Relocating after Retirement - pros and cons - has it worked out for you?

Murphybear

We lived in central Devon for years.  As you rightly say, it is cheaper than the north coast, south coast, Dartmoor or Exmoor.  We lived in a market town rather than a village but there’s loads of villages around.  U3A was very popular, there were 2 in the town and between them they covered just about every activity you could want.  

There is a big advantage to where we lived, it is not very touristy.  We used to drive up to the north coast on the Exe Valley road, it is beautiful.  

Our GP surgery was based in the centre and they were brilliant.  When I needed a knee replacement I was referred to Exeter which has a world class reputation for Orthopaedics.

If I were you I would go for it 

thriftytracey

Murphybear said:

We lived in central Devon for years.  As you rightly say, it is cheaper than the north coast, south coast, Dartmoor or Exmoor.  We lived in a market town rather than a village but there’s loads of villages around.  U3A was very popular, there were 2 in the town and between them they covered just about every activity you could want.  

There is a big advantage to where we lived, it is not very touristy.  We used to drive up to the north coast on the Exe Valley road, it is beautiful.  

Our GP surgery was based in the centre and they were brilliant.  When I needed a knee replacement I was referred to Exeter which has a world class reputation for Orthopaedics.

If I were you I would go for it 

Hi Murphybear - Could you advise which town it was??  We have had several holidays in the South Hams area but we are not at all familiar with the rest of Devon.

smutput

thriftytracey said:

We are both drivers but well aware of the problems of living in a village as you get older - ideally I would like to live in a village pretty close to a town and with similar amenities to what we have at the moment.  It is very convenient to have a GP surgery here.  My mother drove a car right up to her death from a stroke as do a number of people I know locally who are in their late 80's and still drive competently.  Of course all that that is down to genetics, lifestyle and luck!  We are looking for a bungalow or chalet style house because of this and a property without too many steps.   Bus service can be very patchy depending where you live although on our travels we have noticed that some areas are well served (presumably because they are touristy).  As we age we can adapt our new property accordingly - still feel pretty young and fit at the moment!

I took my parents to their over-80's vaccine appointment and came out of the car park a nervous wreck. The number of people driving horrendously - either too fast or too slow and with no awareness of their surroundings or proper control over their cars -was frightening. I saw 2 or 3 near misses in 5 minutes with people backing out blindly, taking multiple attempts at parking (badly) or fixating on where they wanted to go without observing what was around them. I would say 80% of those who drove themselves to the appointment, while I was there, shouldn't have done. 

danjackson2021

We have lost everything in the pandemic crisis, didn't get any help from government like so many I hear fiddling the books and getting all the handouts We have lost the house and gone bankrupt now have absolutely nothing at all and going to be a burden on the kids but they are brilliant and want nan and grandad to be full time babysitters when we come out of lockdown. We are going to relocate near the kids and live simple lives

Farway

danjackson2021 said:

We have lost everything in the pandemic crisis, didn't get any help from government like so many I hear fiddling the books and getting all the handouts We have lost the house and gone bankrupt now have absolutely nothing at all and going to be a burden on the kids but they are brilliant and want nan and grandad to be full time babysitters when we come out of lockdown. We are going to relocate near the kids and live simple lives

Sorry to hear this but I do hope the move turn out well and I'm sure looking after grandchildren and simple lives & pleasures such as kicking a ball,a round with the grandchildren will be very rewarding

Murphybear

thriftytracey said:

Murphybear said:

We lived in central Devon for years.  As you rightly say, it is cheaper than the north coast, south coast, Dartmoor or Exmoor.  We lived in a market town rather than a village but there’s loads of villages around.  U3A was very popular, there were 2 in the town and between them they covered just about every activity you could want.  

There is a big advantage to where we lived, it is not very touristy.  We used to drive up to the north coast on the Exe Valley road, it is beautiful.  

Our GP surgery was based in the centre and they were brilliant.  When I needed a knee replacement I was referred to Exeter which has a world class reputation for Orthopaedics.

If I were you I would go for it 

Hi Murphybear - Could you advise which town it was??  We have had several holidays in the South Hams area but we are not at all familiar with the rest of Devon.

