Have you Downsized (Voluntarily)?

[njmom47]

I look forward to this too. We bought small and cheap (1997, 3 br 1 1/2 bath townhouse, full basement) and have stayed there. Our dkids have had many friends come and go, as condo/townhouses seem to be a stepping stone to larger (= more expensive) homes. Even though we have a rather small place (1428 sq) we have much stuff. I just want to get rid of the stuff and move to an over-55 community (it's much closer than I like though ). My "baby", ds, is a jr in HS this fall, so the possibility is on the horizon!

 

[swilshire]

Everyone on this thread must be exceptions to the current boomerang effect, where grown kids come back to the nest. Or maybe you're downsizing to avoid it.

Our DD26 and DSIL31 just moved back to the family farm, but luckily we had an "extra" house that my mother had lived in which we had never used after her death. We didn't really want the expense of remodeling it to rent, but were happy to do it for our daughter. It is great to have her close again instead of two states away.

Sheila

 

[Colleen27]

DH and I bought our house when we were 26 - a little (1200 sq ft), 3 bed, 1 bath house.

I love my tiny little house - the only thing that I really want is a second bathroom, but, otherwise, I'm happy to live small!!

I look forward to this too. We bought small and cheap (1997, 3 br 1 1/2 bath townhouse, full basement) and have stayed there. Our dkids have had many friends come and go, as condo/townhouses seem to be a stepping stone to larger (= more expensive) homes. Even though we have a rather small place (1428 sq) we have much stuff.

It is interesting to see how the notion of "small" has changed over the years - I grew up in a house comparable to both of those (about 1000 sq ft, but with a basement) and it was considered a nice sized home for a family when my parents bought it (in the 70s). Now it is what we downsize to when the nest is empty!

Everyone on this thread must be exceptions to the current boomerang effect, where grown kids come back to the nest. Or maybe you're downsizing to avoid it.

Our DD26 and DSIL31 just moved back to the family farm, but luckily we had an "extra" house that my mother had lived in which we had never used after her death. We didn't really want the expense of remodeling it to rent, but were happy to do it for our daughter. It is great to have her close again instead of two states away.

We don't plan on selling our current home to finance our eventual downsizing. The taxes are cheap, we have no mortgage, and we're putting a lot into restoring and renovating so I'd like to see it stay in the family if possible. Ideally we'll pass it down to one of the kids, unless none of them decide to stay in our little town as adults. So if they need to come back to the nest it'll be here... We just won't be in it!

 

[4 Ears]

Oh yea we made the downsize and just for kicks we moved from Maine to Florida. We left a 4 bed, 2 bath place and moved into our 40 foot rv and havnt looked back! Got here the beginning of April and can't wait for our first Floridian winter. No more shoveling snow, lawn mowing, huge electrical bills.... Pretty much laptop, personal hba items and very loved knock knacks.....

 

[Jill in Chicago]

You don't have to sell your house right now to downsize. Begin room by room getting rid of stuff you don't use. It is amazing how much easier it is to clean if you don't have to pick up/move decorative items.... You can downsize furniture now, your kitchen stuff, clothes....

Also think about what is it that you are really missing from the smaller home. Was it that people spent more time all in one room? If so suggest this to family members (game night...). Was it less rooms to clean? If so do what someone suggested and start closing doors to rooms you do not use. Figure out what it is that you miss, and you can start moving towards that now.

 

[jms920]

Oh yea we made the downsize and just for kicks we moved from Maine to Florida. We left a 4 bed, 2 bath place and moved into our 40 foot rv and havnt looked back! Got here the beginning of April and can't wait for our first Floridian winter. No more shoveling snow, lawn mowing, huge electrical bills.... Pretty much laptop, personal hba items and very loved knock knacks.....

Now this I would love to hear more about. We have a motorhome and have been talking about doing exactly this. We stayed in Florida 7 weeks last winter and will be there 3 months this winter. I never want to come home LOL. We don't have a large house and the kids are grown and gone. Getting up the courage to actually do it is another story. Tell me more please!

JoAnn

 

[4 Ears]

JoAnn, I will PM you tomorrow or pm me with questions first if you like.

 

[jgreco]

I've done a good job of de-stashing, we don't really have a lot of clutter. It's such a high maintenance home because its on the water. We literally have people here several times a week to fix or maintain something.

I mostly get upset because our last neighborhood was full of families that did lots of block parties, Halloween, etc and my son had lots of kids to play with, ride his bike. There are no sidewalks here and the neighbors are older or professionals that have no interest beyond their existing social circle. I tried having parties here, no-one else reciprocated, or had any interest beyond that.
I feel like I'm on a lonely island and a beautiful house that I hate

I just feel like why should I bother with this stupid house if no one enjoys it. Might as well have something small and simple with no hassles. For what it's worth, our house is 2288 sq feet, so its not huge, but it feels too big.

 

[nrsldy]

I took a new job in FL in May. Went from a 3500 sq ft home to an 1300 sq ft apartment. At first I was a little sad but now it's great. When I saw all the stuff I had acumulated I was supprised and shocked. I do not have the room or desire to aquire more things. I may want to buy a new home someday but I kind a like having someone else take care of things.

