In 1995, my husband's employer in Pensacola, Fla., sold to a company in Bowling Green, Ky. The economy was strong, and we were enjoying our Florida home and thinking about retirement. But my husband took a consulting position with the Kentucky company.
We took equity from our residence in Florida and bought a small home on a large lake in Kentucky. We planned to downsize, sell the Florida home and travel after my husband completed his work.
Then, two hurricanes hit our Florida area, causing rental losses for months. Next, the company we thought was stable and friendly had an unfriendly takeover. My husband took a huge pay cut and my hours as a nurse could not replace our losses.
It is now 2009. Our Florida house finally sold, but there was a substantial prepayment penalty. We also could not pay off our credit cards, throwing us into default.
If we had the chance to do it over, we would rent instead of using the equity to buy in Kentucky. Eventually, we would have returned to Florida to manage the first property. Instead, we have to file Chapter 7. Perhaps your readers can learn from our mistakes.
-- Kentucky transplants