Downsizers: how small did (will) you go?

Parent Cafe
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<p>We have a big old house that is ridiculously large for the two of us. In fact, it was ridiculously large for the three of us. And it needs some renovations. But I am very, very attached to it, and accustomed to the high ceilings and space and period charm. I could not stand to sell it and have to see someone else living here, at least not now. </p>

<p>When I think about moving, I think about moving to a smaller antique house with more land, so that I could have a few sheep and/or goats and a better-placed vegetable garden. (The alh plan. :smiley: ) We currently have 3 acres.</p>

<p>On the other hand, my ideal has always been to have a pied-a-terre in a city like London or NY and a country place also. And to be able to do a lot of travelling. That would take a lot more money than we have, unfortunately. And it would preclude having dogs and chickens and other livestock, unless I could hire someone to take care of them. Which would, of course, take even more money. I would settle for a townhouse or decent sized condo in an old building in Portland, and a camp on a lake. But when I fantasize about what I would do if I won the lottery, it always starts with doing my dream renovations here and keeping this house.</p>

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<p>I, too, dream about the European pied-a-terre. In my fantasy it is art nouveau or art deco. And decorated in period pieces. </p>

<p>One reason I don’t have animals yet (besides waiting for the grandchildren) is we still travel quite a bit and, since my family has farmed off and on for generations, I know how much work real farming with or without animals entails. One solution is to rent pastures to someone else. You get to enjoy crops or livestock without all the work. :)</p>

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<p>We downsized a bit when we moved to a more expensive area. I love having fewer bedrooms and bathrooms to maintain and my husband loves the smaller yard. However, as mentioned above I really miss the extra storage that comes with a big house.</p>

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<p>I would love to downsize when we are empty nesters. I cannot wait to have less house and yard to maintain. My problem will be the pack rat husband. It’s going to take a good year of purging to clean out our current abundant storage. I dread the inevitable marital stress of that process. I think a smaller, clutter free home will feel like a permanent vacation! We will likely go from 5 BR to 3 BR. The third bedroom will probably be a multi use room (TV, desk, daybed).</p>

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<p>alh, I have a friend in VA who has about 20 acres who rents her pastures to a person who raises sheep. Every spring, she has lambs, but she doesn’t have to take care of them. (Or send them to slaughter…) What could be better? :)</p>

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<p>I am a little embarrassed to call it “downsizing” because our current house is only a little smaller than our old house, but better usable space almost everywhere except the garage and basement (we have no basement). But we did downsize our property taxes hugely and the price of this house was a fraction of the house we sold, so it was a major economic downsizing.</p>

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<p>I would love to have a small place here for summers, and a somewhat larger place for winters in a warmer climate. If we buy two places, we can take ALL of the furniture we own…and use all of the dishes, etc!</p>

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<p>We’ve got a 4 BR house now, and figure we’d only need 3BR in retirement. I could do without a formal DR and LR too.</p>

<p>We’re definitely looking to downsize and move in retirement, but DH and I don’t necessarily agree on what we want and where we want to go. I couldn’t care less about a yard; he likes vegetable gardening, but not mowing. He loves summer and wants to avoid snow and cold; I hate heat and humidity. I grew up in NYC and have decided that after spending my entire adult life in suburbia that I really dislike suburbia. DH grew up in the suburbs and is fine with it. I want a walkable neighborhood; DH doesn’t care. He’s the sort who’ll go along with what I want (up to a point) and then be unhappy about it.</p>

<p>Would someone like to switch spouses with me?</p>

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<p>Nrdsb4 - I wonder the same thing. Some house they show have almost double the square footage when you include basement. It may be because basement space is not included in space that is counted for property tax in some states - at least that was what I got from a comment on one of those shows. Pretty sure where we live, all heated space is counted to get square footage for property tax purposes.</p>

<p>On the downsizing front…I can’t wait. Still want same # of bedrooms but they don’t need to be as large and don’t need extras like room over and upstairs office/sewing room. However do need space for grand piano and room for H to have a real office. I definitely want at least 2 bedrooms down…very tired of stairs. Also don’t want as much yard. The issues with office space and piano restrict how small we can go (when H plays, I need somewhere quiet!)</p>

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<p>First- regarding the basement issue. Counting or not counting the basement as square footage when finished may depend on location. Old house it counted only if finished, not just painted.</p>

<p>We built a house 20+ years ago with the hopes of a second child and having space for Indian inlaws to come for extended visits. Only had one child, sigh. Painted the huge basement with windows but never finished it. Had a lot of storage- size and number of closets. Had oversized 3 car garage. 5 bedrooms (including study type room- it had a closet therefore is a bedroom), 3 full baths on two floors, about 3800 SF (including a lot of storage).</p>

