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I just read an article that questioned the value of retirees downsizing, perhaps in the process relocating even to a new neighborhood. It got me thinking about our decision. What may be correct for you depends on your primary goal. That can be tricky and over time it may change.
Our primary goal was convenience- it’s a good thing it wasn’t saving money.
It has been almost eight years since we sold our house of nearly 45 years and moved 7/10 of a mile to a 55+ condo community of eight buildings with 12 units each on 16 acres.
We are glad we made the move, we kept old friends and made many new ones, people from other states and other parts of our state.
We have plenty of room with 2000sf and an outside 8×20’ deck. I get up each morning to check on the deer in the woods next to us. Our condo is large enough to still host our family of 21 adults and children so that’s fine.
We released ourselves from the burdens of a house inside and out, we gained a pool, tennis courts and more.
What we didn’t do was save money. Our property taxes are virtually the same now as in our house at $13,900. Our HOA fee which started at $700 in 2018 is now $1,000 a month. I doubt we spent an average of a $1,000 a month on home repairs and maintenance.
We are still responsible for our HVAC equipment, water heater, plumbing and electrical work and insurance. So, what we really gained was freedom from outside maintenance which is fine with me.
That and more importantly, we eliminated stairs. Instead of going to the basement for laundry we have a laundry room in our condo. Taking out the trash and recycling means walking ten feet down the hall and throwing it down a chute. No hauling out the trash or driving to the recycling center.
I like condo living, I like not raking leaves or shoveling snow or getting out of the car in the rain because of a detached garage or forgetting to put trash out.
So, if you are thinking about downsizing, I suggest you make a list of your priorities for doing so and then balance it all out.
One thing that recently became apparent although obvious is when you put a few hundred seniors in one place, even 55+ in our case, but with a much higher average, there is going to be illness. So many of our new friends acquired here have fallen ill over the last few years. There is hardly a family not affected. I find it depressing. I can’t image what it may be like in a CCRC.
i’d find it depressing too. In fact, it’s a main reason why I like living in a neighborhood with mixed ages. We do have people die, but we also see newborns, kids starting school, and teens. It also forces us to blend in. The neighborhood has an annual Halloween party on our block. In addition to distributing the usual $40 of candy, we set up a 7 foot raven— complete with red lit eyes, cackling, and pounding a rod with a skull attached. Hands down we were the prime destination for the 6-7 year boys; tween girls dared one another to kiss it, and a toddler tried several times to work up the courage to approach it!
That Halloween raven sounds amazing! Not for the first time, I wish we could post photos here.
For about the last 18 months, Suzie and I have been keeping an eye on a small 55+ development right beside a 40-acre park, about a mile from our current home. By my unscientific reckoning, the mortality rate must be high — rarely does a month go by without one of the units coming up for sale.
I’m in my third year of part-year residence in the southern Arizona desert in a 55+ community. I’ve learned so much from my neighbors and travelers passing through. Since it’s an “RV resort” and not strictly/solely a mobile home park, we have many younger oldsters (who are still in the go-go years of early retirement) as well as some very old. It’s still a toe-in-the-water exercise for me, while my brother and his wife have lived here full-time since 2019.
There is a fair amount of turnover in unit ownership. Among the reasons I’ve seen:
Ready to go somewhere else. Time’s a wastin’ and the world is a fun and interesting place to explore.
Need to move closer to a family member who is facing challenges for which the person currently here is a good choice to manage.
Trading up to a bigger/better/newer place that they will own, instead of rent (often within a mile or two from here and these people usually come back for holiday parties and pot lucks)
New girlfriend and moving in with her elsewhere (this seems to be mostly a gentleman’s motive).
Sickness in one spouse that is more than the other spouse can handle on their own here.
Switching fulltime to their other home (in a northern or rainy state) instead of maintaining the second place, an ersatz fishing cabin in the desert, simplifying their lives. (Some switch to fulltime here.)
Annoyance with large rent increases, based on revenue maximizing software used by latest park ownership, it seems. Enough already!
And, yes, a few have died.
