THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

GreyQueen

My parents the three-bedroom terraced house but, thanks to an extension which includes a shower-room/ WC, the usage of the rooms could easily be re-assigned to make the house function like a bungalow. With Mum having Parkinson's, it isn't unreasonable to believe she may develop problems with the stairs, and it's a great relief to all of us to know they won't be faced with moving in later life of necessity.

I've seen a lot of grief, in personal life, and well as in working life, caused by people who will not accept that a house with stairs is unsuitable for their octo- and nonogenarian selves. The consequences of failing to face reality are heavy on the individuals and tough on the family.

Re the hurricane, anyone else seen Branson refusing to evacuate Necker Island? I suppose, if you're rich and powerful enough, you can be deluded that you're also somehow weather-proof.

I would hope someone is obtaining signatures from evacuation-refuseniks everywhere, to the effect that they will be on their own, and no one will be coming to rescue them. Shocking that others may end up risking and perhaps losing their own lives to come to the aid of those who refused to evacuate when they still had a chance.

greenbee

I expect he's got enough money to be able to rebuild if necessary. And better than running away and leaving behind those who can't afford to escape.

GreyQueen

greenbee wrote: »

I expect he's got enough money to be able to rebuild if necessary. And better than running away and leaving behind those who can't afford to escape.

Yup, and he could still end up as the richest man in the graveyard.

[Deleted User]

yes, so the best option then is stairs but with potential for a bedroom and shower downstairs ie multi age home and that is what should be built today instead of skinny town houses

Karmacat

kittie wrote: »

yes, so the best option then is stairs but with potential for a bedroom and shower downstairs ie multi age home and that is what should be built today instead of skinny town houses

This is what's really exercising me at the moment - in terms of energy, I'm pretty low, and I have arthritis, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if I couldn't manage stairs in 15 years time. I keep wondering whether to move to an apartment of some description, but I don't really want to.

Solution is really obvious (now, after mulling it over for 2 years!) - yes, do the thing of turning the ground floor into a living space for me - very easy, as the bathroom is already downstairs.

With a few alterations, to doors, electricity, gas and water supplies, I could very easily rent out the top floor - one bed flat with an office. And if I needed a carer to live in at any stage in the **far** future, the tenant would have appropriate notice and the carer could be installed upstairs.

Genius :j

[Deleted User]

Karmacat wrote: »

This is what's really exercising me at the moment - in terms of energy, I'm pretty low, and I have arthritis, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if I couldn't manage stairs in 15 years time. I keep wondering whether to move to an apartment of some description, but I don't really want to.

Solution is really obvious (now, after mulling it over for 2 years!) - yes, do the thing of turning the ground floor into a living space for me - very easy, as the bathroom is already downstairs.

With a few alterations, to doors, electricity, gas and water supplies, I could very easily rent out the top floor - one bed flat with an office. And if I needed a carer to live in at any stage in the **far** future, the tenant would have appropriate notice and the carer could be installed upstairs.

Genius :j

its looking from outside the box karmacat, I have been nibbling at ideas for quite some time and seem to gain a bit more knowledge from week to week. Nowadays, on rightmove, I am looking at bigger homes but with a room downstairs and a big enough cloakroom/utility room to convert. I am absolutely facing facts about moving and getting settled in the next five years. It`s just about getting the courage to grab the nettle and taking the plunge while I am young enough and able enough to organise alterations. I am waiting for some money, could be weeks or months and when that happens then I think I will go for it. Got my car back this afternoon and have decided to reckie an area tomorrow, check out buses etc. It has to be right, the last move. Its not too far away so I won`t feel totally lost, as I would be in a new area and that thought was frightening me tbh

ivyleaf

Oh good luck kittie - i hope you'll find the ideal place

moneyistooshorttomention

Fingers crossed Kittie you find "The One" house-wise. It will have a "lot to live up to" as I know how you really like the one you've got.

Re the possibility of "bungalow legs" as one poster on MSE calls it - I think there is some element of having "to be on the watch" about that (having bought a bungalow myself recently - not by deliberate choice, but because it was the best available house for my money) I feel a bit concerned about that. However, I think I'm keeping pretty active and now my house itself is darn nearly finished (currently hours away from being finished at long blimmin' last) then the plan is to up the activity level and I already have in one of those "step" exercise things and figure that doing stepping exercises on that regularly should equate to walking up and downstairs umpteen times a day - so you could get one of those "steps" maybe?

I know I'm quite conscious of that myself - as there are no plans to move ever again - but if I found I could move after all = then I would and might end up back in a two-storey house again.

DigForVictory

Currently I have three sons in school & live in a three storey dwelling.
Eventually they'll go & when (a) my husband sees it my way or (b) my husband is dead, I'll have to move to something my knees & balance can cope with [I have moved house-with-children once, moving house-without-children I view with unabashed horror - it'll be a just do it Once job]. Where I fit hoped for grandchildren, I've not yet figured.
Also, an independent old age with a decent garden may not require me to shift to Widow's Cot until my knees or mind go. I may get away with Not Realising I've been moved to Sheltered Accom!
However, I think I'd like quite a bit more say in proceedings.

[Deleted User]

stage one of actually looking at areas today and I have come back stressed and with a headache, don`t normally get headaches. I saw two today from the outside and both were carp compared to the estate agents blurb, the bits they missed out. Also drove around two small townships and the stars have gone out of my eyes. Busytraffic and again properties in grotty areas, so I am looking close to home in villages that I know, only a couple of miles away with a good bus and shop and post office. Love those villages and perfect for cycling and I can keep my allotment, I can cycle to it

I have had to up the anti wrt money and will be drawing down from my sipp, I have already told the children but anyway houses up to a certain increasing value can be passed on inheritance tax free. If I die after age 75 then anything in my sipp will be taxed, so it makes sense to invest sipp money in a house. I had to talk this through with myself to see that it made sense to move to a better property. I am very lucky in that I have a young relative who now owns her own estate agency and she is a super person and a brilliant agent. She will do a kirstie and phil and help me buy a home, then sell mine. The stress at the moment is pretty high, for no real reason so coping with completion on two houses at the same time is a definite no for me. I will get my workshop and garden moved first, so I can concentrate on my house

Luckily nothing needs doing to my house, no painting or anything and I am going to join some activities in those villages and put the word out, there is hardly anything for sale at the moment

All the time, a thought at a time, it is adding up and I am making sense of my future. My son sent me flowers today, he sees the positivity of a move and I am now taking estate agents blurb with a big pinch of salt