<p>Chose to relocate and spent a year house hunting in new state. No reason to stay in former city or state. Downsized to a single story house with great pond view, woods and excellent neighbors. 2600+ SF with 2 car garage that barely fits the cars (not at all surprised to see how many people use the garage for storage only and park in their driveway), small and few closets, 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths. In order to get an upper middle class home with a yard in a good part of city needed to get a certain size. Really wanted fewer baths but the third one is a half bath accessible only from the outside with an outdoor shower (great for rinsing off after using the pool)- it also has a sauna (aka extra storage- who on earth needs extra heat and humidity in Florida???)! Didn’t need both a dinette and dining room, nor the living room but they came with the package. Nor do we need the outdoor sink/counter, old electric grill- outdoor kitchen. The large kitchen is much appreciated when two adults are independently making their own food (no longer cook many regular meals, H is more than welcome to do for himself).</p>

<p>Huge difference to have no basement for storage and using garage space for a water heater. We use the extra bedrooms’ closets for all of the stuff we saved (including son’s childhood savable things). Guest room with queen sized bed, his and hers computer plus rooms uses up the number of bedrooms. Own twin and queen double height air mattresses for additional guests. Have the lawn cutting service, the weed and insect control services and the pool service so we don’t do the outside routine chores. It is just too hot and complicated to have to do those (never had a pool before)- and we can afford to hire others. I still clean house and it takes a lot less time (we don’t use the outside bath- no extra cleaning there, but no less, sigh).</p>

<p>We spent the last year doing extensive house renovations (including personally adding mulch all around the yard) but now I finally get to do my fun gardening- choosing new plants and flowers to revive the boring landscape. A huge learning curve- what does/doesn’t grow (and when) and the backwards outdoors seasons (a Florida summer compares to a Wisconsin winter in enjoying the outdoors- heat/cold). </p>

<p>We actually sometimes feel like we have too much space but do use all of it and like it. It is nice to be able to walk around indoors and to be able to use different rooms at different times (and to be apart from one another when we are both home a lot). We will do another downsizing eventually- now both in our 60’s (60 is officially OLD in my book, can’t claim middle age anymore) and know we will only be aging more. </p>

<p>We needed the city for its amenities- university/libraries and ethnic mix. Chose the where people evacuate TO part of the city- can always visit the beaches. Seeing only woods and or water can be boring day in and day out. Also picked an area with a lot of newcomers- OOS’ers like us so we aren’t outsiders. Eventually will downsize more. Where in the country depends on any relationships/friends we feel like being close to here or where son is in ten years. By then we may be ready for a different part of the country. Current plans include trips up the east coast (we felt we had exhausted the Midwest). Pacific NW watch out in the future- an old couple plans on heading your way if son stays there… Or we’ll decide heat trumps the good qualities.</p>

<p>PS- I grew up in a 1000 SF household of 5 people. The luxury of space is to be valued. Can’t see the mega mansions, however. When we moved son was around 1300 miles away, now he is 3100 miles away.</p>

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<p>Hi. How much do you think is needed in order to retire at age 55-60? Would you mind sharing how much is needed in order to retire for you and your husband? I’ve been trying to figure this out for us and it is very difficult. Also, how much of that would be tied up in a home? For example, $700K net worth with a $200K home in Florida. I would think the retirement amount varies by state so that is why I ask. We are thinking of moving to a state that doesn’t have state income taxes.</p>

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<p>I want more farmground and fewer acres yard, a smaller house, and no neighbors. My plan was for S1 or S2 to buy this and me get something else. They each bought houses in the last few weeks. Sigh…H insists they are carrying him out of here parallel and I guess he may be right.</p>

<p>Basements in my state are never included in the house SF. We have 3400 SF and 1700 basement. I think 1800 SF would be about right for me, ideally with a couple of bedrooms up that I could close off and not heat the upstairs. We built this in 1998, the era of the fad of 2 story foyers, lofts (huge heat sucks) and upstairs that can’t be closed off. Dumbdumbdumb. I won’t live in my tornado prone state without a basement. Never ever.</p>

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<p>Txqueso,
A lot depends on whether or not you will receive a pension or any other stream of income to help with retirement expenses. If you are just expecting to live off your assets, you would generally of course need more than if you have ANY other stream of income for any source.</p>

<p>Also, a lot depends on your expenses, including any tuition, medical bills, med insurance and others, as well as income taxes and cost of living in your area. Hawaii has a very high cost of living but thankfully at this point it does NOT tax pensions, which is very helpful for the many who derive a lot of their income from retirement pensions (federal, state, county and private).</p>

<p>Keep track of your expenses for six months or longer to get a feel for what your expenses are. Try to determine whether any will increase, decrease or stay the same when you retire and/or as you age.</p>

<p>Longevity in your family is another thing to consider. For H & me, we have relatives living in to their 90s and 100s, so that’s a LOT of years from the 50s and 60s. It’s important to be sure to have enough as it can be difficult to get full time employment once one quits in their 50s and 60s. For some, working part-time is a nice compromise, helping reduce the need for funds because the part-time income can be one revenue stream while waiting for social security, pension or IRA to kick in. Often, when folks remain in the work force, they can get medical insurance and other benefits as well instead of being responsible for those on their own.</p>