I have rarely been around so many people who value good times with one another. Maybe it’s the nature of the RV lifestyle? Don’t know exactly why. Also, because we are not so young, everyone keeps a watch out for everyone else. Which is great for a single person.
Also, I’ve met more than one couple who are barely 55 and moved here full-time. Because it’s a less unaffordable choice and the park comes with better community amenities. Excited to hit 55 and be eligible to buy a unit. Can you imagine?
The thing is while the minimum age is 55, the average is near 80 or so.
Accidentally entered in the wrong place. Should be a reply to V Saraf below.
i think something like this can work. We rent an apartment so that we can visit our grandchild whenever we wish without inconveniencing her family. The complex includes the amenities you mention. It has a wide range of housing types. I’ve noticed the stand alone cottages seem to be rented by retirees.
Freedom from outside maintenance is good at our age. You mention responsibility for HVAC etc, HOA fees and property taxes. What would be your opinion on a “similar” residence, a rental unit in a five building compound, each with 4 floors, elevators, swimming pool, lounge areas etc. like this one? Just curious how home or condo owners think about renting at our age with little commitment other than rent. https://brealuxury.com/two-bedroom/
To be honest, too small and confining for us. I also like ownership and growing value as an asset to leave to our children.
I wrote recently about our decision to sell our condo, and while finances were not the primary reason for our move, they factored—the HOA dues were daunting ($750 and climbing regularly), the relative lack of appreciation and resale value, long-term concerns about construction and the unit and building aging well.
We have hired a yard service and a pest control service for our “new” place, and there will be other maintenance and repair costs, but I don’t think it’s ever going to come close to $750+/month. You’d think energy costs would be lower for a new construction condo than an older house, but I don’t think it’s going to turn out that way. The condo was on the top floor and faced west and absolutely baked in the evenings during the summer. The house is oriented north-south and shaded by a grove of redwood trees.
Ironically, if you go by just square footage, we didn’t “downsize” either moving into or out of our condo. Our previous house was 1950 SF, 4 BR, 2 BA, with a good yard and a two-car garage. The condo was 1995 SF, 3 BR, 2.5 BA, two parking spaces in the building garage, and a decent-sized storage closet. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we moved there because the move represented a transition from raising kids to empty nest, and we never felt like we didn’t have enough space in the condo (except for a yard for my aspirational dog).
Our latest home is just over 2000 SF, 4 BR, 2 BA, a smallish two-car garage, and a sizable yard. The guest house out back is around 420 SF. But it’s funny how we seem to stick right around 2000 SF for our own primary spaces. Guess we’ve never been huge house types.
I agree about 2000 being about right. I never wanted anything bigger, and even with just my husband, the dog, and me, I wouldn’t want something smaller.
I was always skeptical of the idea that downsizing in retirement will free up more cash, but the tradeoffs from moving can improve your quality of life. We moved last year from a two story to a one level home with a main floor laundry only a few miles away from our home of 37 years. I realized the main problem with stairs is not so much joint pain but fall risk. There is no HOA, but we have assembled a reliable team which handles all outdoor maintenance. And if or when needed, we can do likewise with any indoor chores.
I ALWAYS hold on to the railing when on the stairs. But falls can occur in a lot of other places. Uneven sidewalks and pavement as well as slippery surfaces are very problematic. There’s really no way to eliminate every risk, but it’s important to try to minimize them.
Wow – I am sure things are different all around the country but one could get a lot of grass cut for 1000 bucks a month in western PA.
At my condo, we are paying $263,000 for 26 cuts on 200 acres. Our contractor uses about 10 guys full time for 26 weeks, plus the cost of trucks, mowers, and gas.
The price includes weed-whacking and sweep up.
200 acres is huge. How many units are there?
We have 929 units.
Eliminating stairs would be my primary goal. And it is worth a lot.
At 70, I deliberately make unnecessary trips up and down our stairs for fitness. I did get a taste of the difficulties of stairs this past month after Achilles surgery, but overcoming that challenge only increased my confidence!
We do have plans in place for an elevator when necessary for Mama, who lives with us and still handles the stairs nicely at 86. It’ll be great for me when I get to that point as well. We figured out long ago that an elevator installation would be dramatically less inconvenient and costly than moving to a senior community of some kind.
