Why or why not would you consider downsizing?

[Stratman50th]

So, we already downsized. Did it for a couple of reasons. After lengthy discussions we decided to move to Florida to retire. That part could really apply to anyplace though. We found where we wanted to live when we retired so we bought a lot. About a year later I was able to start working remotely for good. We had been doing it for several years previously so nothing new. My wife retired, my daughter had graduated college and wasn't coming home. We decided that it was time to move since nothing was keeping us there. We started building our house on the lot.
The new house was a lot smaller with less storage. Florida=no basement.
So, not wanting to drag all the stuff we never used 1,000 miles we got rid of it.
Reason number 2. After both of my parents died, as the executor of the estate, it was my job to get the house ready to sell. That meant figuring out what to do with all the stuff they had accumulated over 55 years of marriage. One of the toughest jobs I ever had to do. After that I tell anyone who will listen, get rid of your junk ahead of time. Don't put your kids through that. They don't want your stuff but emotionally they can't get rid of it either. Let them pick what means something to them ahead of time. So that's my second reason to downsize, doing my daughter a favor.

 

[ronandannette]

We have considered it and have already done one major downsize; from the big house we lived in while raising DS to the condo we now live in and love, with a "practice" step down to a rental condo in between to make sure it was doable for us. Our plans are to downsize one more time, Lord willing. When the mortgage here is paid off, I'll retire and we'll sell. We will then move into a modest rental apartment in seniors' complex. (This is 10+ years on the horizon.)

 

[JBRB828]

We "downsized" by getting the kids out of the nest. House was a bit tight raising three sons but now it's a perfect size.

Yes to this! We raised two sons, both married. We have a ranch, 3 bedrooms, living room, dining room, eat in kitchen and 1 bath (upstairs). Basement, which is mostly above ground, another kitchen, full bath, living room and bedroom. Kitchen was there when we moved in 44 years ago and we just redid it 3 years ago. When the kids were young a lot of the basement was play room.

 

[morgan98]

We have a much bigger home than two people could ever need, but it is all about location. If we downsized, we would probably need to build from scratch to get what we really want. In general, smaller square footage means less common space - meaning a smaller kitchen, living area etc. and that is the part of my house I love the most. I could do with fewer bedrooms and bathrooms, but not the main living area.

The other thing is at this point, we do not know exactly where to move to - so here we stay. it could be much worse though, so I am not complaining.

 

[disney212]

We plan to downsize in the next 5-7 years. Want a ranch with lawn and outside maintenance included. We hope to relocate to a 55 and up community. We would like about 2200 square foot in our new home of useable space. We live in a 3 story 3500ish 100 year old house. Love the high ceilings but hate all the rooms on top of rooms and tiny closets, no place to put a vacuum. We will miss the covered from porch that spans the front of the house but I'm sure we will find solace in a screened lanai!

 

[runwad]

I would love to downsize and just rent!! My DH is not on board with this plan. Our yard is getting to be too much work and we don't enjoy working in it!

Renting because I think it would make it easier for the kids dealing with it when we pass away. As the executor of my parents estate and having to go through what I went though, I'd like to save my kids from that. How easy to just throw everything away they don't want and be out by the 30th. That would be my final gift to them although they wouldn't realize the work I saved them.

 

[tcufrog]

Downsizing is a long way away for us. Right now, we have a full 5 bedroom home (primary, 2 kids, my MIL and a guest room because my sister visits for at least 3 weeks every year). I will consider downsizing once my MIL has passed away and our sons have graduated from college and (hopefully) have their own apartments and jobs.

 

[DawnM]

We will most likely downsize in 4-5 years. My dad moved in with us and we will stay in our large home until he no longer needs to live with us. Then we will reassess.

 

[tvguy]

I find downsizing a bad idea for the same reason my mom did. The cost.

1) Property taxes here are based on what you paid for the house, so half the space would more than double my property taxes. (been in my house 39 years. Mom lived in hers 53 years so taxes are low)

2) Real Estate commissions on selling my current house would cost over $30,000.

3) Cost of move.

4) Cost of changing another home to my tastes.


Throw in the hassle of trying to purge stuff, pack, makes zero sense.

 

[fla4fun]

No, no plans to move. The house is paid for and I hate the whole moving experience.

 

[slo]

Two words on why I’d like to downsize…

No
Stairs

My knees are awful and they both need to be replaced, but I’m not doing it until my DD18 graduates from college and even then I’ll probably push it off till later. Until then, the stairs in my quad-level house can be quite the challenge

 

[tcufrog]

Two words on why I’d like to downsize…

No
Stairs

My knees are awful and they both need to be replaced, but I’m not doing it until my DD18 graduates from college and even then I’ll probably push it off till later. Until then, the stairs in my quad-level house can be quite the challenge

A friend of mine just lucked out and bought a 2,700 sq ft ranch home. She told me they're never moving.

