Who plans to downsize in the future? [Archive]

SteveinMN

10-12-12, 8:30pm

My wife often mentions moving from our current home (three-bedroom rambler on a city lot) to a condo with less space and no yard/driveway to maintain. She's also cold at any temperature under 70* F, so I think she'd be quite happy to move way further south than Minnesota. I, on the other hand, get uncomfortable around 80*. So there probably are two places in the country which will meet our meteorological preferences. :D

I guess I'm okay with a condo, though having lived in both condos and single-family detached homes, my take on it is that it's not a big moneysaver -- association fees in a good homeowner's association run about the same as hiring out lawnmowing and snow shoveling and saving for maintenance/capital improvements. But if housing prices recover some in the years it will take us to recover from our short sale/build up credit from self-employment, trading even for a condo in a nicer neighborhood within walking distance of more amenities would be a consideration.

But we're talking several years from now; probably not until full retirement in 2019.

razz

10-12-12, 8:34pm

When the time comes to move to a smaller and easier to maintain space which may come sooner than I wish, I won't go into a condo. i simply cannot imagine being that confined with a whole bunch of old folks to monitor my activities as seems to be the case around here. I would like a one-floor plan with a small yard so may go for a semi-detached.

Wildflower

10-12-12, 9:52pm

I think we will stay in the house we're in now, it's pretty small, yet has enough room when we have our grandkids stay with us. And I like our garden area, and yard room for our grandkids and dogs to play. I really can't imagine living in one of those over 55 communities, even though DH and I are edging towards 60. I like diversity in a neighborhood myself....

awakenedsoul

10-12-12, 11:08pm

I'm already downsized. I plan to keep doing yoga everyday so I can take care of myself and continue growing my food. Dial a Ride will come pick up seniors at their door. I'm also a block from the city bus, and seniors ride for free. I hope to stay healthy and strong in my old age. I have neighbors who are also single women, around my age. One's a horse vet in the movies, the other an animal trainer for films. We help each other out with animal care, etc. I give them my extra produce from the garden.

bae

10-12-12, 11:24pm

I want to downsize to a designed-by-us off-the-grid 1200 square foot home, with about 10,000 sq. feet of outbuildings :-)

JaneV2.0

10-12-12, 11:58pm

Probably. At worst, I'll be vacant and drooling in some version of Hell's Way Station. With patronizing attendants and a roommate named Bertie. I certainly hope not, but I'm sure I'll move to something smaller eventually.

lhamo

10-13-12, 3:48am

We will probably have at least two moves in our future, maybe more depending on how we decide to wrap things up in China.

1) Move #1 will be out of our current apartment. We love it, but cashing it out would basically mean we could be FI if we moved to a less expensive place either here in Beijing (might be feasible/appropriate depending on how kids schooling situation works out -- we bought this place to be close to their school, but both will likely change for middle and high school so no need to hang on to this if we can buy something cheaper elsewhere), or in DH's hometown (may want/need to move back to help with his parents, real estate WAAAAAY cheaper there than here), or move back to the US to be near my family. We might reduce our square footage a bit in such a move. Our current apartment is spacious, with 3 bedrooms, a separate office, a separate play room AND a huge kitchen/dining room. Living room is really the only part that is a little on the small side, and it is more than adequate. But if there was a slightly different layout we wouldn't need as much space as we have. Liveable space in this apartment is about 200 sq m, which is around 2150 sq ft, but a significant amount of it is halls and storage -- more storage than we need, actually, as we try to avoid accumulating stuff. We would probably be totally happy in a well laid out 1600-1800 sq ft house or apartment, or maybe even down to 1200 if it was a place built to "not so big house" standards with really good and efficient design.

2) Move #2 will be after the kids go off to college, though we may stay in whatever place we end up for a few years until we are sure they are fully launched. If it is just DH and I we would do fine with a well-designed 2 bedroom place. DH will want his own office space, even after retirement, and that could double as a guest room. I'm fine working with my laptop in any comfy, well laid out spot (i currently work at the island in the kitchen -- have a drawer where I stash my laptop and working files). Dream would be a compact, well-designed 1 or 2 bedroom/2 bath detached house in the 1000 sq ft range with a separate detached studio space. Must have a good kitchen and a not-too-cramped bathroom. Prefer a yard with enough sun that I can grow herbs and vegetables. Preferably a single level so it is practical as we age. In a neighborhood where we can walk to grocery stores, the library, and a good coffee shop (and ideally a few good inexpensive restaurants). Good public transit, and in proximity to a Flexcar location would be ideal -- that way we wouldn't have to own a car.

