<p>Lately the hubby and I have been fantasizing about a smaller house on a bigger plot of land in a more rural part of our region. Anybody else? Has anybody actually made a move yet, and what did you look for in the new smaller house?
We’re thinking one level brick ranch, 3 acres, room for the dog and a garden. I’d like to keep chickens. WOuld add about fifteen minutes to our commutes.</p>
<p>WOuld love to hear other’s stories – and descriptions of dream homes! </p>
<p>Well, we’re a bit too young yet, but one of those 55 and older townhouse communities look pretty good. No yard work/snow removal, crying kids, or loud teenagers (just really loud tvs and neighbors who drive their golf carts too slowly down the wrong side of the street!). But seriously, I am all over one of those places. </p>
<p>Just sold my house, got rid of almost all our stuff, and moved into a small two bedroom (two bedrooms, small living room, kitchenette) in the city. Renting. This is our new family home, which means at least one person on the couch during holiday breaks. I am going to buy a sleep chair. I miss having a dog, though (lost our cockapoo of 16 years, last fall). I also looked at Airstreams and “Tiny Houses”!</p>
<p>This may be one size too far “down” in the downsizing scale. :)</p>
<p>Time increments in commuting should be calculated as a percentage of your existing discretionary time.</p>
<p>Selling our 5 bedroom house and want to rent 2 bedroom apt/condo for a year and then decide what we want. We will be an empty nest in a month. Can’t wait to have less stuff to worry about it. I want to stay in the same neighborhood. </p>
<p>Looking at selling my 4 BR big house in the next year or two. Just me and the old dog rattling around in it now. I want something maintenance free. Probably will rent for a few years closer to the city (shorter commute) – considering apartment, condo, or part of a duplex (lots of those in our city). A big lot does not appeal – do not want to mow, weed, or move snow!</p>
<p>I’m on my own in my big, beloved house that is in very poor repair. I had to refinance to buy out my ex and it’s a financial stretch for me to keep the place up, not even counting the major renovations that are desperately needed. It makes no sense for me to stay here but it is a truly special place in a spectacular location. The prospect of leaving makes me very sad, but I’m afraid it is in the cards. </p>
<p>I’d love to hear stories of folks who were happy after downsizing from a place they truly loved. </p>
<p>I’ve moved many times and am not attached to my current home. TBH, I’ve always disliked this house. It is big and the kids are clearing out. It has a 1bed/1bath basement apartment, and I could picture us (h and me) living there and renting out the upstairs (5bed/3.5 bath) to one of our kids–if any of them ever got married, had a family and wanted to live in this neighborhood. . . (probably not going to happen.)</p>
<p>When our youngest gets out of high school (quite a few years. . .), I dream of moving to a small, maintenance free place. I wouldn’t mind living in an apartment if the complex had a swimming pool and a party room, so I could still occasionally have a big family gathering. H doesn’t do any sort of home/yard maintenance. I’ve always fantasized about a small cottage with a garden (I love gardening). I want something efficient. A big open kitchen/living area, 3 bedrooms, two baths. All the repairs, cleaning and yardwork add too much stress to our lives and I dream of being free of that. I want everything on a small scale. No high ceilings, no windows that you need an extension ladder to wash. </p>
<p>We downsized in terms of lot size and number of bedrooms, but not square footage, so on paper it doesn’t look like we downsized much. But part of the square footage is a very large room which now serves as DH’s office. Not study, but home office, so he was able to get out of his lease at a big office building and works from home. So by losing a bedroom, using a large space for DH’s business, losing expensive office lease, we have indeed downsized.</p>
<p>I love our new house. No more yard or pool to take care of, but it is on a golf course overlooking a lovely flowing creek, so we have the illusion of space. I wouldn’t want a lot of property to have to take care of unless it was really low maintenance somehow.</p>
<p>I don’t see how I could move.
I took out all my sod myself and put in beds of mostly natives with some ornamentals and room for veggies and fruit.
Its pretty well established.
We also can walk to whatever we need.
I have been looking at homes, in less expensive and quieter areas like the college town my D spent five years in, but the yards are disappointing. The landscaping is boring and I don’t have the patience for it to mature even if I felt like paying someone to implement my design.
