Closing a Chapter: Selling our Chicago Property

Diana and I bought our townhome on Wrightwood Avenue in August of 1996 and lived there until October of 2010 when we departed for the Great Loop.  Since then we have only been there occasionally.  In fact in the last four years we've used the townhome for less than nine months with most of our time spent cruising and the rest in Sarasota.

Our unit is in the center of the photo

View looking west of our 10 unit townhouse development

The longest stretch since departing for the Great Loop was a five month period between late June and December 2013 first while we were waiting for the 63 Outer Reef to be completed and shipped to the US. The 63 arrived in Fort Lauderdale on February 2 and we moved aboard 8 days later.  We've been living on the boat ever since.

Having now lived on her for over 6 months we came to realize that we were both comfortable with the cruising lifestyle and, most importantly, with the boat itself.  The 63 is both lovely and livable. This prompted a June decision to sell the townhome.

Timing turned out to be very favorable.  The Chicago real estate market was hot and Diana was planning to be in Chicago in early July for two weeks.  She thought she might start the process of getting the house ready during this visit.  Once she got started she decided to finish and extended her visit.  As a result when she returned to Hingham after just short of a month in Chicago the house was ready.  There is no question that her efforts contributed to a fast sale at 99% of our asking price.

We signed a listing agreement on July 3 and the house went on the market about 10 day later.  It was under contract as of the 25th having been on the market for less than two weeks.  Three weeks later the deal was firmed up and we departed for Chicago with Kodi to prepare the townhouse for a September 19 closing date.

We left Hingham on Monday the 18th and headed west along I-90 to Erie Pennsylvania and then onto Chicago then next day.   The trip totaled 1004 miles.  It was easy.

The stop on Erie, our first, was fun.  After checking into the motel we proceeded north to the lakefront where we enjoyed a lovely alfresco dinner at Smugglers Wharf.  This was followed by an exploration of the marina and a lovely sunset.

Smugglers Wharf located on Lake Arie

Another tour boat on the pier

We catch a pretty sunset

Scallywags tour boat at the Sheraton 

On Wednesday, we began the final process of dismantling our shorebound life.  This involved disposing of most of our "stuff" (i.e., furniture, art, clothing and other possessions).  Except for connecting with our friends and morning walks with Kodi the rest was constant activity focused on getting the job done by the day after Labor Day (September 2) so that we could return to Hingham in time to move the boat to Newport for the Newport Boat Show (9/11-14).

Sai Cafe with Jim, Heidi, Laura, Diana, Les, Bob & Carolyn

Brunch with Steve, Natnaniel, Becky, David, Martha, Diana & Dakota

Fortunately, we did not have that much stuff, relatively speaking.  Townhome living, especially on a slab, does not allow for the kind of accumulation of stuff that occurs when you have lots of room and a basement.  That said, the Wrightwood property is 3,000 square feet.

Disposing of our furniture, art and books was relatively easy.  Our buyers requested the living room sofa and we gifted them our deck furniture. My daughter, Lesley, took all of the valuable art and most the best furniture (i.e., rosewood master bedroom set, teak eames chair, rosewood desk, and a leather convertible sofa). Our friend Laura's daughter, Carolyn, took our teak kitchen table and a teak bookcase module.

Earth by Tom Strobel
My first art acquisition.  It was purchased in 1972

Sky by Tom Stroble
I commissioned this oil in the early 80's
I attempted to capture in a painting the experience of flight.
Tom Strobel NAILED it.

Our friends Steve, Becky, Dakota and Nathaniel took the pool table and pool room furniture.

Pool table in the family room 

Steve poses as the movers breakdown the table

The pool table safely installed at the Betts residence

Dakota & Nathaniel with a "dressed up" Kodi

The remainder consisting of decorative art, a dining room set, glass and brass coffee & end tables and some other stuff went to consignment.  The books were donated to a non-profit who agreed to pick then up.  We had the logistics in place two days after arriving.

The next challenge was clothing, memorabilia and stuff.  This was also easy and was made so by three factors.  First and foremost was the fact that while I had lots of clothing, it was all related to my business career.  After retirement it was just gathering dust.  The next factor is our four year absence. We had learned to live without the stuff.  The final factor was Diana's July efforts. She had already disposed a lot.

Our cruising lifestyle, with no winters, also played a part.  Living on a boat, even one as spacious as the 63 limits you to useable stuff.  The endless summer reduces the need for bulky winter clothing Finally, the fact that we run a wash every other day further reduces the amount of needed clothing. That said, we still have a considerable quantity of clothes aboard.

We did consider whether to just put everything into storage and ruled that out.  Logic: It was not worth storing things we had stopped using and much of  our furniture was fairly large (making it problematic when we buy property down the road as we plan to downsize).  The annual expense would easily have been $6,000 a year.  Hence, we gave stuff to friends and family, donated anything of value and threw the rest away.  In the end, the amount of stuff moved to the boat was minimal.

Dining room set and artwork

Living room

On Tuesday September 2 at 8:30 AM, Golans Moving Company began loading the stuff going to Lesley.  They finished at 2:15 PM.  Terrel, the foreman and his teammates, Xaviar and Kevin, did a fantastic job.  I was impressed with their professionalism.

Golan's truck in the alley adjacent to our townhome complex

Left to right: Terrel, Kevin & Xaviar

Speaking of moving stuff to the boat.  I left Chicago at 2:30 PM on Tuesday with 7 boxes packed in the Taurus' amazing trunk.  I arrived in Hingham the next day at 7:00 PM.  By 3:00 AM Thursday the car was unpacked and the "stuff" had disappeared into the boat (with room to spare).  A few of boxes of additional stuff was shipped to Lesley who will bring it to Hingham once it arrives

Meanwhile, Diana stayed in Chicago to clean up a few loose ends.  She will join me at the Newport Boat Show on September 13.

While we are clearly closing a real estate chapter, we are not closing out the relationships with our Chicago friends.  We plan to return during the one or two times a year.  Just not during the winter.

Written by Les.