lhamo

Blackdog Lin

10-13-12, 9:24am

I pretty much plan for us to need to downsize in another 10 years. Our house itself isn't the problem, it's the 7 acres it sets on. We love it out here, but already (we are both in our mid-50s, and DH is disabled to a moderately-severe extent) we find it getting problematic to take care of the large lawn, and get the pasture mowed, and do the weed-eating/killing, and maintain the barn and outbuilding and fences and trees, along with just keeping the house maintained. And we don't have the income to keep paying professionals to do maintenance that DH used to be able to take care of. (This brings a little smile/story to my face: summer before last he had to send me up on the roof for a small repair job. He sent me with the proper tools, he held the ladder, and gave me explicit directions on how to complete the repair, which I did fine - but I was TERRIFIED. I never want to have to be up on that roof again!)

I see us in town (our small hometown of 2700 souls - we couldn't imagine living anywhere else) in a smaller house with a much smaller yard. Condos, townhouses or even semi-detached don't exist out here in the boondocks. :)

bunnys

10-13-12, 9:29am

I currently live alone in a 1700+ sq foot house. It's too big and there are several rooms I never use or very infrequently enter. I'd like to downsize to 1000 sq feet but don't know if it's worth the trouble at this point.

herbgeek

10-13-12, 10:47am

We currently live in 1500 square feet. Although we use every room on a regular basis, we could get by with a lot less, particularly if it was laid out differently. We have a cape that looks like a reversed saltbox, with a center hall. Lots of "wasted" space with the center stairway. I'm guessing we'll move 2 more times: the next one to a smaller one floor house, and then to assisted living if that gets to be too much. I would like a more multi functional house, but short of custom building, don't know if there is much of that around. I would like to be able to partition off areas for guests and the like, but otherwise have one open main room for the rest of the time.

Gregg

10-13-12, 11:11am

Already in the process. We're totally renovating our 800 sq.ft house. It also has 800 sq.ft. of basement that will be completely finished. The laundry, DD's bedroom, my office and teen oriented family room will be down there, everything else upstairs. It's a walk out basement with great light that will have a great view over the garden...once I finish the garden. DD graduates HS this year so it will be down to just the two of us. Since we're putting in all the bells and whistles that we want I can't see ever needing more house than this again.

Float On

10-13-12, 12:03pm

We'll try and stay here till the kids are in college and then sell and maybe rent here for a couple years. Most likely at some point we will move to my family farm. My parents won't want to leave the farm and I'll want to be closer to them if they need me. That will give me a few years of intense farming/gardening/small animal raising. At some point my brother and I will both be owners of the farm. He and his wife may want to return to the farm when he retires from Intel in Portland, OR. After that...I'd be happy in an RV or move to Englewood FL.for winters. Lots of good gulf beaches, lots of small communities and not as expensive as Sarasota or Naples or Bonita Springs.

happystuff

10-14-12, 7:54pm

I'm definitely downsizing and hopefully in about 5 years. I love all the little house websites and container homes, etc. I could even do a Katrina cottage if I had to. I would love to know if I could live in a Tumbleweed Tiny house, but would more likely end up in something 500 to 800 square feet. I have been and continue to prep for such a move with continuous decluttering. It's going to be interesting to see where I actually end up versus where I would like to end up. :-)

rodeosweetheart

10-15-12, 9:20am

We did the downsizing thing to 800 square feet and would actuallylike to upsize. Since the downsize, both of us work full time at home, and we do not have enough office space. We have many advantages here, such as a gorgeous state park with beach 8 miles away that we go to each day, but we are far from our grown kids and miss them. My ideal house, given need for a second bathroom and the idea of company visiting and spending the night, is 1600 square feet.

We downsized from 1600 sq feet to 800 and it feels too tight, still, although I love the low utility bills and the tiny taxes. So it's a tough choice.

I always thought I wanted to live in an Airstream until this particular house, with 2 years experience in what is for us a big downsize. We went from 75 acres to .79, which is actually not bad, although we want to upsize back to at least 5 for the animals.

Honestly, if I were living alone, this would be ideal, especially if it were close to the kids. So I'd say this would be fantastic if it were just me, not so fantastic with a spouse who accumulates a lot of stuff, and to be fair, I'd like to be able to pull some things out of storage in the garage!

But current house is definitely my downsize dream. Just found it a bit small.

Float On

10-15-12, 9:24am

I think I would feel like redeosweetheart. I've often thought that if I downsized to a tiny cabin on the farm, that I'd have to build two extra cabins so DH could have his for music and I could have mine for quiet space.

try2bfrugal

10-15-12, 12:34pm

We will definitely downsize in the future, but I think we will wait until the kids are out of college and established in careers somewhere. We are somewhat tied to our current house because of Prop 13. We only get one chance to move in-state and take our low property tax base with us. Once we move there is no turning back to a house our current size in our current city because the property taxes would go up thousands of dollars a year. So we have to be really sure about moving.

