In my apartment building (55+), we are the only ones who don’t have a rolling cart for groceries. Most people use it to get stuff from their car to their kitchen, This is not a no-car city only thing.
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I want to be around middle aged and up. Not wanting to be looking at hot bodies at the pool or listening to party music. I am becoming a fuddy duddy (or maybe its really that I’d rather DH not be looking at those hot bodies 
)
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Since we are talking about moving/downsizing here…
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This will probably be paywalled for most, so quoting a relevant part.
“A 2021 AARP survey found 8 in 10 older adults want to age in their homes, although dozens of surveys show the potential savings from downsizing.
But not everyone can unlock those savings — especially if they have a mortgage to pay off first.
The median sale price for a 1,200- to 2,199-square-foot home in 2019 was $425,000 across King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties, according to Northwest Multiple Listing Service data. Let’s say someone back then made a 20% down payment and secured a 3% interest rate on one of those homes. Their monthly principal and interest payment is around $1,433.
Now, it’s 2025, and they want to downsize. The same area’s median sale price for a 500 to 1,199 square-foot home is $500,000. Their house is now worth around $665,000, and they have $294,000 left to pay off.
After selling, they pay off the rest of their mortgage and closing costs, which are typically 8% to 10% of the sale, according to Zillow. If closing costs are on the low end, they’re left with around $317,800.
They roll that over into a smaller, $500,000 home and secure a mortgage with a 6.26% interest rate. Their payments are now around $1,123 a month.
They would be saving around $310 a month, but they’d have to put all their cash profit into the house. They’d also have to start a 30-year mortgage all over again.
But let’s say they wanted to keep $100,000 of their gains for whatever reason. They’d be paying around $1,739 a month in principal and interest — $306 more than their original payment.”
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WaPo had an opinion piece in the past week arguing that seniors weren’t downsizing thanks to taxes on capital gains and that was hurting younger families. https://wapo.st/3ItYqpv
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Yes, if we sold our home, we would owe significant capital gains on our home. It’s 3x or so what we bought it for in 1980s and we’d have to pay capital gains on about 1/3 of it. We didn’t sell my parents’ home until after my mom died because of capital gains. We have no burning desire to downsize anyway as our home is a comfortable size for the 2 of us and fits the kids when they visit easily too.
From the ST article I linked above: the cost of “downsized” home as a percentage of the cost of big house in my area. I suspect this is true for many other areas.
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For many residents at my local CCRCs, part of the appeal is that you will have care even if you run out of money. That doesn’t mean you will have the same level of care as you first did. You certainly won’t be living in an apartment. I know of a resident who sued the CCRC to remain in her independent apartment. She lost, in large part because she signed a contract allowing the CCRC to determine when she required assisted living. Any CCRC I would want to live in costs far more than I have.
I am hoping to move in 2027. I want to live closer to D, but I also want to live in a larger metro area. I have my eye on a few condo buildings in Chevy Chase/Bethesda. Many seem geared to seniors - I am a fan of the shuttle to Whole Foods.
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Following, as my parents are currently exploring options. Thank you for sharing.
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I heard an NPR piece about seniors not leaving their big housse. Nodded, as we’re part of that problem. But… so far not seeing any attractive, more affordable options locally. (We have only a small yard to tend, the mortgage is paid off, our property taxes are only about $300/month. There is equity tied up and not invested… but not as much as some areas with higher COL.)
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I heard the piece as well. I think something that all these analyses are missing is that for many of us (yes, house is too big when it’s just us…. clearly too small when the kids come home with spouses and grandkids but that’s ok!) a key factor is knowing what your repair/maintenance/other expenses are going to be. You downsize- you have to start the roller coaster all over again (even in new construction- and in some cases- especially new construction). So it’s not just that the house is paid off- it’s that we’ve all fixed, replaced, rejuvenated, rebooted virtually anything that could go wrong. Will the washing machine go bust at some point? Yes. But likely not the same week as the stove (5 years old) the dishwasher (3 years old) or the A/C. Roof is good. H knows how to fix the fridge when the icemaker stops working, and we’ve taken down the diseased trees one by one.
