Twenty Years on the Lake.
No Regrets About What Came Next.

A note from Eric

Greg and Julie spent 20 years building a life on Lake Lida with a quiet bay, an inground pool, and a shop that Greg had dialed in exactly the way he wanted. From the outside, it looked like the dream. In a lot of ways, it was.

But Julie had been quietly ready for a change for three years before Greg came around. And when he finally did, I had the privilege of helping them do something I think is one of the smartest approaches to a major life transition: we found their Fargo home first. They moved in, got settled, and sold the lake place when the timing was right, not when the calendar forced them to.

These are two of the warmest, most gracious people I’ve worked with. Here’s their story.

The Life They’d Built

Twenty years is a long time to call a place home.

Greg and Julie’s property on Lake Lida wasn’t just a house; it was a whole way of life. A tucked-away setting on a quiet, private bay. A wood-burning fireplace. Reclaimed wood doors that gave the place warmth and character. An inground pool. And Greg’s garage — a real shop, set up exactly the way a person who loves to “tinker” would want it.

Days out there had a natural rhythm: mornings with coffee and a view of the water, afternoons on the lake or by the pool, evenings around the fire pit. With Maplewood State Park just minutes away, there was always somewhere new to explore. It was, by most measures, the kind of place people spend their whole lives looking for.

Twenty Years. Then One Honest Conversation.

Julie was the first one to feel it. The property took real work to maintain, with things like mowing, upkeep, and managing a home designed for full lake life. She’d been ready to simplify for about three years before Greg came around.

Greg was honest about what kept him there. “I like solitude,” he says. “The quietness. Not having people living right next door. And my big garage.” He loved riding his tractor, moving rocks, just being outside and busy with the land.

But eventually, the math changed. They both wanted more time to travel, more time with family, and more access to the everyday conveniences that had started to feel far away. Fargo, where they both had deep roots, made sense. It was time.

The Smarter Way to Make the Move

Here’s what Greg and Julie did that most people in their situation don’t: they bought their Fargo home first.

About a year before they listed the lake place, they worked with me to find a single-level home in Fargo: a slab-on-grade that would make everyday life easier and take the big yard and the big maintenance off their plate. They moved in. They got settled. They started figuring out what this new chapter felt like.

Then, when they were truly ready, they listed their property on Lake Lida.

The financial side made this possible: they were able to take a mortgage on the lake property to fund the Fargo purchase. But the logic holds regardless. The goal is simple: remove the pressure of coordination. No two closings scrambled on the same afternoon. No boxes in a trailer waiting in a parking lot hoping nothing falls through.

Their advice? If it’s financially possible, buy first. Even if it’s just a month or two ahead. Give yourself time to breathe before you sell.

What They Found on the Other Side

The Fargo house is smaller; they’ll say that plainly. Downsizing is a process they’re still working through. Greg had to say goodbye to the shop. Not entirely; there’s still a garage, but it’s not Lake Lida. “The garage is going to be a challenge,” he says, with a grin. “But we’ll get through it.”

But there are things they genuinely love about their move to Fargo. Family is close. Costco is five minutes away. Restaurants, variety, and convenience — things that sound small until you’ve spent 20 years planning a full-day trip just to go into town.

And they still have a piece of lake life. A little old camper at Otter Tail Lake; nothing fancy, but a place to be near the water. They didn’t have to give that up entirely. They just got smart about how they hold it.

Lake Lida, Pelican Rapids, MN

No Regrets

Julie describes the final stretch of packing as physically exhausting. Box after box. Room after room. And Greg kept checking on her.

“Greg would ask me, ‘How are you doing? How are you feeling about this?’” she says. “And I’d say: I am so ready.”

The worries that felt big in the abstract got smaller in the reality. The hardest part was the anticipation, not the arrival.

And in the moments when it got hard, she came back to a verse that carried her through: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Greg and Julie sold the lake home that held 20 beautiful years. They found their next chapter in Fargo, closer to family, less on their shoulders, more room to just enjoy life. And somewhere along the way, the thing that felt impossible became the best decision they ever made.