We have been considering all sorts of options. One is buying a 1950's size small fixer upper on a big lot to permaculture and add tiny houses in back for spare rooms. Another is building a container house. I am not sure what we will do. The container house is quite intriguing but a lot more complicated than just buying a tract house listed on the MLS.

Zoebird

10-16-12, 5:43am

I mostly want to downsize our commute.

The reality is that we actually live in the city. Our offices are in the city. Our favorite places are in the city. Our gyms are in the city. Our grocery store is in the city. Our farmer's market is in the city. Our raw milk/yogurt pick-up is in the city. DS's kindy is in the city, and the one that he'll be starting at in Feb is just outside of the city, but would be a 15-20 minute drive (one way) from the city, as opposed to 30-40 (one way) from where we live now.

And, it's expensive as well. Rent is high (desirable area and view) plus we pay for city parking when we go in. If you add those two together and look for apartments in the city with parking included, you come up with comfortably sized 2 bedroom apartments in decent, modern buildings. One that I found tonight is $30 under that budget (no view, but still, quite nice).

To me, it makes sense to downsize our commute and get out of this little place. It's a lovely place, truly. I completely agree with that in terms of the view. The cottage itself is a bit crappy and sometimes I find that difficult to live with (sort of, like, i'm embarrased to be here when so many of our friends live in basically "nice" places comparatively -- at least with modern kitchens/baths and good flooring, walls, and ceilings that aren't breaking down, leaked on, or stained).

I think that finding a place in the city would be good for us all. I think it would allow us to have more time to live and be together and with friends than this constant commuting. I'm really only here evenings and one afternoon and one morning a week -- due to our work, shopping, and living schedule. In my mind, I would rather have a place where I could be at home for longer if I wanted because it was close to work, rather than having to go "well, not until we've finished everything in the city can we go."

But, Dh is *seriously* attached to this place. Every time I bring this topic up, he gets very defensive.

Zoebird

10-16-12, 7:29am

Yeah. I just brought it up with DH and he freaked out. Now he's stewing.

So, on further discussion:

1. Dh will drop me off at work before taking DS to school. It's on the way, so it's no hardship for him either way. This will get me in by 8 am, and increase my working hours in the morning from the current 8 uninterrupted hours to 14 uninterrupted hours per week.

2. Dh and Ds will do the grocery shopping while I"m teaching my last classes on Friday, then pick me up. We will be home by 3:00. We will forgo the farmers market and not make other trips out.

3. DH will move the yogurt pick up from the city location to the location 10 minutes nice walk from our house so that we dont' have to "wait around" for the drop off.

4. Monday afternoons will be designated workout (dh) and pool time (ds/myself), though Monday mornings will be at home. I will switch to Monday as my cleaning day.

5. Unless I'm working that evening (which would give us a second pool day or other activity day), we will be home by 3:00 every other day. So, monday we will be home around 5, but not going into the city until 11:30. On Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri, we will go home right away *unless* I'm working that evening, in which case we'll have a family event of some kind (swimming/etc), with dinner at that location (there are tables/chairs in the pool area, and food is allowed, so we'll pack a dinner for DH/DS to have there while I head over to teach the class).

6. "working weekends" (second weekend of the month) will require that DH pick up/clean the house by himself on Sunday so that I can use Monday am to recover at home (relax) before diving into the week.

7. this weekend will be a clean-up weekend -- deep spring clean of the whole house and yard (parts of the back yard need to be weeded desperately). DH helps with this process. It includes decluttering clothes, shoes, jackets (we have a lot for DS that don't fit anymore), and also going through papers, broken objects that we are unlikely to fix, and so on.

8. we will organize friend events for both DH/myself and DS on a regular basis (ie, 1x month one of each).

That should at least get me off the hook a bit.

catherine

10-16-12, 8:35am

I would like to downsize, but, like Zoebird, DH loves the home we raised our kids in. It's not a huge house at all by today's standards--it's a 1970s typical 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath (people still don't understand how I raised 4 kids with 1 shower). But I hate my debt, and I don't like the wasted heating and cooling energy.

Also, I live right on a park/elementary school, and I feel guilty--we enjoyed this house so much from the perspective of watching our kids walk through the park to the school on the other side that I'd love to give another family that pleasure.

