House search drawing a blank

silvercar

This is the way it goes in certain areas. People arrive and want to stay. So they only move if a suitable home becomes available. It isn't that rare.

There is not only the smaller running costs of downsizing and lower maintenance, there is also the increased money in the bank. Whether you use it for round the world trips, topping up your pension, passing money to your kids to avoid a (future) IHT bill.....

Slinky

silvercar said:

This is the way it goes in certain areas. People arrive and want to stay. So they only move if a suitable home becomes available. It isn't that rare.

There is not only the smaller running costs of downsizing and lower maintenance, there is also the increased money in the bank. Whether you use it for round the world trips, topping up your pension, passing money to your kids to avoid a (future) IHT bill.....

Not all downsizing will involve freeing up money. If you are also looking at going to single storey living, in many places a 2 bed bungalow can cost the same or more than a 4 bed house if there aren't many bungalows available.

mi-key

Slinky said:

silvercar said:

This is the way it goes in certain areas. People arrive and want to stay. So they only move if a suitable home becomes available. It isn't that rare.

There is not only the smaller running costs of downsizing and lower maintenance, there is also the increased money in the bank. Whether you use it for round the world trips, topping up your pension, passing money to your kids to avoid a (future) IHT bill.....

Not all downsizing will involve freeing up money. If you are also looking at going to single storey living, in many places a 2 bed bungalow can cost the same or more than a 4 bed house if there aren't many bungalows available.

It certainly is where I live. I have a 3 bed detatched bungalow, and for an equivalent size 3 bed detatched house in the same village, the bungalows are quite a lot more expensive. Actual bungalows all on one floor rather than dorma conversions are also more expensive 

RelievedSheff

mi-key said:

Slinky said:

silvercar said:

This is the way it goes in certain areas. People arrive and want to stay. So they only move if a suitable home becomes available. It isn't that rare.

There is not only the smaller running costs of downsizing and lower maintenance, there is also the increased money in the bank. Whether you use it for round the world trips, topping up your pension, passing money to your kids to avoid a (future) IHT bill.....

Not all downsizing will involve freeing up money. If you are also looking at going to single storey living, in many places a 2 bed bungalow can cost the same or more than a 4 bed house if there aren't many bungalows available.

It certainly is where I live. I have a 3 bed detatched bungalow, and for an equivalent size 3 bed detatched house in the same village, the bungalows are quite a lot more expensive. Actual bungalows all on one floor rather than dorma conversions are also more expensive 

Bungalows tend to be more expensive because they need a lot more land than an equivalent house.

Slinky

RelievedSheff said:

mi-key said:

Slinky said:

silvercar said:

This is the way it goes in certain areas. People arrive and want to stay. So they only move if a suitable home becomes available. It isn't that rare.

There is not only the smaller running costs of downsizing and lower maintenance, there is also the increased money in the bank. Whether you use it for round the world trips, topping up your pension, passing money to your kids to avoid a (future) IHT bill.....

Not all downsizing will involve freeing up money. If you are also looking at going to single storey living, in many places a 2 bed bungalow can cost the same or more than a 4 bed house if there aren't many bungalows available.

It certainly is where I live. I have a 3 bed detatched bungalow, and for an equivalent size 3 bed detatched house in the same village, the bungalows are quite a lot more expensive. Actual bungalows all on one floor rather than dorma conversions are also more expensive 

Bungalows tend to be more expensive because they need a lot more land than an equivalent house.

Which is why in a lot of areas, particularly in expensive parts of the UK, they aren't building bungalows anymore. In our old village they built 500 new homes, not one bungalow. If you want single storey living you're expected to move into a flat.  Which has the effect of pushing up the prices of the few bungalows even more.

Nebulous2

GDB2222 said:

RedFraggle said:

What's the main driver for smaller?

Fewer bedrooms. 

We were looking to downsize about 4 years ago, with one of the main motivators being to free up cash, and found that we would lose a lot of amenity for very little return. Moving from a 4 bed with en-suite 1990s semi to a new(ish) 2 bed flat would have cleared us about £40k after fees and moving costs. We then looked at what we were losing with the loss of garden, spare rooms etc. 

As you move further down the housing ladder prices become more compressed, with more competition. There are a lot of young professionals who can afford and want that 2 bed flat, but for whom the house is simply stretching it too far.... 

GDB2222

Nebulous2 said:

GDB2222 said:

RedFraggle said:

What's the main driver for smaller?

Fewer bedrooms. 

We were looking to downsize about 4 years ago, with one of the main motivators being to free up cash, and found that we would lose a lot of amenity for very little return. Moving from a 4 bed with en-suite 1990s semi to a new(ish) 2 bed flat would have cleared us about £40k after fees and moving costs. We then looked at what we were losing with the loss of garden, spare rooms etc. 

As you move further down the housing ladder prices become more compressed, with more competition. There are a lot of young professionals who can afford and want that 2 bed flat, but for whom the house is simply stretching it too far.... 

That seems to be a large part of it for us, too. We can get half the house for three quarters of the value of this one. 

mi-key

RelievedSheff said:

mi-key said:

Slinky said:

silvercar said:

This is the way it goes in certain areas. People arrive and want to stay. So they only move if a suitable home becomes available. It isn't that rare.

There is not only the smaller running costs of downsizing and lower maintenance, there is also the increased money in the bank. Whether you use it for round the world trips, topping up your pension, passing money to your kids to avoid a (future) IHT bill.....

Not all downsizing will involve freeing up money. If you are also looking at going to single storey living, in many places a 2 bed bungalow can cost the same or more than a 4 bed house if there aren't many bungalows available.

It certainly is where I live. I have a 3 bed detatched bungalow, and for an equivalent size 3 bed detatched house in the same village, the bungalows are quite a lot more expensive. Actual bungalows all on one floor rather than dorma conversions are also more expensive 

Bungalows tend to be more expensive because they need a lot more land than an equivalent house.

True, which is why I bought one as you get a much bigger garden, driveway etc... There is also the market they sell to. They are ( generally ) bought by older people who are retired or looking to retirement, and downsize from a larger family home, often having paid off the mortgage years ago and with lots of equity from the old house,  so money is less of an object. Pretty much all the ones around me sell for full asking price or over. 

tooldle

Would you consider a fixer upper? We downsized from a large Edwardian 4 bed into a 3 bed bungalow with more land, costing just under 40% of the value. Typical bungalow purchasers are not interested in lots of work apparently.

silvercar

GDB2222 said:

Nebulous2 said:

GDB2222 said:

RedFraggle said:

What's the main driver for smaller?

Fewer bedrooms. 

We were looking to downsize about 4 years ago, with one of the main motivators being to free up cash, and found that we would lose a lot of amenity for very little return. Moving from a 4 bed with en-suite 1990s semi to a new(ish) 2 bed flat would have cleared us about £40k after fees and moving costs. We then looked at what we were losing with the loss of garden, spare rooms etc. 

As you move further down the housing ladder prices become more compressed, with more competition. There are a lot of young professionals who can afford and want that 2 bed flat, but for whom the house is simply stretching it too far.... 

That seems to be a large part of it for us, too. We can get half the house for three quarters of the value of this one. 

Combine that with lower running costs and less maintenance and I think it looks worthwhile. The change from three quarters of your current price isn’t small beer.

I know it’s morbid thinking, but if one of you was left alone, would they be happier being in a smaller house?