OK, so an example of freedom and time is yours in retirement:
D just called FaceTime from a cafe in eastern europe and we were able to take the call and talk for an hour!
This has happened multiple times in the kids travels this past year and it is such a good feeling to communicate with them on their terms. So cool!
That said with time on our hands we just ordered a refrigerator part for $36 and watched a video of how to do the part from the parts company. They say it is level ‘easy’.
I think that the remodels/ build on the homes sounds good. You never know really how much you will use it or not but how would you know unless you tried? If it does not work out, sell it. No regrets or ‘we should have’.
We are tearing down and building on the water, too, Shawbridge. Good luck with everything!
It’s fun reading about all the building and projects! We’ll likely stay put in this house (there is a downstairs bedroom/bathroom if we ever need it). But we’d also like to travel in retirement and perhaps do a rental somewhere for a month or two in the winter. Oh, that’s after we get Barcelona dream done. We want to go there for a month after retirement and cycle kids and friends on visits. Two days there in 2012 was enough to whet our appetite, but not enough to settle in.
Chatted with some neighbors about the unfortunate buildout on the street below… This is a dream retirement home for the couple, and they are into their 3rd year of the construction project. Apparently, local contractors are super busy, and lining up and coordinating subs is very, very problematic. Fingers crossed for you all builders while NRE and I will be patching up our old shacks. 
We are in coastal east coast, and the building frenzy here is crazy. Contractors say that sub-contractors have not staffed up to levels they had in 2008, when they had to lay off lots of workers. Thus, a project that would take 9 months drags out to 15 months, or more. We are currently living in the tear-down house. Since we have to move to a rental, I am looking to rent something comfortable.
To answer the comment, yes our down draft Jenn Air in the custom island could be replaced by something else and the cabinet could be remade or altered. And it does vent out to a nearby wall through our crawl space. If our Jenn Air does die, we will have to decide what we want to replace it with. We are staying in this home, but also have to keep an eye on what work should be done for keeping a buyer in mind.
I hope the builders in our area do decide to build less new homes, but we finally are getting to a point where those new home prices make our current homes looking better and better price wise.
One way to possibly find construction subs is through your homeowner insurance agent - the sub that did work in our home this past month was one I knew through insurance work (from an insurance claim) we had a few years ago. He doesn’t even have business cards because he always has work coming to him. For bigger projects, I can go through the construction company - but deal with a 15% overhead charge. However it is really good (and key) to have good work done by someone reliable. This guy ended up doing more work and charging less than what he originally quoted (when does THAT happen!) - however we did have to have his crew come and go around his ‘regular’ customer base. So what might have been done in less time did go over a 2 week period - but I knew this up front.
All island hoods vent outside, of course. You don’t need to modify the cabinet to get rid of it. Just take it out and have new top installed so the slit on the counter is covered. Any contractor that says you need new cabinet should be shown the door.
I would never ever call my insurance co and ask for contractor recommendations. That is a sure way to trigger a “random” QC inspection from insurance.
@shawbridge - would modular construction work for you? I have a friend who is building a house on a lake in NH and wants to build a net-zero house, and he is going modular. The things they can do with modular housing these days are pretty amazing. And it’s like half the cost of stick-built.
^ my sister built her retirement home as a modular. She’s a big fan. She likens “normal” construction to buying a car and having the dealer drop the parts in your driveway and expect you and co-workers to put it together.
For our retirement home, I want something that will last another 30-40 years without troubles… to make sure that we don’t have to deal with it. Our heirs (whoever they will be, because while either of us is alive, there are no heirs, LOL) can deal with the rotted shack after that! 
We are working on making the house at least somewhat trouble-free by replacing things with materials that can last a while (for example, using Hardi instead of cedar). Our Hardi was tested on House1 for 18 years, and I am impressed. The deck will be the next target. A friend has an almost 30 yr old deck that was built with the first generation of Trex material. It is still standing and looks great!
Can I come to visit you?
I can’t imagine being sorry about retiring and I have many friends that tell me it is the most amazing time of their life. They are all happy and they all look great! I have so much planned.
All these home projects are fun to read about!
Alas, we lost the house. It was a somewhat unique property, with rare waterfront footage in short walking distance of a town center but in a lesser part of town and not that far from a prison. Anyway, we bid $2K more than asking with an escalating clause adding another $60K over asking – so $62K over asking. There were 3 other bidders. The one we knew about asked people we knew if we were wealthy and called the sewer engineer used by our RE agent and implied that he had suggested they call to find out what our estimate was for connecting to the sewer. Their opening bid was at least $100K more than our top bid, so they were at least $160K above asking. We weren’t psychologically prepared to go there – although I am going to think about whether we need to rethink our views. No big regrets as we are avoiding a ton of work, but would have been a beautiful spot. They buyers were obviously desperate to get it and probably would have paid significantly more. OK.
That is sad, but whatever happens, happens for a reason. We lost 2 houses in this way before getting this place. One sold for $200k more, and the other for $170k more. Then this old shack came on the market, and we got it. A split entry house nearby with gorgeous views sold for $750-800k over the ask! The market here is nuts. People are trying to get in before the Fed begins to tighten the bolts.
We didn’t get several homes before we got the one we have been living in for the past 25 years we bid the asking price and got it for that before any open houses, subject to inspection. It is the best house for us oh any we looked at.
I’m sure you will find the right place soon at the right price.
Sure you don’t want to try for California, @shawbridge?
Anyone else sitting with new money not invested? I made my solo 401K full contribution in December and decided to just keep it in short term funds because it felt like the market was really pricey and bond yields are not where I’d want them in return for locking up my money that long. Well, six months later and I still feel the same…and now I’ve got my 2017 contribution ready to roll in.
^ that’s the problem with keeping money out; it’s never a good time to get back in. Aside from expenses I expect over the next few months, I’m 100% invested.
I’ve had a fairly substantial amount of cash in various bank accounts for a couple of years now.
I know it’s silly, but I just haven’t taken the time to figure out where to put it. Fortunately most of my savings is in retirement and fidelity accounts that get invested according to my risk tolerance. I do need to find something relatively “risk free” that makes more than a savings account sometime soon.
As fun as the building diversions have been ( and I have been right there). Back to asset allocations. Have any of you moved things recently?