One of the first questions we are asked after we say that we are going on our big adventure it the fall is "what are you going to do with your place?"

We like to think we've thought through all the options:

• rent it 
• sell it

Look at all those options! 

We really tried to work out the renting option, as we understand that real estate is a good long term investment and as we've only been here for four years, it could be wise to keep it and cash in later. The thing is, that even though our mortgage is small, it still costs us just a bit too much to rent it out and make money off of it. With strata costs and property management etc, the costs just get too high and it starts to cost us to keep our condo while we are away (which isn't the point. We want to have as few expenses as possible while we're gone).

We feel that the best option for us is to sell. The condo market in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) is not the same as the housing market (emphasis on "house"), but it is still fine. We haven't lost money on our condo, but we haven't made a whole lot either. In our plan A, we would like to try and sell privately, to a friend of a friend, or a word of mouth sort of thing. I am sure realtor folks are rolling their eyeballs right now, but we've gotta give it a shot. As we've kept an eye on our market, we know what places like ours are selling for and we can do the math on the commission the realtor is collecting. The realtor fee, close to $12,000, could sustain us as a family for a year on a boat! We need to at least try to keep that money in our pocket. Every dollar we save fattens up our cruising-kitty, which means we can adventure for longer.

I feel as though I'm making excuses, and I sort of am. I have no idea what we're trying to do, but we're going to try and see what comes of this! Plan B is we list it with a realtor and they sell it for us and we get what we get ("and we don't get upset!"). As of right now, we have a bit of time on our side and would love to see what happens. We feel we have a great little condo that would suit a lot of different types of peoples needs. It is entirely desirable.

It would be a huge help to us if you could keep us in mind and if someone in your world thinks about buying a lovely condo in Surrey, we could certainly hook them up ;) Seriously.