 

[Meriweather]

We didn't downsize.
I like a lot of room.
We're retired....went from 3000 SF to 3500 SF.
Grandkids come over a lot. We each have our own office ( or whatever room).
We did get a pool too..

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We downsized almost 3 years ago and it's one of the best decisions we've ever made. We went from a 5/3 house to a 3/2 townhouse. We stayed in the same city, only about 4 miles from our old house. Before even fixing up the house to put it on the market, our realtor found a buyer who wanted to do a total remodel. They took the house as-is and gave us a good price for it. All we had to do was pay for the inspections and a professional cleaning. The house had more than tripled in value since we bought it 20 years before (we live in a crazy housing market). We were able to take the money, pay cash for a townhouse and bank a little extra. Our townhouse was fully remodeled and in move-in condition. All we did was replace a light fixture and a showerhead. The rest was perfect.

We pay a monthly HOA fee that covers the roof, exterior painting, maintenance of the complex including landscape, interior roads and driveways, pool, tennis, clubhouse, etc. As soon as I notice leaves or other debris out front, I come home and it's magically gone. Yes, we're paying for the service, but it's so nice not to have to find and deal with service providers and payment. Since we've been here, our roof has been replaced, the outside was painted (we got to pick our own door color from a palette), our gutters have been cleaned each year and they put new address plates on our unit. We got to keep the property tax base on our old house since DH was over 55 when we bought this house. It's all worked out nicely.

 

[disneychrista]

I foresee having a three bedroom house where two of them bedroom go mostly if not completely unused. Right now the one “empty” room is set up as a workout room/office. The workout half hasn’t been used in months and the office gets used for an hour or less once or twice a month when I need to work on my side job. The other bedroom, when my other daughter moves out ( ) will be turned into my Disney (guest) room. In an ideal world I’d love a larger master with en suite, kitchen & living room and less bedrooms and yard. But I don’t foresee me moving, “downsizing” would be cost prohibitive.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I have a 7500 square foot home that's 3 levels=lots of stairs. Also have an in ground pool and good size lot. It's nice having the pool, it gets very hot here but up keep can be rough. Husband it very picky about the lawn, flowers, etc., it's getting harder every year to do it. I do love this house and would like to stay as long as possible but I know at some point we will down size.

 

[indimom]

We've talked about it. We even looked at homes for a few years before and during covid. But, we'd end up with a bigger mortgage and we just aren't interested in getting less house for more money.
The biggest issue we had with this house is having all the bedrooms upstairs; and having smaller cut up living spaces downstairs (separate living, dining, kitchen, and "den").
Instead of moving/downsizing, we have decided to open up our kitchen and dining spaces, then add square footage to the living room for which is open to the dining. This will create more of the open living plan we'd like to have. Then, we will enlarge the den/office space and convert it into a downstairs master. Once we complete that, the upstairs will be just guest/storage space; and, obviously we will have more square footage than we've had all these years. But, we'll have the single level living we want; and, the upstairs will just need an occasional dust/vac, so not a huge effort to maintain.
Like others have said: I do intend to downsize the "stuff" as the years go along. My parents had to clean out the family farms for both their parents. It was a massive chore/headache - barns full of equipment and tools and "stuff" that had been stored for decades. Closets packed to the brim. Basement/Cellars full of canning jars and wringer washers and on and on... They have actively been clearing out these areas on their own property for the past ten years or so. The barns are basically empty except for the items they use regularly, or items they store for a couple of my siblings. The house is tidy also. The closets are nearly empty. I hope to do the same thing for my kids.

 

[soccerdad72]

Our general plan is to downsize - sort of. Once our kids are out of the house, even just to college (younger son graduates HS next year), the plan is to buy (or rent) something farther south with the hopes of finding a lake house near where we're at now. So the "downsizing" plan is to have two smaller residencies in different parts of the country.

 

[mrodgers]

I went from 1007 sq foot and 4 people to 995 sq foot and alone. The house would have been great for the 2 of us when the kids moved out. Not in a house now though, and property along with a garage and a basement makes a huge difference when you live in a small home. I have no where to put anything right now.

 

[design_mom]

My youngest graduates from high school next month. We have started to think about downsizing, but not seriously. I would like to stay here until the kids are "settled" in their own lives (not still in college, etc.) so that this still feels like "home" to them.

The parents of one of my college friends sold their house pretty much as soon as they dropped her off at the dorm freshman year. She said "going home" was never the same because their new place was never "home" for her. It was just visiting her parents.