Downsizing

A question about : Downsizing

Everyone says you should do it while you can rather than wait until you are too old/ill/frail and in principal I agree with this.

We have a mid-terrace Victorian house so not a huge amount to downsize from. But we decided to look anyway.

We wanted a bungalow on a bus route and near shops in a decent area. So we had a look round and came up with this:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...-41561581.html

It is near a bus stop, near shops and other amenities and even has a local railway station just up the road (the railway runs along the back of the property but that does not bother us as it is only a local line). It has a garage (which we've never had before) and a small garden. We had a look through the windows (the property is empty) and could see that it needs a bit of work doing but we don't mind that.

It looks just what we want.

However..... we came back home and looked at our nice house with wildlife garden and pond and thought how could we possibly move from that into a small bungalow? We would lose a dining room, one bedroom and a large dry cellar which is used for storage and the garden is much smaller. We could just see ourselves being crammed into this little place and feeling caged up and hating it. But the point of downsizing is to have a smaller house and garden, right??

The downsides to our house are - no garage, the street outside is like a linear car park on both sides and my husband is increasingly worried about the area declining, as more houses become buy-to-lets and more eastern European immigrants arrive (the area has always been multicultural, but the latest arrivals do seem to be very intrusive and not attempting to fit in).

At the moment we have decided to stay put and in fact are spending a few grand on a summerhouse for the top of our long garden.

But I'm wondering whether this is the right decision? Absolute dilemma. It's a head and heart situation.

Discussion welcomed.

(We are fit and healthy mid-60s. My husband does have arthritis in his knees, although this usually does not bother him too much).

Best answers:

• I would knock down the shed and make the garden bigger. Is there any scope in the budget / any space for a small extension to give you a dining room?
  My parents moved into a similar property aged about 65, made some alterations to it and now at the age of 80 say that it was the best thing they did. Big gardens can be such a problem as you get older. It depends on whether you want to make some money on the downsize or just find a home for the next phase of your life.
• My husband would be lost without his shed . The way the bungalow is configured there actually isn't room for a sensible extension as the bedroom goes all along the back. We did think we could convert the garage but then there would be no storage.
  We wouldn't make any money on the downsize, the price is about the same as we would get for our house.
  Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it, as it gives ideas
• Downsizing is one of those things that we feel we will do, but at some point in the future.
  We live in a 4 bedroom detached house. We've lived here for 25 years, are completely comfortable and love our home.
  But we are going to stop working, almost certainly by the end of the year.
  I'm 54, husband will be 63 in October
  So we are still relatively young and not ill or frail. Looking at it logically, it could be a good time to downsize.
  But we are not ready to move yet, and intend to enjoy living here for a good few years yet.
  We've got no target date for downsizing, but we think we we will just *know* when the time is right to move, whether it's for financial reasons or if we can no longer physically manage the upkeep of the house.
  If you are happy where you are, I would favour staying where you are.
• The point of downsizing isn't just about size, it's about the house's suitability for you to live in it should you become less able/mobile.
  e.g. you have a cellar - you won't be going down there when you're confined to a chair. Will you really be "dining"?.... or eating your microwave dinner on a tray in your usual chair?
  Unless you've spent time trying to keep an elderly parent living in their own home you can't begin to imagine the problems it can bring.
  Maybe you're not ready to downsize.... I'd say 70 is a good age for most to start thinking about it, completing the move by 75 at the latest. You need time to get the place straight, get to know the local area, become known etc .... so 70-75 is really the best cut off point for a lot of people.
• Luckily our bathroom is downstairs and we have a walk-in shower in it. We could also temporarily use the front sitting room as a bedroom, we have done it before.
  It's just that the type of bungalow we can afford in the location we want is tiny. My husband certainly, and me probably, would go stir crazy. The particular one we have seen seems a good compromise on location and space. If we could afford it without selling our house, we would do it, so that it is ready for when we DO want to move. (Note to Self : Premium Bonds must do better ).
  Neither of us want to leave our house and garden.
  I think we are not ready to downsize yet. We are staying put for the moment, but vaguely looking whilst we are out and about.
• I think the trick to downsizing is to do it when you don't need it. The fickle finger of fate can strike at any time, don't wait until it's about to hit you.
• Every bit of me is screaming that I want to downsize. My house is not big by any stretch of the imagination but I am looking ahead.
  Sometimes when the arthritis is bad, walking down the stairs is bad enough, let alone going down the garden to peg out the washing as theres two deep steps to get down. When my son moves out I will have a bedroom that I will no longer need. The garden is too much. At the moment its not a problem but I'm looking ahead. Hubby is having mobility problems and if he has another stroke then I just wont manage it at all.
  Realistically though, I know my house isn't worth a lot and to buy something with the money tied up in my house, we will either have to spend money on it and do it up or put money to it.
  So for now I am trying to minimise everything, keep things simple. I'm getting the house how I want it but as for the garden... well that's hubbys department and he doesn't see it like I do..
• People talking about stairs, there are always stairlifts.
  This was my Mums house before she died and has a stairlift, when i moved in i went to get rid of the lift but would have got peanuts for it, so decided to leave it in place, you never know what the future holds i may need it one day.
  It's much to big here but i tend to just clothes doors and forget what's behind them. I've got a big garden and massive garage which is great, but i suppose in 10yrs or so i may start to think they're to big.
• We've thought about downsizing, but rejected it. We have a big bungalow, three double beds and the garden is too big.
  However, it is a bungalow and roomy, easy to move around. it's location us ideal, as we can walk to shops, bank, hospital and library.
  We did pay a lot for it in 1987, as there were very few family homes on the market. Since 2000 there has been a number of new houses built, so I imagine families would not choose a bungalow.
  We are staying put.