My idea has always been to get rid of most of my stuff and live in Ocean Grove (my favorite Jersey sea town) in the winter and up in VT with my kids in the summer--in or around Stowe or Stratton. Then I'd be able to rent out the beach house in the summer and the VT house in the winter, taking advantage of the peak vacation time. If I'm really nervous about two mortgages, I'd just buy the house in VT and rent the beach house because it's really cheap to rent beach property in the winter.

I don't think DH would like to do that. As a bit of a party guy, he doesn't do well with a vacation frame of mind, which is how he views living in these vacation resorts, even if it's off-season.

Tussiemussies

10-16-12, 8:55am

catherine

10-16-12, 9:23am

Hi Catherine, I too love Ocean Grove with its tent city and beautiful buildings. I wanted to move there at one time but we couldn't afford it then.

I just posted about this town on the thread about tents, there are a lot of pictures of the tent city...

Hopefully your plans will materialize! Christine

Man, you're really turning on my Ocean Grove lust!! I love that place because it's stuck in time, because it's a neat square mile (used to be God's Square Mile), it was founded with the purpose of community in mind, and built that way also (if you notice, the houses were placed so that the maximum number of people can get the beach views and breezes). It's a quiet, dry town (but if you want a glass of wine, Asbury Park is a short walk away). The main street has everything you need, the people are really neat and you walk down the street and can talk to all the people sitting on their porches outside... The beach is beautiful.

(sigh...) Maybe someday...

Tussiemussies

10-16-12, 9:32am

Man, you're really turning on my Ocean Grove lust!! I love that place because it's stuck in time, because it's a neat square mile (used to be God's Square Mile), it was founded with the purpose of community in mind, and built that way also (if you notice, the houses were placed so that the maximum number of people can get the beach views and breezes). It's a quiet, dry town (but if you want a glass of wine, Asbury Park is a short walk away). The main street has everything you need, the people are really neat and you walk down the street and can talk to all the people sitting on their porches outside... The beach is beautiful.

(sigh...) Maybe someday...

Hi again Catherine, I agree with everything you noticed about Ocean Grove. I also felt that it has an artistic feel there, a lot of artists in one form or another living there.

We were there many years ago to see Peter, Paul and Mary. The building was really old and an interesting design. Believe it was originally a church but I could be wrong. We ate at a small cafe that had great food and strolled around looking at the ocean and the tent city....

Stella

10-16-12, 12:20pm

At this point in my life I am resisting the urge to upsize by coming up with new ways to use the space we have. We have a large family and for the last 6 months we've had construction going on, so even though the house is a decent size (about 2500 sq ft) a lot of it hasn't been available. Luckily that will be done by the end of the week!

The cool part about temporarily removing a big chunk of the house from use is that I found some much more efficient ways of using the other space.

Kestrel

10-16-12, 2:13pm

DH and I will definitely be downsizing in a year or so ... we became very involved with starting a cohousing community here, but that's fizzled because it's financially out of reach for most of the people, so we and some others are looking into a pocket neighborhood instead. Likely more achievable because there'd be no common house and only about 6-8 homes instead of the proposed 25-30 with cohousing.

We don't want to be in a seniors-only community (we like the diversity of "families") even tho we're closing in on 70. We've looked at quite a few 55+ communities, and while we love the small efficient homes and minimum yard/lawn space to maintain, there are just too many old people there! {sorry} DH likes the exercise facilities in the community building, but neither of us can see us sitting around there playing cards half the day. Also, he has to have a large garage/shop space (he loves to build things) with all his tools, and there doesn't seem to be a way to accommodate that. And he's a very high-energy person so just sitting and socializing is not his thing, and yard work isn't his thing anymore. But as we age, that could change ...

Our current home is in a suburban subdivision, and even at only 1450 sqft (3 br 2 bath) it's too big for us. We're in a suburb of Boise ID, and we find we spend a heck of a lot of time traveling back and forth into Boise for a lot of reasons, so why not move much closer in?

We're going to use this winter to update some of the interior so next spring we can concentrate on the outside, put the house for sale, and see what happens ......

(One of our goals, as we've moved several times through the years, is "never live west of the big town", which we've never managed, so we're hoping to achieve that, too! When you live west of the big town that means the sun is always in your eyes in the morning as you go to work, and in your eyes in the evening when you come home from work. A nuisance! And even tho we're retired now, that's still a problem :~) .)

catherine

10-16-12, 2:37pm

Spartana

10-16-12, 3:12pm

We don't want to be in a seniors-only community (we like the diversity of "families") even tho we're closing in on 70. We've looked at quite a few 55+ communities, and while we love the small efficient homes and minimum yard/lawn space to maintain, there are just too many old people there! {sorry} DH likes the exercise facilities in the community building, but neither of us can see us sitting around there playing cards half the day. Also, he has to have a large garage/shop space (he loves to build things) with all his tools, and there doesn't seem to be a way to accommodate that. And he's a very high-energy person so just sitting and socializing is not his thing, and yard work isn't his thing anymore. But as we age, that could change ...