I have friends who have moved into smaller places- and they’ve started all over again with the constant repairs and stuff not working– and sure, it’s under warranty but the hassle factor, finding new repair people if you move out of the area. It’s just a pain. And the condo situation removes some issues (cracked masonry on your steps) but adds new ones (a huge extra fee for two years to pay for a brand spanking new recycling center which nobody wanted or needed– the little wooden shacks around the property worked just fine….)
So there’s something to be said for being able to budget– not just sewer, water, utilities and taxes- but knowing that you’re likely not going to have to rip out the bathroom tile due to mold (you already did that 10 years ago). Our expenses are pretty regular right now– we’re still working, but it’s nice to know that any big bill we get will be discretionary (hey, big trip to Asia for my retirement!) or something for the grandchildren (help fund those 529’s while they’re young).
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Good points. I do know our washer will go (tis 35 years old and owes us nothing). Bigger conern is the 32 year old furnace and the 20 year old roof. But to make our house marketable in current buyer’s market they’d probably need replacing anyway. Perhaps same on dated bathrooms.
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There is a difference between an “active adult” community and a CCRC. I have a friend who lives in an active adult community in Myrtle Beach SC and she loves it. Lots of clubs, the community center where they do Thanksgiving dinner for people who don’t go elsewhere, paths to ride or walk to nearby stores, etc. BUT, they are all single family homes (cookie cutter/all look the same) and no medical assistance provided.
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The places in our island that call themselves an “Active 55+ community” are NOT. There is nothing particularly “active” about some karaoke, bingo and van excursions. They WANT to think they are “active,” but compared to what I’ve read about vibrant active communities, these communities really pale in what they offer.
Be sure to read the descriptions carefully so you understand what is being offered and what the full terms of living in the place are.
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Here is what our friends (the ones I posted about above) did. They wanted to live near their son and DIL, and grand kids. They knew the location and searched for active adult communities (not CCRC). They wanted activities, and a community of people, not health care (both are retired health care workers and will hire help if needed). They wanted both physical (swimming, tennis, pickleball, etc) and games (bridge, mahjong, etc), events (pizza and holiday parties, movies, concerts) and amenities (like trips, rides, etc).
They found a few communities, visited, and landed on one they like very much.
They live in a similar community in FL in the winters.
In their case, as noted above, no buy in. They just purchased the house (not the land it’s on) and have an HOA fee.
So…look for your location, and start searching!
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Since my forties, I’ve always told DH that I want to live in an “inactive” adult community. Some of the 55+ communities near us are way more active than I plan to be.
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DYING. Love it!
I think different places use the term active differently. My age restricted apartment house calls itself an active community. It is not really either. Just a regular old apartment building not open to anybody under 55 with a lounge, a patio and a gym. The people here consider themselves community, but only because they choose to do so - residents run their own book group, game night, mah jongg group, summer BBQs etc.
However, It is in the middle of a small town where you can get your activities like any other citizen from events at the library, community center, public golf course and tennis courts, etc.
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I wonder if in the larger 55+ communities ther will someday be a high enough concentration of older/needy folks to enable cost effective care/cleaning services. For my parents, the caregiver minimums (4 hour/day, at least 2 days per week) seem too long duration. But we understand why caregive travel times would make 2 hour shifts inefficient.
Well, the communities around here are fairly “inactive.” The most “active” thing I understand they do is have a van that has an excursion schedule—Costco one day, local nearby mall another day, Chinatown another day, etc. Same schedule every week. You have to reserve by calling ahead and be at the pick up point at the right time. My folks never used the service and I don’t think they would know where to go and at the correct time to get picked up (not sure what they do when they don’t have all the residents at the appointed time). You get the idea.
They also have an “activities” coordinator who offers a few things—tai chi, painting, simple crafts, and a few other things. Also, they sometimes have movies and sometimes show the college football games with the local team in a room with a big screen. My folks watched the football games a few times. We took mom to exercise a few times, but that was their extent of benefiting from the activities.
I believe they will also transport to and from MD appointments if you reserve (not sure if there’s also an extra cost), but I’m not positive about that since I generally drove my folks or was in telehealth with them for the MD appointments.
Some of these other communities have pickleball, tennis, golf, and even golf carts for residents to drive around the communities in. The ones around here don’t have those things and are on much smaller parcels of land.