Quit everything , and start again over 50?

Smodlet

I think, AC, you can be as cheeky as you like with offers in your position and at this time of year, in a seaside town in the depths of the off-season, don't you? It's almost text book already, then add in Brexit and the uncertainty that brings to the formula. After all, £15k is less than 10% of £170k. In your position, I'd be offering at least 10% under the asking price... How do you know that is not cheeky unless you do your research?

So not badgering, just suggesting, honestly.

gallygirl

Smodlet wrote: »

Where was it, GG? One of those Napoleonic forts in the Channel?

No, a modern place at the mouth of a estuary. You had to time it right with the tide or the boat would get stranded on a sandbank or pulled out to sea :eek:. Kirstie and Phil found him it :rotfl:.

lessonlearned

Hi everyone....

AC. I did wonder if I had "badgered" you - ooh er missus....sounds positively rude.:rotfl: but I figured you would know it was meant with affection and humour..

Not even met you "in the flesh" but I feel we are friends and I can be honest. ......a sort of honorary "big sister" dispensing words of wisdom.:rotfl:

So no more talk about properties today....except to say - finding the right property is a bit like finding the right partner.......you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find "the one".

So yes I'm afraid you need to view loads. One thing I will say is keep an open mind.

All too often we have preconceived ideas about what we want when quite often we end up with something completely different. Often what we want is not actually what we really need and what will make our heart sing.

This applies to spouses, partners and lovers too!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Miserable day here, the house is a tip and I am feeling lazy. Another busy week next week, solicitors, funeral stuff, etc I will be glad when it's over.

Looking forward to having some time to myself and some half decent weather be able to enjoy it.

wendym

And sometimes a properly that doesn't make your heart sing can be perfect. We had to find anything we could afford in just a day. It has been a good place for lots of practical reasons.

And.....yesterday a pleasant couple out with their dog, who apparently live about half a mile away in a large sixties house, said if ever we move they want first refusal cos every time they walk past they lust after it!

lessonlearned

wendym wrote: »

Nobody meant to badger in a negative way.

The only point I wanted to make was that I hated the thought of you being stuck and isolated in a second floor flat cos of stairs. I am possibly a bit stair-phobic these days!

I get this......

I spoke to my Physio about this very issue.....yes my knees are a little "tired" sometimes........:rotfl:

She said that it's like anything else when it comes to aging......use it or lose it. Obviously if you have specific mobility issues or health problems then that's different.

Apparently There is a condition physios call "bungalow knees" - where perfectly fit and healthy people allow their knees to stiffen up because they are not climbing enough steps or stairs.

I think she has a point about this because my sons Victorian house has quite a steep and scary staircase. When we first moved in I struggled a bit with the stairs. Now I run up and down them like an agile mountain goat.:D

So my thoughts (for my own purchase) is it doesn't necessarily have to be a bungalow but it must have a straight staircase just in case a stair lift were needed at some point.

Yes you can get stairlifts for curved stairs but they cost a lot more than a simple straight run. Roughly 4 times more expensive.

As you know I spent 9 years caring for my husband who did become wheelchair bound. That taught me a great deal about what to look for in a property and how to accommodate the needs of reduced mobility. I think a house can be fine but they need to have easy access and have potential for adaptations if necessary.

I also worked for a while as a manager in a sheltered housing complex. The age range of residents was 55 to 98, with varying levels of need and care required. I learned an awful lot from my residents, what they found helpful, what was useless.

Speaking of lifts.......did you know that you can now have proper internal lifts in a normal house......not those awful hole in the ceiling efforts designed for wheel chair users but proper enclosed lifts similar to those found in commercial settings but suitable for domestic use.

They have really come down in price - from around £12k - so much cheaper than moving house. The actual footprint required is quite small and they are relatively simply to install. You can get models which can accommodate a wheelchair.

So provided a house doesn't have narrow corridors and too many awkward nooks and crannies then, should it be necessary, it can be possible to future proof them without too much difficulty.

Here's another little gem you might not know or have thought about.....

Properties built after 2007 have to comply with EU building regs to meet the needs of the disabled user, so easier access, both internal and external doors have to be wide enough for wheelchair access, and staircases have to be wide enough to accommodate a stair lift.

So another reason for us oldies to consider more modern properties and new builds.

lessonlearned

wendym wrote: »

And sometimes a properly that doesn't make your heart sing can be perfect. We had to find anything we could afford in just a day. It has been a good place for lots of practical reasons.

And.....yesterday a pleasant couple out with their dog, who apparently live about half a mile away in a large sixties house, said if ever we move they want first refusal cos every time they walk past they lust after it!

Yes...you can buy an absolute dog of a property and with a bit of flair and imagination turn it into your dream home which makes your heart sing.

Nice to know you found "the one"

I think you are right ......sometimes having to make a quick decision can actually work in our favour.

My husband and I found ourselves in this situation once. We had to find a house and realistically it had to be done in a day. We found one that we thought "would do for now".

Unknown to us at the time it turned out to be perfect in every way and we ended up staying for 24 very happy years.

You never can tell..........

Actually same with my husband....... He was so not "my type" at all. In fact my friends and family were astonished when we got together. I think they thought I had finally lost the plot. :rotfl:

We had 34 absolutely blissful years. .........and I miss him like crazy.

dreaming

I think you do know when a place is right though. Before I bought this place I had an offer accepted on another bungalow. It was very similar in layout to where I live now, with a better garden than I have, and cheaper because of needing work I was prepared to do. It was also close to good friends and amenities. Not sure what it was but something kept niggling at me then this place, which had previously been above my budget was reduced to "just" within it. I viewed it (and another cheaper one) but I knew this was the one for me so I walked away from the previous one I'd offered on.
I think what I'm hoping is that one day AC will be on here telling us he has found the perfect place, and being really enthusiastic about it but so far haven't felt he has seen anything that really "moved" him (no pun intended). I'm sure it will happen soon though.
My "bungalow" knees are in a much better state than when I had "Victorian terrace" knees, and had to plan going upstairs in order to have a rest before I came back down again.

wendym

I think I speak for all of us in admiration of your resilience, LL.

And on a mundane note - I was astonished by the price difference in straight vs curved stairlifts. Ours, of course, turns two corners.

The mystery vague unpleasant smell only in the hall is fading. Not a small corpse, not gas, so who knows? Having the gas man visit every room made me realise that we are teetering on the edge of Miss Havisham territory in some corners.

Thinking of knees - my daughter's stairs might as well be a ladder, so my sadly infrequent visits have to be planned around using the loo in the curry house where we meet, and deliberate dehydration.

Smodlet

I agree with dreaming about houses. I had bought our last one in my head before we even went to see it. I knew the area really well as I grew up there. I remember telling OH the only thing that would stop me from buying it was a plane embedded in the roof... and the vendors could have claimed on their buildings insurance for that, surely?

This house we're in now doesn't make my heart sing, it makes it sink. We also had to buy in a hurry as the one we thought we wanted fell through at the last minute.

I agree about the husband thing, though; OH was totally unsuitable on paper but became first the best friend I have ever had, then a whole lot more. I doubt we'll live long enough to get to 34 years but we are not far off 24.

lessonlearned

Knees.....I know we are not supposed to discuss medical stuff......but votarol 12 hour gel, industrial strength glucosomaine and red krill oil capsules work for me. :rotfl: