Downsizing dilemma

V3cash

I love my current house and will be happy here until retirement, however I don’t think i should wait until retirement as it will cost to move and this would be more affordable when working.
the reason i will need to move is because this house will be too expensive in retirement and it’s not got good transportation links ( terrible in fact).
the council tax is pretty high and we know this is going to keep on going up so it will be like a small mortgage by the time I’m retired.
its fine when we are both getting good wages.
we currently have a 5 bedroom house with a double garage and don’t really need the space now and would have bought it if it was 4 beds, 1 of the rooms seems superfluous to requirements.

This property also might be hard to sell because it has a transformer in our back garden.
we have grown things to hide it but it’s not really possible to block it totally.
we did get it at a reduced price and understand it won’t fetch market value of other 5 bedroom properties around.
however this property has 2 en-suites, 1 shower room, family bathroom and toilet and huge lounge and massive boot room and separate utility and its 5 split levels so it’s different from new build boxes.
it also has beautiful field views apart from transducer.
Do you think we will just know when the time is right to sell.
was wondering if i should get an estate agent to value it to see how much the transducer affects price?
I look on right move and i know im gonna struggle to find something i love as much 

FlorayG

Move while you are able
I know of so many people's old parents who struggled along in the 'family' home until they couldn't even get up the stairs, by which time the house was in decorative disrepair and their kids found it hard to get them to downsize.
I moved into a bungalow fit and healthy age 60 because I don't want to get myself into that situation

gwynlas

It would be good to ask for valuations as this will help you decide what you an afford in your future home.

Does your house have development potential eg are there instances locally of plots your size supporting two or more houses or apartments? If so  you could apply for planning pernission to give purchaser other options.

Whilst your house suited you and you can get modern screening to obscure transformer  it does sound quirky being mulli level so this might limit your market

Farway

I'd start the process now, and maybe just me, but I wouldn't worry about the transformer

We had one adjacent, and while it did deter some, others were not bothered and in fact having it at least meant no one was going to slap an estate etc next door

You'll find buyers object, or love, lots of things, trees are good, or bad, same as nearby schools, roads, airports, you name it someone will love or hate it

V3cash

FlorayG said:

Move while you are able
I know of so many people's old parents who struggled along in the 'family' home until they couldn't even get up the stairs, by which time the house was in decorative disrepair and their kids found it hard to get them to downsize.
I moved into a bungalow fit and healthy age 60 because I don't want to get myself into that situation

I’m only 54 at present and yes I think 60 may be the magic number.
We are quite fit so stairs not a problem but definitely factoring this into things as stairs will become an issue, interestingly if you don’t do stairs in old age you loose the ability to quicker, which makes sence I guess.
our in-laws didn’t move and whilst they had a bungalow their  garden got too big for them as it is huge. Their house has massive potential which was never realised by them, unfortunately my father in law passed away recently and now mum in law is being cared for in a care home as she has end stage dementia. The family are selling to pay for her care now.
Luckily he was really fit up to the last couple of years so house is quite good. I definitely think this happening to use has made us see we should move before we need to.
just a mind set I guess!
we love this house so someone else will, it only takes one person to buy.
our last house sold in a day but I don’t think this one will go so quickly but you never know.

V3cash

gwynlas said:

It would be good to ask for valuations as this will help you decide what you an afford in your future home.

Does your house have development potential eg are there instances locally of plots your size supporting two or more houses or apartments? If so  you could apply for planning pernission to give purchaser other options.

Whilst your house suited you and you can get modern screening to obscure transformer  it does sound quirky being mulli level so this might limit your market

No it’s a new build with small back garden , it has a bit of woodland behind it that one of the neighbours bought which is now protected woodland so no one can build behind us.

we only have one parking space at front and some space in front of double garage but it could not be converted I don’t think as neighbours would definitely object due to parking.

Albermarle

ON the house buying forum there is a thread you might find interesting.

Electricity substation — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Otherwise one problem with downsizing, is that it tends not to release as much as money/equity as people hope ( although that is maybe not your main priority) . This is mainly because most people have aspirations, and start to think about things like a sea view/ nicer location etc .

louby40

I'm 56 and my partner is 60 in the summer. We moved last year from a large 4 bedroomed /3 bathroom townhouse to a small (newish) 3 bed semi.

It was hard to leave our lovely house behind (only 2 miles up the road) but we are now mortgage free and retirement can now happen.

It was hard to adjust to much smaller rooms and a LOT less storage (we don't have a garage) but slowly we have begun to adapt our lives. We've just had the kitchen totally re-done as storage in there was terrible. 

But now we are feeling so much happier. It's such a warm house, bills are less, maintenance is less. It's definitely the right thing for us. 

V3cash

louby40 said:

I'm 56 and my partner is 60 in the summer. We moved last year from a large 4 bedroomed /3 bathroom townhouse to a small (newish) 3 bed semi.

It was hard to leave our lovely house behind (only 2 miles up the road) but we are now mortgage free and retirement can now happen.

It was hard to adjust to much smaller rooms and a LOT less storage (we don't have a garage) but slowly we have begun to adapt our lives. We've just had the kitchen totally re-done as storage in there was terrible. 

But now we are feeling so much happier. It's such a warm house, bills are less, maintenance is less. It's definitely the right thing for us. 

That’s really good to know and I’m sure we would adjust too with time.
I think I’ll get a valuation and see what we have to work with 

V3cash

Albermarle said:

ON the house buying forum there is a thread you might find interesting.

Electricity substation — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Otherwise one problem with downsizing, is that it tends not to release as much as money/equity as people hope ( although that is maybe not your main priority) . This is mainly because most people have aspirations, and start to think about things like a sea view/ nicer location etc .

Yes I’m realistic to know we won’t have hundreds of 1000’s left as bungalows and new builds tend to be expensive 

Savvy_Sue

I think I'd get a valuation, and also think about where you might want to go. The one thing you can't change about a property is its location (which is our problem, location is perfect but house is too big).

If you start looking around the perfect place may leap out at you.