The stairs are still not a problem for us. But we did move the washer and dryer from the basement to the second floor. Best thing we ever did!
It’s interesting. At my age (almost 66) taking stairs is a sign of fitness. In our condo, we lived on the fourth floor, and I would take the stairs often unless I had a whole load of groceries. Same with my office on campus—it was on the third floor, and I only took the elevator if I was hauling something.
Now that I’m retired and live in a single-story house, I’ll have to get my stair work in some other way!
I’m with you, and use stairs a lot. Just finished a walk from basically sea level to 1050 feet and back – on dirt, not stairs 🙂
Even though we stay active I also recognize lots of things can happen, and chances of them happening are always going up. So if we ever have a house again, having all the essentials on one floor will be an attraction.
We thought about this when we moved to our current town at age 55. We weren’t interested in condos, having been in an association when we were younger. Ended up with the smallest house on our street, 1800 sq ft. First floor primary and laundry. Smaller lot than before. Hoping to stay until one of us is gone. Chris
I have a similar story to Mr. Quinn. We sold our 3,000 square foot 1961 colonial last fall to a young couple with two small children. They are remarkably like we were in 1993 when we bought the house. We bought a 3,000 square foot detached house in a 55+ community 15 miles away. We now have two more bathrooms, two fewer attics, one fewer basement and no outdoor work. We also added a water bill since the old house had a well and our taxes sadly rose by a couple of thousand dollars per year. The monthly HOA fee is only $367 because it only covers common expenses, lawn mowing and snow removal. We moved to rid ourselves of the stairs and outdoor tasks and to be able to live more social lives. We accomplished our goals and should have moved 10 years ago.
Thanks for this assessment after your eight years in your “new” place.
You might remember I’m spending half the year in my “tin can casita” on a rented lot in an over-55 RV resort in the Sonoran desert, where my brother and sister-in-law moved outright circa 2019. I’ve made great new friends, year-rounders and snowbirds. My “new” place is way smaller than the big house which I have yet to sell as my kids move in and out from time to time.
So I haven’t cut my costs at all, yet. But the new place is pretty cheap and lots of fun.
Several older couples in my old neighborhood have considered downsizing nearby. However, in seeking smaller homes, they compete directly with young families looking to buy their first homes. As a result, the prices of the small places are hardly lower than the larger “forever” homes. After prep costs to put a house on the market, and realtor fees, most figure they won’t save any money in a move. As a result, many retirees are stuck with too much house, it seems, for now.
I still like the term “tin can casita”!
I actually upsized when I retired. I went from 440 square feet to 1500 square feet.
Yes, everyone’s situation is different.
We tried twice to downsize. Both times we actually upsized because the houses we found were perfect for us at the time, even with the extra space. We’re staying put now because I’m afraid of what we’d wind up with next time! ;-))
Ditto, although less dramatically. My house was three bedrooms, two and a half baths and 1,530 sq. ft. My CCRC apartment has two bedrooms, two baths, a den and balcony and 1,660 sq. ft. I also bought some new furniture. While I made quite a few donations I’m not acquisitive and didn’t have a whole lot of “stuff” to get rid of.
We were 51 and 48 when we bought our first condo. The experience was instructional for us, as we got a good idea what was important as we aged. We liked not having lawn or snow duties as well as the rules that keep your neighbors from doing annoying things. We didn’t like sharing walls or floors with neighbors, though I know that newer condos are better built to provide a more quiet and private atmosphere.
Our new place is not our forever home; how can any home be? Rather, it is our ‘until we can no longer function on our own, home’. A free standing home in a 55+ community with an HOA to take care of most of the outside stuff, (we still plant some flowers). It’s only 100 sq ft smaller than our last place, but no more basement, one less bathroom to clean, and almost everything on one floor. My ‘vinyl resting place’ is upstairs, but I can install a chair lift doohickey when needed.
Like Dick said, “if you are thinking about downsizing, I suggest you make a list of your priorities for doing so and then balance it all out”….. I concur, Richard, even if it means using a spreadsheet😂
Let’s not get carried away. A paper and pencil will do fine.