 5th wheel at a cost of $7,500, we bought two large sheds for $2,800 a piece, and did a few other improvements. I bought a water trailer since we have to get our water from the service center and dump our blue boy. In summary for about $55,000 we have our summer home with annual expenses of less than $1,000 for dues, insurance, taxes, and electricity. It gets to 40 below zero at CORA in January and February,it is only a place to live for about four months of the year.

We decided to sell our home and went on a long trip to south Texas. We were looking for a place to live for the other nine months of the year. We visited South Padre Island and Mission Texas. I was not impressed. We stayed at an RV park for a few days in Mission and the people were wonderful. The heavy rains, Spring Break for college students, and high humidity were negative realities. People said you need to leave here during the month of March when the college students come for Spring Break it is terrible. After leaving south Texas in our VW Vanagon we headed across Texas at 65 miles an hour, which blew my wife’s patience since the speed limit was 80 mph. Our destination was Florence, Arizona. I had seen ads for the RV parks there where a person could own the lot and a trailer for less than $35,000. Some of the trailers were relatively new. When we arrived at Florence and looked at the RV Parks, we were not impressed, the trailers were too close together and Florence is the main State Prison town for Arizona. There are several prisons located in Florence and not many businesses. The people travel 35 miles to Mesa Arizona to shop. Next we went to Apache Junction and Mesa Arizona. The RV parks in Mesa had high lot rent and would not sell the lots. The RV Parks in Apache Junction would not sell the lots either but the lot rent was more reasonable. We ended up making an offer on a trailer on a rented lot. We were able to get the old trailer for $4,500 and lot rent of $325 a month. It was January and we would get possession on May 15th. When we returned on May 15th it was 108 degrees and the gentleman that sold the property had passed away unexpectedly two weeks before we came so the RV Park handled the transaction. We stayed a week and returned to our mountain property at CORA. When we returned to Apache Junction in September we decided to completely remodel the trailer. I hired a contractor and we put $12,000 into new plumbing, cupboards, appliances, a big shed, bathroom and steps. The lot rent increased every year we lived in Apache Junction to the point that it was $540 a year in 2018.

Our neighbors at CORA came to see us in Arizona and said they had done a study of real estate prices in Arizona and determined that Casa Grande , Arizona had the lowest real estate prices of any city in Arizona per sq ft. They invited us to go with them to look houses in Casa Grande. They are fairly wealthy people and were looking for places in the $350,000 to $450,000 price range. I called a real estate agent and she took the four of us to look at a number of properties. My wife told the agent our lot rent keeps increasing so much I think we should maybe consider buying a house and put that money into house payments. The agent said she would look for homes in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. I began looking on line for properties in our price range in Casa Grande. I found a modular home listed that was located eight miles east of Casa Grande in a subdivision called Sunscape for $90,000, the photos looked great and there was a big American flag in front. The agent got access for us and showed us the house, it was located on a 1/4 acre fenced lot located on the edge of the desert in a 55 and over home subdivision with an HOA. The dues were $50 a month for the swimming pool, hot tub, and clubhouse. The house has 1,700 sq ft , a three car garage, large carport, and patio. There are fifty nine homes in the subdivision and it is located a half mile from a large 55 and over RV park which has 550 lots individually owned in a coop. We purchased the property after looking at a number of properties. I go to a lot of events at the RV Park and attend church at the RV Park. In summary, we paid 20% down , and financed the rest resulting in house payments of $525 a month which includes property taxes and insurance. Our friends had a new home built in Casa Grande for $320,000.

I explain this scenario because there seems to be a lot of people that do not have much money for their retirement and need to find an economical way to live. We always thought we would retire and live in Grand Junction, Colorado for the rest of our lives. That was not the case we decided to explore what other avenues for retirement are available and found a new life. I go to Spring Training baseball games in Mesa, Arizona every March and there is lots to do in the surrounding area. Last week I went to see the sky divers at Eloy, Arizona ten miles from our house. People come from all over the world to skydive at the facility in Eloy, and the military trains paratroopers there. Maybe you can find a new plan for your retirement life. Even if you are younger and it will be a while before you can retire , you might investigate what options are available for retirement.

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