He probably just looks for the right buyer. I would imagine that he likes to move around easily and knowing that the properties are left in good hands.
Maybe it's a response to the local job market. People must be marketable, and to that end they avoid the scarlet letter syndrome. Have you read Nathaniel Hawthorne's book?
I wasn't even thinking about that, only the drive home that morning. And I thought they had already left. It surprised me that they were still there. But they were leaving that morning, just not as soon as I expected.