 

[karice2]

I live in a pretty small house by most of my friends standards. 1200 sq ft and it is just me. It has three bedrooms and a full basement. I have been contemplating selling everything and taking off traveling.

That is just the dream right now since I am caring for my sick dad but it will be happen in the future. I have a lot of stuff and don't really need much of it at all.

 

[mrodgers]

We'd love to upgrade to a 1200 sq. ft. house. With Wifey and 2 girls, a 2nd bathroom would be a nice luxury. Also, a dining room to eat in as opposed to always on the couch would be a nice luxury.

Wouldn't give up the lack of space to be piled on top of all the neighbors in an HOA neighborhood though. I like the fact that I can stand naked in my yard and wave to my neighbor while my neighbor waves back not knowing that I'm naked

 

[StephMK]

I am hoping to move & downsize within a year or so. The house & yard were nice when the kids were younger & had bigger toys & outside things. Now that they are almost teens, we don't need the extra room. I've been getting rid of clutter and plan to take just the well loved stuff.

Neither of us likes yard work so we're hoping to go to a townhouse. The interior space will be similar. The number of rooms will be the same but it will just shrink the size of the rooms we have available now. We'll lose an office but we don't use it much now anyway. I'm looking forward to having less to clean & more time to go out doing other things!

 

[jms920]

JoAnn, I will PM you tomorrow or pm me with questions first if you like.

Sounds wonderful, thank you!

Jo

 

[Jill in Chicago]

Jgreco, great insights about why you want to downsize. It's about having a friendly neighborhood, where neighbors want to hang out together. I get it. The house and all the work isn't worth it.

I worry though that what you crave doesn't really have to do with a house. It is more of a lifestyle, friends and neighbors that hang out together. You may move and still not find the friendliness you want. You may find an adorable little house and still feel isolated from your neighbors.

Making friends, especially as we get older, is tough. People are set in their ways. I know personally that I have not even greeted or new neighbors yet. I am perfectly happy with our own little life. Just like your neighbors I have lots of girlfriends and I would rather go out with them, versus hanging with my neighbors. (And our neighbors are all really nice!)

My in-laws moved into the neatest subdivision out in the middle of nowhere central Illinois farmland. They have a beautiful lake, but do not live on the lake. What works for them is all the social groups: gardening club, grandmothers' club, bocci ball. It was super easy for them to find neighbors to hang out with. There is also a pool for water aerobics. It' not a retirment community, it's more like it's own little town.

 

[disykat]

It is interesting to see how the notion of "small" has changed over the years - I grew up in a house comparable to both of those (about 1000 sq ft, but with a basement) and it was considered a nice sized home for a family when my parents bought it (in the 70s). Now it is what we downsize to when the nest is empty!

1000 sq feet WITH a basement is not really that small. It could be 2000 sq ft of living space. 1000 sq ft without a basement is much smaller.

I've been reading this thread thinking "are they talking about with a basement or without?" Even if you only use a basement for storage, it adds a huge space value!

I have 1800 sq ft with no basement. If I "downsized" into a 1000 sq ft home with a basement I'd be gaining space!

 

[Tinetine]

Would it be a possibility for you to refinance your home, buy a smaller property with the money, and rent the larger home ? The tenants would pay the mortgage, and you would not lose that 150k. You could still sell the house in 10-15 years w7if the market picks up...And you could afford to be very picky with tenants, since you don't need that income to survive !

 

[jgreco]

We considered renting it out, however the home is VERY high maintenance. There is a lot of things like home automation, mosquito misting system, the pool, the hot tub, the boat lift, dock and property lights, I could go on and on. Hubby is worried that any tenants won't take care of it properly.

@Jill- very good points

 

[bigsis1970]

Hi to my fellow Mainers! I wanted to say that I was forceably downsized when my 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath cape with daylight basement was foreclosed on a few years ago (2008) then we moved in with my sister who has a 3 bedroom ranch (we got 2 bedrooms) then we bought out right a 1972 moblie home and are happy as clams! our rent is at least half of what we paid my sister and about 1/3 of what we paid living in our big house .. its only a single wide, has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath w/ kitchen and living room .. fits us perfectly - my kids are only home every other week and now well my DD has moved on campus for her freshman year in college so just my DS is home every other week and he is a 10th grader so in a few years we'll be empty nesters and it will be even more perfect! we couldn't be happier, we have nice quiet neighbors who keep up with their property are in the back side of the park so we have a nice wooded area across the street. downsizing was a blessing for us.. it ended up that we halved then we halved again!!

 

[kamik86]

I am currently in the process of buying my first home. Alot of the things we saw here were things we took into consideration when looking. There were a few houses with a much bigger hard and much more space but it was really too big for us being just a couple. We don't need that much space and even with kids won't for years. We went with one with smaller rooms but still bigger then what we have now and a yard but not one that would require a ride on lawn mower to mow... Its a bit under 1200 square feet not counting the basement (which is semi-finished, concrete floors and walls but its heated and has outlets and stuff)

 

[Jenny3]

I'd love to get a bigger home; we have a little over 1600 sq ft which is tight for the 5 of us. We would also like a larger yard and more privacy from the neighbors. The plan is to renovate the kitchen to sell, stay for another 2-3 years, then buy something out in the country that is a bit larger in all aspects.