Passions: Home Here, Home There

Living and Transitions Between Two Residences

If you ask, most people will say that as they get closer to retirement, they want to travel. But what might travel look like? For some, it is one major trip a year; others opt for smaller trips sprinkled throughout the seasons. For a slice of the population, living for months at a time away from their “home base” is the best option — and they may even leave it for good.

Making the leap to Europe

In 2015, Carrie W., age 48, and her husband, Pip, age 64, visited his sister in England and hopped the Channel to Paris for a couple days. “We both loved it, so starting the next year, we decided to just go to Paris,” Carrie says. “After a couple years of going there, we started this pipe dream about what it might be like to move there.”

There were many things that attracted Carrie and Pip about Paris. For one, Pip is English, so the idea of returning to Europe for his retirement sounded appealing. Also, there is just something magical for them about the renowned French city. “In Paris, you’re like ‘Does anybody around here work? Because I’m pretty sure you all just sit in cafés and have coffee and wine,’” Carrie says. “The joie de vivre thing is real.”

Carrie downloaded real estate apps on her phone and began to peruse apartment listings in Paris, and they sold their real estate in the U.S. “It’s really hard to get a mortgage in France; it’s almost impossible for an American,” she says. They opted to budget based on what cash they had available from selling their property. “We wanted an apartment on Ile Saint Louis [one of two islands in the middle of the Seine near Notre Dame Cathedral] with a lift or no higher than two floors up, and on a budget that would basically be unheard of,” Carrie says. “To make things worse, I wanted a bathtub.”

Pip reconnected with a college friend who has been living in Paris for three decades, and it was this networking that helped the couple meet some expatriates and Parisian real estate agents. In 2022, they looked at apartments without luck, but as they made their way to the airport, Carrie found an apartment on her app. The real estate agent sent them a video the next day of an apartment that was a short walk to Notre Dame and checked all the other boxes. By the end of August, Carrie and Pip were owners of an apartment in Paris, but they didn’t see it with their own eyes until December.

They are now in a slow process of making the full transition to Paris, with one foot in Louisville and the other in France. They’re considering the logistics of things like moving their 13-year-old dog, how often Carrie can get back to the States to see her mom, and the process of getting a work visa. There are companies like Sanderling Expat Advisors and Ibanista that are helping Carrie and Pip make the transition smoother.

Winter homes by the beach

Vickie and Sam D., ages 71 and 74, didn’t start out looking for two homes. “I had kind of fantasized about having a vacation home but never thought it would be feasible,” Sam says. Their daughter-in-law’s parents had bought a condo in the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina, and when the neighbor of the condo put his place up for sale in 2005, Sam and Vickie committed to buy it. “We were next door neighbors for 10 years with our son’s in-laws,” Sam says.

As grandchildren came along, the space in the condos felt smaller, so Vickie, Sam, and the in-laws built 4-bedroom houses right next to each other. “Our homes are exactly alike,” Vickie says.

Sam and Vickie head to South Carolina in midDecember so that their family can celebrate Christmas together (a 19-year tradition), and they return to Louisville in March. They usually return to the beach for another family get-together for the Fourth of July. “We’re kind of there when [our kids] tell us to be,” Sam says. The last couple of years, they estimate they spend 50 percent of their time in South Carolina.

Having two residences, especially when you host family and friends, is wonderful, but there are hassles to it as well. As Sam points out, there is an overlap in expenses because when they are in South Carolina, they can’t just shut off the utilities to their home in Louisville. They have taxes, yard maintenance, and insurance for both places, too.

As they get older, they are noticing that the 11hour drive to South Carolina is harder than it used to be, so they are considering more and more where their permanent place of residence will eventually be. While they can easily and cheaply fly during the busy summer season, the cost skyrockets during the winter months. There is also the issue of medical care, which becomes increasingly important the older you get. Vickie points out that there may be discrepancies in the types of doctor specialties and hospitals depending on where a vacation home is located.

Of course, the older you get, the more you realize that change happens and nothing is forever. So do your research, network with knowledgeable people, and be honest with yourself to ensure you make the best decision for your situation.

By Carrie Vittitoe

Fall 2024 | Today's Transitions