Perfect size of retirement house

[jerseygal]

Many who downsize when they are "younger" retirees, lets say 55-65, downsize, but may purchase something that suits their lifestyle at that time. Another words, stairs are very easy to climb, etc. But then, down the road, health issues may creep up and stairs become harder. Trying to avoid that in our plan, although stairs would not be a problem now, in fact I welcome stairs now as I think of it as great daily exercise, realistically know that down the road "sometime" stairs will be an issue. Love a "split" plan of many 3 BR one floor, 2 bath single family homes we have seen in Florida, master br and bath are typically away from the other 2 BRS, which is nice for guests. We have 2 DS, so we will need the 2 BRS when they come with their spouses and visit us and stay with the future grands one day!

 

[marthachick]

Size depends on what you currently have and how much entertaining you do. Whatever size, I would do 1 level with 36” doors throughout in case of walkers or wheelchairs. And maybe a shower that you can use if handicapped and taller bathroom cabinets and toilets. Also, little to no steps from garage to house.

 

[EMom]

Size depends on what you currently have and how much entertaining you do. Whatever size, I would do 1 level with 36” doors throughout in case of walkers or wheelchairs. And maybe a shower that you can use if handicapped and taller bathroom cabinets and toilets. Also, little to no steps from garage to house.

Very true. Our next door neighbors are close to retirement, and they built their current house “to downsize and simplify.” It’s about 4000 square feet, with a massive covered outdoor entertaining area. Their last house was MASSIVE, so in their eyes, they are downsizing. Much depends on what you’re used to.

 

[cinnaminny]

I would like to have a three to four bedroom 1500 square foot ranch. Preferably on the modern side. I have nearly 2000 now and I wont need that.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Definitely one story, easy access in and out, etc...
Size would depend on your needs.
As well as the budget and efforts to upkeep, clean, heat/cool, etc.

A retired couple might not need much space at all.
But, if you continue to have the need for extra space, home-office, garage workshop...
Entertainment and visiting space for family and friends....
All that might make a difference for some retired couples.

For DH and I, we want to down-size and go pretty darned small.
I see these huge, and more expensive, almost 3000+ sq ft homes (and that is what all developers seem to be building... DH and I just shake our heads... why would anyone even want that?

 

[jerseygal]

Definitely one story, easy access in and out, etc...
Size would depend on your needs.
As well as the budget and efforts to upkeep, clean, heat/cool, etc.

A retired couple might not need much space at all.
But, if you continue to have the need for extra space, home-office, garage workshop...
Entertainment and visiting space for family and friends....
All that might make a difference for some retired couples.

For DH and I, we want to down-size and go pretty darned small.
I see these huge, and more expensive, almost 3000+ sq ft homes (and that is what all developers seem to be building... DH and I just shake our heads... why would anyone even want that?

That’s not our idea of downsizing.

 

[Minnesota!]

Current house is under 1200 sq feet (with basement). We want smaller. Enough room for us, a few cats, and a room for guests. Maybe 900-1000 sq feet

 

[bigbabyblues]

Our current house will be our retirement house, unless we have major medical issues. It is a 2-story with a full basement, 2500 or so square feet, but it will be paid off in two months and I don't see us starting over with another mortgage. DH & I are in our early 40s and happy to have this one paid off before we are old, even if this one is more room than we will eventually need. Our oldest son will go to college this fall and likely not come back, and our youngest son is only 2 years behind him. Our doorways are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair and we could easily make the current family room our bedroom if we needed to be on the main floor. There is a bathroom attached to that room and the now (rarely used) living room could become the family room.

 

[SRQ57]

In my opinion it would be more about the layout as opposed to the sq. footage.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Many who downsize when they are "younger" retirees, lets say 55-65, downsize, but may purchase something that suits their lifestyle at that time. Another words, stairs are very easy to climb, etc. But then, down the road, health issues may creep up and stairs become harder. Trying to avoid that in our plan, although stairs would not be a problem now, in fact I welcome stairs now as I think of it as great daily exercise, realistically know that down the road "sometime" stairs will be an issue. Love a "split" plan of many 3 BR one floor, 2 bath single family homes we have seen in Florida, master br and bath are typically away from the other 2 BRS, which is nice for guests. We have 2 DS, so we will need the 2 BRS when they come with their spouses and visit us and stay with the future grands one day!

This is so true!

We built an in-law apt for my mother onto our home whe she was 69 years old. I'm really happy I had the foresight to hire an architect and make the whole thing handicap accessible, because today she's 93 and having health issues. Prior to now the handicap part wasn't really needed. But recently she broke her hip, had hospital and rehab stays, and couldn't come home from rehab until the physical and occupational therapist visited the house to make sure it was safe for her to come home, walking with a walker. We made a couple of small changes like rearranging some living room furniture, raising the toilet seat and adding a grab bar, switching out the kitchen chairs to ones that had arms so she could hold and lower herself, etc. But everything else was good. She has a seat built into her shower (that she never used till now) and plenty of room to walk and turn around in her bathroom with the walker, and anywhere else in the apt. We have two steps going into the house which she can do with help still, but we added a grab bar to the railing so she can pull herself up. Besides the PT and OT from the rehab, we've had a team of visiting health professionals as well, and all of them have told her how fortunate she is to have everything so well laid out, and that a lot of people say they have regrets about not doing things this way when they have a sudden health issue and going home becomes a problem. So just my $.02. There is a big difference between the 60s and later years like the 80s and 90s.

DH and I are beginning to talk about this type of thing for ourselves. We could potentially stay put as we never left our starter home (lol) but we have added on twice and have a good amount of space that we may not need. I would really love something new, though, as I've not experienced that before and I feel like it would be so nice to purge now that the kids are grown and start again. Chances are very good it will be something on one level. We've seen some multi levels that are tempting, but both of us know that stairs could be a problem some day. Right now there is no way my mother could do stairs, other than the two out front. If the day comes that she needs a wheelchair ramp, we can fairly easily build one off of the side entrance to her apt.

 

[disykat]

In addition to keeping the sq footage down so it would be easy to maintain and being accessible in case of future needs, I also think a perfect size would be something you could afford with no mortgage.

 

[mrodgers]

If 2,000 is your downsizing house what is your kids at home house. My house is 1,100 and I’ll have 2 rooms that never get used when my daughter move out. Couldn’t imagine needing 2,000.

That's what I'm thinking. Married our house was 1007 square feet, family of 4. I think it's awesome that I can upgrade when the kids move out and I'm retired, LOL.

If you read my post in the other retirement thread though, my retirement home will be approximately 30 square feet in a hole in the ground