<p>I agree that it’s important to think about what you WANT and NEED moving forward. The bigger the unit you buy, the more SOMEONE will have to clean and more “stuff” will be accumulated over the years at your place. What is the point of getting more “stuff” as we are trying to declutter our lives and leave less “stuff” for our loved ones to untangle.</p>
<p>Our house is the most modest of all my extended family. It’s 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and worked well for us when the kids were growing up and fine for us now. It is about 1000 square feet under roof and holds what we want and need pretty well, as well as having space for the kids when the return to visit. My folks & sibs are having their huge houses (3000-5000 square feet) with just the one or two of them living there. It’s a LOT of maintenance and cleaning that I just really don’t enjoy. The toilets, dusting, furnishings, and all that comes with it are just too much for us.</p>
<p>We plan to do some traveling and want to feel comfortable just locking up and going without having someone come in and dust/clean while we’re away.</p>
<p>Appliances- whoa- Viking et al are so overpriced for quality- do you really want those??? We saw houses with too large kitchens and too fancy for our laid back retired life style- and we ended up with a nice large kitchen. How much work do you want to do cooking for two? Remember you are retiring and once a year holiday dinners can be done without professional chef conditions. </p>
<p>Be sure you also check on condo owners paying their maintenance fees- high or lower percentage…</p>
<p>3600 SF??? Why need that much space for two people, even if snow bound for a month… The heating/cooling/maintenance would be huge. You don’t need to meet every need of your guests. So what if there is no room for a pool table/ping pong table/theater room- you are unlikely to use those. Make it comfortable for two with one guest room. PS- closets are for your stuff, not for guests to move in like they live with you.</p>
<p>HImom- I can see where a small indoor space is fine in your climate. I suspect you spend a lot of time outdoors. In Wisconsin 1100 SF/3 BR/ 1 bath and an unfinished basement seemed cramped, especially in winter. I imagine you never needed storage for 4 seasons worth of clothing, boots and outerwear for the whole family either.</p>
<p>My extended family still all live within miles of us and have houses several times the size of ours. They are obviously better housekeepers than we are. We like our cozy home. </p>
<p>Agree that we are never snowbound and the thermals and winter gear we own for travel only takes a small space in our closet and drawers. </p>
<p>To avoid noise and smoke issues one idea is to look for an end unit townhouse attached to its neighbor only by the garage. Might not work if stairs are an issue and isn’t necessarily easy to find. </p>