Yes of course.  It was Tiverton.  There’s lots of villages outside and Tiverton itself is reasonably priced.  

thriftytracey

Savvy_Sue said:

I realise that my response is also coloured by the fact that I found our move here traumatic, and swore I'd leave whatever we bought in a box (when the estate agent was explaining why house A would hold its value better than house B )!

We should downsize, and whatever we buy WILL be our last purchase, but others may remain more open to moving more than once in later life. 

Sorry to hear that.  What were your lessons learned?

Savvy_Sue

thriftytracey said:

Savvy_Sue said:

I realise that my response is also coloured by the fact that I found our move here traumatic, and swore I'd leave whatever we bought in a box (when the estate agent was explaining why house A would hold its value better than house B )!

We should downsize, and whatever we buy WILL be our last purchase, but others may remain more open to moving more than once in later life. 

Sorry to hear that.  What were your lessons learned?

I'm not sure there were any specific lessons. We were gazumped on one property, and ended up renting with a friend because our house had sold. We were quite fussy about area, because we had school places and work lined up. There wasn't much on the market. Prices were shooting up. And the rental was 'cosy' for 3 adults and 3 children, plus lots of daytime visitors.

The renting served us well in the end because we ended up buying with the friend we'd rented with - as another friend said, if we hadn't killed each other yet, we'd probably get on well long term. That meant we could afford something bigger.

I fell in love with this house, DH not so sure. I had to point out that a) it was perfect, b) it was in the right place and c) THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE SUITABLE!

Then we ended up in a bidding war, and a contract lockdown, which was quite stressful. I was job hunting, and DH had a long commute to his part-time job, which was financing the mortgage. Three youngsters to settle in new schools. And I couldn't find a decent supermarket!

So, next time, I won't be job hunting, the offspring have left home (and are now buying themselves!), DH is semi-retired, and hopefully we'll feel able to walk away from silliness. But we want to stay in this area and we have some specific requirements which may make it tricky again.

thriftytracey

Savvy_Sue said:

thriftytracey said:

Savvy_Sue said:

I realise that my response is also coloured by the fact that I found our move here traumatic, and swore I'd leave whatever we bought in a box (when the estate agent was explaining why house A would hold its value better than house B )!

We should downsize, and whatever we buy WILL be our last purchase, but others may remain more open to moving more than once in later life. 

Sorry to hear that.  What were your lessons learned?

I'm not sure there were any specific lessons. We were gazumped on one property, and ended up renting with a friend because our house had sold. We were quite fussy about area, because we had school places and work lined up. There wasn't much on the market. Prices were shooting up. And the rental was 'cosy' for 3 adults and 3 children, plus lots of daytime visitors.

The renting served us well in the end because we ended up buying with the friend we'd rented with - as another friend said, if we hadn't killed each other yet, we'd probably get on well long term. That meant we could afford something bigger.

I fell in love with this house, DH not so sure. I had to point out that a) it was perfect, b) it was in the right place and c) THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE SUITABLE!

Then we ended up in a bidding war, and a contract lockdown, which was quite stressful. I was job hunting, and DH had a long commute to his part-time job, which was financing the mortgage. Three youngsters to settle in new schools. And I couldn't find a decent supermarket!

So, next time, I won't be job hunting, the offspring have left home (and are now buying themselves!), DH is semi-retired, and hopefully we'll feel able to walk away from silliness. But we want to stay in this area and we have some specific requirements which may make it tricky again.

Gosh, a lot of stress there.  Also, buying with a friend is quite unusual!  There can't be many situations like that.  I must admit articles about groups of friends getting together and buying a large property with lots of rooms for separate accommodation and plenty of grounds seems a good idea to me. At least in our situation we don't have jobs to worry about, children to settle, long commute etc.  House purchase is all about compromise unless you have a big budget although certainly don't want to end up buying a property we don't love as a suitable property did not materialise so prepared to rent if necessary - another stressor! 

thriftytracey

danjackson2021 said:

We have lost everything in the pandemic crisis, didn't get any help from government like so many I hear fiddling the books and getting all the handouts We have lost the house and gone bankrupt now have absolutely nothing at all and going to be a burden on the kids but they are brilliant and want nan and grandad to be full time babysitters when we come out of lockdown. We are going to relocate near the kids and live simple lives

That's so awful.  You sound like you have good kids.  Good luck with your relocation.