Frankie0089

Hello all,
I’m planning to move back to the UK after living in the Caribbean/ US since 1992. I’m a little overwhelmed at all the things I need to do. I’m curious to hear from those who have already done this. In what order did you liquidate your assets? I have a small business, a house, and a car to sell. I have pets and household goods to ship, and I’ll need somewhere to live on the other side.... I have no particular deadline and of course, COVID is throwing a spanner in the works, but I’m hoping to get a bit of wisdom from those with experience so I can plan with confidence. Thank you in advance.

durham_lad

We moved back to the UK from the USA after 29 years away. We had no business to sell, but sold up most everything else before we moved back. We actually sold our house and moved into an apartment a few years before moving back, immediately before retiring, as we wanted to do lots of traveling so wanted the ability to "lock and leave" during long trips. Moving into an apartment also meant getting rid of a lot of stuff as we downsized.

We sold the car the week before we left, and shipped the rest of our possessions by sea. We had planned to put them in storage when they arrived but our house purchase in England went remarkably quickly and they arrived the same week we took possession of the house. Having "cash" to buy a house helps a lot.

Helen1964

Hello Frankie

This question of what order to do everything in is one that exercises me too.
My husband - who is wonderful in many respects - couldn’t organise himself out of a paper bag so the planning will fall to me.

Here’s my plan so far:

Sell our flat in France.
Get rid of as much stuff as I can persuade him to part with and put the rest in storage before we complete the sale.
Ask the Post Office to keep our mail.
We move into Airbnb-type accommodation here in France.
Go to the UK and find an unfurnished place to rent. Sign lease.

Return to France. Hand in my notice at work. Inform the tax office we’re leaving France.
Redirect our mail to UK.
Arrange for a removal company to ship our stuff from the storage facility.
Sell our French-registered vehicle.
Get on a plane.

If you don’t have the option of visiting the UK to find a rental - or getting a family member to find one for you - you can always do Airbnb in the UK for a few weeks while you look around. If you don’t have someone to stay with.

Good luck! I’m trying to treat it as an adventure rather than a huge headache.

Frankie0089

Thank you both. It makes sense to sell my house first and have nimble cash available when ready to buy something new. The number one stumbling block is I have multiple pets I plan to bring home with me, so dealing with them presents its own logistical challenge. I’m already starting to declutter and mentally decide what goes and what stays. I already have a potential buyer for the business so that may go first. It was so much easier moving away all those years ago! Less stuff, less stress and only excitement ahead. I agree that I need to look upon this as another cool adventure. I appreciate you sharing your plans and experiences.

Helen1964

Christ, I forgot about my cat. Thanks for reminding me.

I feel totally shackled by our stuff. If it were up to me, I’d give it all away and spend the next few years living out of a suitcase.

austin_d_powers

Entered USA with 1 suitcase and 1 carry-on bag in 1994. Returned to UK in 2017 with 1 suitcase and 1 carry-on bag.
I sold everything, stayed in hotel for 1 week after house closing date to close bank and withdraw money, buy plane ticket.
Bank account maybe a problem, I think you need to have a residence in the UK before you can open a UK bank account.

I have to admit I had plenty of luck on my side, I had all my furniture in the house when I put it on the market. I sold my house in 3 weeks from listing it ( another 5 weeks before actual closing date). Using Craigslist for the first time ( WOW craigslist turned out to be truly amazing for selling locally). I managed to sell all my furniture, motorcycle, car and other items. Sold car 1 day before closing for full asking price, guy did not even get in the car, just asked me to turn on the engine. House buyer then offered extra money to buy things like tools, ride-on lawn mower, etc. Rented a hotel and car for my last week in USA. Literally had one suitcase and one carry-on (see pictures).
8 Hillsville road, north brookfield, ma ( zillow has HD photos )

BEFORE


AFTER

Helen1964

If I were single I would ask you to marry me. You sound like the perfect bloke.

durham_lad

austin_d_powers

My way of making the move is probably not for everyone.
Generally I am logical and organized.
It was easy for me because I am single and could live with the consequences of any decisions I made. Also my attitude at that time was pretty much Que Sera Sera.
When I say I had luck, I mean real luck, I sold my bedroom furniture but managed to sleep in my own bed right until the day before closing, because the buyers wanted to pick up the furniture later. I was prepared to sleep on the floor, but it never came to that.

Hint: If selling a house in the USA you can now more or less do it yourself. You pay a relatively small fixed fee to a realtor to get your ad onto realtor.com (the national realtors site). You still have to pay commission for the buyers realtor, but you save on the sellers realtor commission . I sold my house this way. Make sure you take good photos. Realtor.com photos are downgraded (not the best quality) so I insisted that as part of the deal my realtor put the HD photos onto the zillow site as well. All online realtor sites download from realtor.com so you can see my 30 good photos on zillow followed by the same 30 (blurry photos) downloaded from the national realtor site. Yes its real dumb that the national realtors site does not have good HD photo.

Also from 1964

Frankie0089

Amazing, thank you!