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<p>Txqueso, I have to say that I have always had trouble with the calculation of how much is needed for retirement, too, because it seems like they tell you to take a certain percentage of what you make now and assume that is what you will need. But those kids I have been raising make a HUGE difference in how much it costs to live! Size of house, private schools & college tuition, and all their other expenses. One is fully launched, the other now in college. So maybe I can start to get a handle on it… I do know that I am sure not retiring at 55 or even 60, though… Figuring I may live until at least 90 given how my parents have done, and 30-35 years with likely inflation and possible long term care expenses is daunting to save for.</p>

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<p>We are looking to actually go bigger, with land. Never had a ton of space or adequate closets and storage. When my parents remodeled their house when I was little, it was perfect for their size family. As we kids got bigger and older, new members of family joined, then grandkids. Not as much space. </p>

<p>I want a place where I never have to have clothes laying in piles because I don’t have enough storage space. I also want my kids to be able to cone with their families (someday!) for visits!</p>

<p>We are leaving a high cost area, for a much lower cost area - and hoping to capitalize on rise in housing values here to finally get ahead, financially. Sell the house and pay cash for a new one. It is a one way ticket though - if we leave, we will never be able to afford our current area.</p>

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<p>We’re not so much downsizing as trying to reduce our overhead, so we’ll be selling our house with the sky high property taxes and renting an apt outside the school district. The drop in square footage will be from 2500 to 1000; from 4 BR to 2BR, so I guess we are downsizing but we think of it as downsizing our monthly nut.</p>

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<p>We’ll downsize from 6,000 sq rt to a more reasonable 3,500 sq ft or so :D</p>

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<p>We have a 2400 sq ft (including basement) on a half acre. This is the only house we’ve owned. House was built in 1966, needs serious renovating at this point. My problem is that it’s a four-level split. Would like to get a 1600-2000 sq ft, 3 BR, one-level rancher, but there are none in our area – the land value is too high. Our land is worth more than the house. Developers tend to build high rather than wide. Even a two-level TH would work, but around here, they are three or four levels. </p>

<p>Considering that my parents waited until it was too late to get out of their split level, I’d like to head off any issues with mobility and get into something that we could easily modify if needed down the road.</p>

<p>DH grouses about the yard work, but doesn’t do or pay for any of it. I can’t cut the grass or schlep fallen branches, etc. at this point. I don’t need a manicured yard, but keeping the weeds whacked would be a good thing. :slight_smile: A small yard where I can putter in the garden would be awesome. </p>

<p>DH has no plans to retire, and all my specialists are here, which ties us to the area. Even downsizing to something smaller and closer to DH’s work would cost us significantly more than our current house. Am not looking for a larger mortgage at this stage of our lives!</p>

<p>I don’t want to move into an apartment or condo, as I would like space for kids (and eventually grandkids, G-d willing) to visit, plus now that S1 is gone, I have turned his room into a craft/sewing studio, which I really enjoy. </p>

<p>So, I suspect we will stay put and I will try to keep decluttering.</p>

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<p>We marked retirement by selling and downsizing from a 2700 sq ft 4-BR in a suburb of upstate NY. We just moved into an 1100 sq ft. 2-BR apartment in Manhattan, affordable for us because it is in Washington Heights near the George Washington Bridge. Our middle child, who just started grad school in NYC, asked to live with us to save a small fortune in rent, so she has the second bedroom. We have a married son in Brooklyn who works in Manhattan. It’s even a location improvement for the youngest son in L.A. who can fly in directly to NYC for visits, and vice-versa.</p>

<p>The heavy lifting on decluttering was done as an estate sale by a professional company who really knew how to price and sell our stuff - everything from period antique furniture to ridiculous bric-a-brac and half-full bottles of cleaning supplies. That put a hard date on the decluttering, which was radical. I was amazed at what sold and what didn’t sell.</p>

<p>What was left after the sale of value, we sold ourselves using Craigslist, which is time-consuming but works if there are photos and someone in the house knows how to close a deal when people come to see the goods (that would be my spouse, not me). </p>

<p>A ton of stuff we donated to a local refugee settlement project and Amvets. I felt especially good to see my schoolteaching books and our professional wardrobes go in those directions.</p>

<p>Most of my husband’s rabbinic career library was accepted for donation to SUNY Buffalo’s new Jewish Studies program, but he kept enough books to work part-time in NYC.</p>

<p>Honestly the one we worried about most was our dog, but he has advised us he prefers the building’s elevator to the stairs, so we are working things out. This rental is temporary while we search for a townhome to buy with 3 apartment units, one for us to live in and two to rent out.</p>

<p>The only yard tool we kept was an ice chipper for the sidewalk.</p>

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<p>As far as downsizing…do most people wait until the kids are out of college? Aren’t they mostly gone the summers during college too (or do you not find that true?)…</p>