However, there may come a time when the upkeep is too much, even though minimal upkeep was planned for.</p>
<p>We are empty nesters in an 800 sq ft, two bedroom flat, down from 2800 sq ft, four bedroom house. Pluses: easier to clean, everything in it’s place tidiness, no maintenance (renters), no yard work. Minuses: a little cramped when both kids are home (rare), wish I had a garden or patio to sit in, occasionally noisy neighbors, would like a separate dining room. I have a feeling that we will move into a small house (3 br/2 ba, living room, dining room w small garden) in the next couple years. But I have no desire for large house, large property anymore. It is enormously fun to have time in the weekend to do “fun” stuff rather than home maintenance.</p>
<p>Biggest issue was deciding which furniture to keep, what to sell and what to put into storage. We just put a few items into storage (family heirlooms) and are hoping the next place will be big enough for it all. Or just wait until D gets a bigger place and give it all to her.</p>
<p>We downsized in October 2012. Some of our friends have told us we suck at downsizing. Went from 3500 square feet to 2500 square feet, from six bedrooms to four. We stayed in the area – just moved one town over, to a town where would not have lived when the kids were small due to the schools, but now of course we don’t care. Great outdoor space (which our old house lacked – it was three quarters wetland) and an absolutely beautiful kitchen (which we did). </p>
<p>We didn’t want to leave the area where our children grew up because we figured they would visit us more if we stayed (and they do). Plus, this is where all our friends are as well.</p>
<p>I sure do not need my 4 bedroom house anymore. What I’d like is a 2 bedroom condo by the ocean/intercoastal, but that would cost more than my house.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, what kind of work does your husband do? I’d love to work from my house, but there are safety concerns. I know a male colleague who does this.</p>
<p>“I’d love to hear stories of folks who were happy after downsizing from a place they truly loved.”</p>
<p>I did. I had had a beautiful Arts & Crafts house closer to downtown and kitty-corner from the kids’ elementary school (third through fifth grade). It had tons of architectural detail and I loved it. But it was a money pit, the taxes were high, and I knew I could sell it at a profit. Meanwhile, I was losing my job because my company was relocating out of state. So right after my daughter finished fifth grade, I downsized to a 1200 sf house that is technically two BR, but we made a space in the basement work for my son in high school. We also had two huge dogs at the time (only one now, plus a Chihuahua).</p>
<p>The house I am in now is perfect. It was designed and then updated by an architect, and it’s a lot newer than my old one (1945, with a lot of updates in the 1990s) so everything (like the windows) works better. There is no wasted space, and I save a lot on utility bills (also because it stays really cool in the summer–it’s set into a hill and surrounded by huge trees, plus most of the floors are tile). I have never loved a house as much as I love this one, but I am preparing myself to move again next year after my daughter graduates. Even this house costs a lot in taxes now, and I could live in a smaller place for sure. </p>
<p>We more like sideways-sizing, or possibly even upsizing, except we have a foot in each side still. Our old home is 5 1/2 rooms, falling apart. But our jobs are nearby, so we haven’t sold it yet. Our newer one is a whopping seven rooms (large enough for grandkids to visit, hint hint to my kids, maybe 1500?), but has bedrooms and full bath on the first floor so we could move down if necessary. We spend summer and weekends there.</p>
<p>It’s in a very rural area and we can bike to everything we need. it’s not a big lot, so no chickens, but we do have a nice veggie garden. I love it here; I think your move makes perfect sense.</p>
<p>I’m excited because before when we have moved as a military family it was all dictated by schools and usually there was a tremendous hurry involved (got to get into a house before school starts!) Also, every other time we moved it was a seller’s market and mostly we just thought “Well, we can afford this one and it meets our minimum standards, so this one it is.” Excited to have the chance to think about things like architecture, for a change. </p>
<p>We did it. DH retired Sold our big suburban neighborhood two story, 4 br house and moved 280 miles across the state. We’ve been in our new house for two months now and love it.
We had our new home built prior to DH’s retirement so it was ready for us to move in. </p>
<p>The new house is 1680 sq. ft. 3 br/2bath all on one level…no steps to climb, big screen porch on the back and a pier out to our boat. We’re very “outdoorsy”. The house sits on a 1 acre lot on the river. Part of the acreage is wetland and the backyard going down to the river is totally natural so the front yard is the only part that requires maintenance. We are minimizing on that by making a large part of the front yard natural too. Upkeep won’t be bad and DH likes doing yard stuff. </p>
<p>We are out in the boondocks (10 miles to closest grocery store and 16 miles to closest town (pop. 10,000) but since the area is pretty rural there is no “traffic”). The 16 mile trip to town only takes 20 minutes! Our house is in a large waterfront neighborhood (400 acres) so we have neighbors but are not right on top of each other. </p>
<p>I can’t wait to downsize. If I could find reliable cleaners to help with the housework then this house wouldn’t be so bad. It’s way too much for me to maintain. I’ve picked out a small production builder who will do some customization and a one story plan that would work well for us. The lots that appeal to us will probably we ready in about six months. The only downside is the lot size, since dh craves privacy and we’ll be going from over two acres to about half an acre. I’ve promised him that a good landscape design will make him love the property. </p>
<p>The Bag a Week thread has been very helpful as I prepare for downsizing. BestBuy took a bin full of electronics this week and a local charity recently filled a small truck with excess furniture, lamps, linens and kitchen stuff. The same charity will accept mattresses and box springs (in good condition, of course) since they don’t sell them but give them away. Once we sell our house, they’ve promised to come back to pick up several beds plus a bunch of boxes and bins. That will make the move so much easier.</p>
<p>The worst part of downsizing in my opinion was getting rid of 15 years worth of stuff we had accumulated. What a pain. But very liberating once we got it all done.</p>
<p>^^^Oh yes! It felt great to throw out all of DH’s engineering textbooks that we’ve hauled from pillar to post since 1982! And that was just a start. </p>