Property Dilemma – What & Where?

Malthusian

tony4147 wrote: »

Funnily enough out of curiosity we decided to look at some newly built retirement homes for over 55's that are being built near to where we live, I'm 56 and my wife 58.
Upshot for me was no chance would I move into one of those until I'm in my 80's, small, no garden, dark, very expensive for what they are...…….and the BIG thing I think I would age quicker in a community of older people.

"Over 55s" houses are no more for over 55s than "young adult" literature is for 20-somethings. The actual target audience is over 80s and early teens / tweens respectively, but they're more likely to buy it if you pretend it's for those younger / older.

Though there are some people in late middle age who want to live in retirement homes just as there are adults who are slow readers - nothing wrong with that. It's just not a label which reflects the age of the typical consumer.

OldMusicGuy

Malthusian wrote: »

Though there are some people in late middle age who want to live in retirement homes just as there are adults who are slow readers - nothing wrong with that. It's just not a label which reflects the age of the typical consumer.

Except that many of these "retirement" properties come with outrageous and ever-increasing service charges and can be very hard to resell (McCarthy & Stone anyone....?).

Thrugelmir

We've taken numerous short hotel and B&B breaks, week long cottage breaks all over Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. Over time we've crossed areas off our map. Move away from the coastal areas and there's plenty of good value to be found in property. Nor does one have to be in a remote location.

DairyQueen

Interesting and thought-provoking responses. Thank you forum.

I will be taking away several points:

1) The tension between type of property and location is the biggie.
2) OH is not inclined to DIY but we can afford to pay (but do I want that hassle?).
3) Home is more important to us than just a base.
4) I don't want to die without living that dream property.
5) I value the proximity to local services that I currently enjoy but hate the noise from proximity to traffic.
6) Hedging is worth considering - a downstairs bedroom/bathroom is a 'must have'.

As for retirement properties....

We checked these out recently. The purchase price was so reasonable for such a lovely property (apartment in a Grade 1 listed building) that there must be a catch. There was. The service charges were expensive (but affordable), The real problem was the lease. A non-extendable term meant the property would always lose value over time. Worse, it was impossible to remove liability for that expensive service charge until the property was sold and, over time, there were fewer and fewer takers. The liability extended beyond death.

Burdening our heirs isn't part of our plan.

Skibunny40

Point number 4 seems to make the decision for you - you only regret the things you don't do!

[Deleted User]

Get up them stairs.

Thrugelmir

DairyQueen wrote: »

4) I don't want to die without living that dream property.

The novelty wears off. If you wish to indulge yourselves. Try some short term rentals.

https://www.living-architecture.co.uk/default.asp

Slinky

Living in an area destined to be blighted by the Oxford/Cambridge Expressway, we moved earlier this year when I retired. Both myself and OH are mid 50s. We've moved to a market town about 10 miles inland from the coast, into a property which is perfect location for our hobbies, close to doctors, cinema, leisure centre, bus stop, 7 minutes flat walk to local thriving High Street. Property is nothing to look at but has the scope for us to live on the ground floor should we not be able to get up the stairs. We're currently planning changes to make it more liveable. We don't plan on moving again, but should we need to there are the dreaded retirement flats in abundance locally.


We decided to move in our 50s in order to make a new life and find new friends which we thought would be easier than leaving it until we are older.



I'm using the car much less, shopping more locally and don't regret our move, even though I wish I could have brought our previous home with us.

bluenose1

We are currently moving home in our mid 50s, we currently live very close to a busy main road with no decent facilities within walking distance. The new house is in a very quiet, residential area 10 minutes walking distance of decent Village shops, coffee bars etc and a Train Station. Also Woodland walks within 5 minutes of house.
We should have moved years ago, but close family and children's school etc always stopped us previously.
It seems more common to regret the things in life you haven't done rather than those you have.
In the unlikely event we didn't settle then worst case scenario we move again.

DairyQueen

Slinky wrote: »

L
We decided to move in our 50s in order to make a new life and find new friends which we thought would be easier than leaving it until we are older.

... and don't regret our move, even though I wish I could have brought our previous home with us.

It must be tough to make the decision to move from a much-loved property. For us, moving is a no-brainer. Neither of our two properties are sufficiently large to accommodate the spouse full-time and both are in noisy locations.

I can't wait to move but there is a dearth of properties on the market in our region as Brexit and the Election have pretty much killed all activity. Not helped by my super-pickiness. I can't recall ever sweating so much detail. Probably from fear of getting it (expensively) wrong.