Downsizing

seven-day-weekend

pmlindyloo wrote: »

We downsized 3 years ago (we are in our sixties).

We went from a 4 bed detached house with a granny annex to a small (and I mean small) 3 bed detached house with a very small garden

Out primary reason for moving was to free up some cash to spend!

In fact we rented first and then decided we loved out little house so bought it. We used two thirds of the garage to extend the downstairs area leaving us ample room for storage at the front of the garage (have never garaged our cars)

Do we have any regrets? None at all. If there are two of you just how much space do you need?

Yes, we considered future years if one of us became poorly but have the ability to create a downstairs bedroom and down stairs shower room (present utility room and downstairs loo). We would have the money to make any necessary alterations.

So advantages

1) more spare cash so more holidays, clothes etc etc We can already do this if we wish. We would not have any extra money from the downnsize, in fact we may have to dip into savings to buy a place.
2) cheaper utility/CT bills We're already Band A. The bungalow would probably be more.
3) less cleaning (yeah!)
4) a good clear out of all the rubbish we have accummulated over the years. Did this two years ago.

Our children are grown up but can still visit and stay over - bit of a squash but hey, it's not for ever.

Don't do it if
1) You enjoy keeping loads of memorabilia/clothes/ No
2) You have a huge extended family and they visit often No
3) You have plenty of money and can afford a cleaner, a gardener We are OK income-wise and would be if we downsized.
4) Your partner has a hobby that requires space Several!!

Thanks for your advice and see my comments in blue above.

borkid

We downsized 2 years ago.Went from a remote 4 bed barn conversion with 1 acre of land to 5 bed 3 story house with a small garden in a village with shop, PO, pub and doctor's surgery. The difference in price paid off the small remaining mortgage and landscaped the garden and fully fitted wood flooring so a move in condition. We looked at the house and thought
1 we get creaky then don't need to use the top floor
2 get even creakier then a stair lift between ground and 1st floor
3 even creakier then convert my music room to a bedroom and convert downstairs loo to a wet room. We'd still have a lounge, kitchen, utility room and a conservatory so ineffect a 1 bedroomed bungalow.

If you are still both at work all day be warned if you are anything like me and hubby being at home together 24/7 in a small house would probably lead one of us becoming violent. At the moment we both have our own space to enjoy our hobbies and meet up a couple of times a day.

seven-day-weekend

borkid wrote: »

We downsized 2 years ago.Went from a remote 4 bed barn conversion with 1 acre of land to 5 bed 3 story house with a small garden in a village with shop, PO, pub and doctor's surgery. The difference in price paid off the small remaining mortgage and landscaped the garden and fully fitted wood flooring so a move in condition. We looked at the house and thought
1 we get creaky then don't need to use the top floor
2 get even creakier then a stair lift between ground and 1st floor
3 even creakier then convert my music room to a bedroom and convert downstairs loo to a wet room. We'd still have a lounge, kitchen, utility room and a conservatory so ineffect a 1 bedroomed bungalow.

If you are still both at work all day be warned if you are anything like me and hubby being at home together 24/7 in a small house would probably lead one of us becoming violent. At the moment we both have our own space to enjoy our hobbies and meet up a couple of times a day.

We've been retired for ten years We lived up a mountain in Spain for eight of them. So we are used to spending time together.

Savvy_Sue

Mum and Dad downsized some years ago to a house which is bigger than mine (and mine's not small!!!) Dad would have liked to go for a retirement flat later, but Mum wasn't keen, and actually I think they'd have gone stir crazy if they'd been on top of each other. Mum's not known for her patience ...

Mum might be starting to think about downsizing, but at the moment she gets some exercise walking from one end of her large kitchen to the other, which is probably about as far as she walks when she goes out to the car when her lifts arrive, so I'm not pushing it ...

carefullycautious

Circumstances put us into a very small 1 bed bungalow. Luckily we had parted with most of the contents of a three bed house.

However, I have had problems with claustrophobia and initially we did nothing but argue as there is no where to get away from each other. There is no room for bad atmospheres here :rotfl:

After living in such a small place the bungalow you have shown seems palatial and would be just what we are looking for.

Could you maybe go on holiday and stay in a bungalow to give you some idea of what it would be like?

My advice is take your time and find the right one for you

Although our small home has taken some getting used to and we would like a little more room we love living on the level and realise that we don't want to go back to space we don't need or big gardens.

pollypenny

I've just looked at your link, SDW. The place looks very small to me.

seven-day-weekend

It is small. I've just realised we would lose our big utility area too.

Errata

TBH you'll have to do without a lot that you currently have in your large house if you want to move into a bungalow you can afford.

seven-day-weekend

Errata wrote: »

TBH you'll have to do without a lot that you currently have in your large house if you want to move into a bungalow you can afford.

TBH, I never thought our house was particularly large, it's a Victorian mid-terrace. However, it does have three double bedrooms (one in the loft), a sitting room, a dining room, a large dry cellar its own private access to the rear and a utility area and a long garden. We will have to compromise on space quite a lot.

Seen another one online, bigger than the first, has a small bedroom we could use as a study, also a dining room. Compromise is location; whilst the area is fine, it is out of our comfort zone. But it is near local shops and facilities and on a decent bus route. It's also on the edge of the city bordering the Staffs countryside. (The first one is over the border in Staffordshire). It's much more expensive than the first - we'd have to go into savings to buy it. Maybe that is what we'll need to do.

Might go and look at it.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42807757.html?premiumA=true

Errata

Is that a multi storey block of council flats looming over the back garden?