Lots of the bigger 55 plus communities have all kinds of very active things - no just sitting around playing cards all day. My Mom lived in one for many years and it not only was on several 100 acres (all one-stori=y condos) but there were something like 150 clubs - everything from motorcycle racing and harley riding clubs to marathoner and kayakers and surfers - pretty much anything you could think of. there were also larger shops for woodworking, auto shop, metal working, etc.. plus similair spaces for various art classes. There was a small golf course, a huge fitness center, swimming pool, 6 clubhouses with all kinds of classes and activities, a huge ampitheatre with weekly professional entertanment (Pat Boone then - Led Zepplin when we are old :-)!), a healthcare center, several churches, a libarary, a large community garden to grow your own veggies, buses both in the community or outside it (and of course you can always drive your golf cart around the community :-)!), etc... etc... All sorts of activities. Everyone on my Mom's street was extremely involved with many many activities - one neibor (55) retired early so he could spend everyday surfing, another was a college professor, another raised race horses, and another couple spent half the year travelling in Mexico and South America in their camper, another spent theri time roding their bicycles cross country, etc... So my point is, that most of the seniors I saw in my Mom's over 55 community had very active and varied lives. In most ways more active and varied then the 9 to 5 working stiff :-)! Probably funner too!!

ETA: I just realized that when I am in my 60's and 70's and moving into a seniors community, all the Members of led Zeplin will be around 100 so probably won't be playing a gig in the amphitheatre in Leisure World :-)!

redfox

10-16-12, 3:23pm

Downsizing probably... But too much student loan debt to ever get another mortgage. Sooo... we'll stay in our house, and may turn it into a commune. I mean, 1600 sf three bedrooms, detached garage that could be a small MIL, and a garden house? Sheesh. An embarassement of riches...

redfox

10-16-12, 3:25pm

I completely agree. I don't get the attraction of segregating yourself along with other old folks. I'm 60 and I haven't changed my mind one bit. No way would I move to a retirement community. I'm more likely to do the opposite and move to a college town where I could spend my retirement auditing classes.

I just spent a week at a senior cohousing community in Santa Fe. It's gorgeous! The residents love it, but they have to hire outside landscape & cleaning assistance, which an be hard for those on a fixed income. My host lamented the lack of younger folks to help out. Others I have met in the five senior cohousing communities in the US love living in theirs.

sweetana3

10-16-12, 3:27pm

I like Mom's community because each building has a resident advisor, they have safety features built in, inside mail and garbage and a laundry in each building. Health and exercise facility fully manned with instructors trained in the exercise needs of the elderly and recovering.

I love the bus system that runs 6 days a week and how careful they are not to "lose" anyone. She can go to many different stores for shopping sales, the library and a huge shopping mall which she can use for walking when the weather is bad.

Apartment living downsides are the moving in and out of residents. This would be the same whether age restricted or not.

San Onofre Guy

10-16-12, 5:12pm

We go back and forth about downsizing in the future. My wife is 57 and I will be 50 in six weeks. Older kids in 30's are on their own but we still have boys in 10th and 12 grades. I can get a retirement at 70% of my salary at 55 with option to buy subsidized healthcare. We always thought about moving to Palm Springs in retirement in a 1200-1500 SF place and being able to lock it up and travel for a month or three at a time. We do recognize that we change with time. Our older kids (hers) might move here and need to spend some time with us while looking for a place, the younger ones might also, you can't tell. We may end up living near whichever kids have our grandchildren to help raise them. Who knows. We do know that 2400 SF that we have now is more than our needs, but with that we get a large yard which we love and can be away from children but still be under the same roof.

Time will tell.

EarthSky

10-20-12, 5:46pm

We (me and two DDs) just downsized from a 1700 sq ft 1956 ranch w/full basement, on 0.6 acre, to an 1100 sq ft rented townhome. Made $0 (!) on the sale of the house, but the maintenance/repair/taxes just became too much. We are still adjusting - esp'ly to lack of yard for our 2 dogs - but I can already say that cleaning will take less time, and utilities cost less. Still could use some ideas in best utilization of space, and my (continual) de-cluttering/purging project, so will start another post on that. (Haven't been on the Board much recently due to a family crisis, sell home and then moving, leaving 1 job and transitioning to another, etc.)