My mom had a hard time giving up her 5000 sq ft house because she wanted us to have a place to stay when we came home. I said to her it was 5 days out of 365 days. She sold the house and bought a very nice 2 bedroom condo for 1/3 of price. She has invested well with the proceed from the sale of her house. Her net worth is higher now than when she owned the house even though the house was all paid for.
I sold my house in 2013 and have been renting since. We’re in a 3 br house in the same town and our rent payment is $800/mth less than my mortgage was. We’ve been in the same house for the past 7 years. I love not having to worry about the upkeep or maintenance. I also love having the freedom to leave at any time. I was laid off in June and have the flexibility to relocate, for the right job. I doubt I will ever buy another house - other than maybe a vacation property for investment.
Following with interest, just need to convince H that this is the plan
Oh I hadn’t even thought of renting a house - I was just looking at apartments - that opens another option for us.
What community, @kiddie?
A lot of places are really aimed at students. You might need the bedroom areas an hour out. That’ll work for some. Not all.
Once in a while I look at rental rates on homes in our area. No serious thoughts to moving soon, but someday we may like the idea of NOT having to worry about expense spikes for new roof, etc .
If we got an apartment near us, the rent would be $1200-1500 more than our mortgage. I’d consider an apartment or condo if we could reduce H’s commute, but that would cost even more than a place near our current neighborhood.
H would be thrilled never to worry about maintenance or mowing the lawn again if we sold the house, but the idea of sorting and cleaning out this place to move horrifies him even more.
I envy all of you who aren’t a attached to “stuff”. That’s what keeps DH and m from downsizing drastically. That and having company. Even with COVID , we have full house at times. DS and fiancée had quarantined, and decided to come stay with us for a while and have been house hunting for a second home here for themselves. Covid Numbers very low here because we are out in the boonies. Another son was able to visit for a week after quarantine , as well. Rest of the family have t had that luxury sobIve not seen them at all since… well, way way too long.
I’m hoping things normalize next year and we have guests constantly. A big house allows that. Plus my kids still have a lot of their mementos and memorable home things with us. Hoping that some of them move a bit closer especially when the grandchildren come
A lot of my friends who downsized a few years after their kids left home, found themselves missing the space and stuff when grandchildren arrived. Several bought larger places then.
Me, I like a large house, and the things that have been around in my life , and From those before me. They give me joy. I’ll take a break from them in smaller quarters when I vacation because I do prefer a nice hotel room to makeshift quarters in others’ houses for more than a day or two.
@lookingforward I want to be far enough out of Boston to not be in a place filled with students. I like the idea of Wellesley? Where are the young professionals renting nowadays (those who wanted to be able to commute into the city but not be in the city?) I had once been told Brookline (but that is too close to the city for me).
@CountingDown - We are in the same kind of market. We’re paying less on the mortgage of our 4000 sq ft house than we were paying rent for a 1200 foot 2 bed/1 bath apartment.
I really, really wanted to downsize with this move but the compromise was that H agreed to hiring a landscape company. It has made a huge difference in my enjoyment of the house.
@kiddie you might want to take a look at Concord or West Concord or maybe Natick.
Natick is adjacent to Wellesley. There is a new apartment building right on the town common, but I am having trouble finding the name of it.
I would include Natick in my search - I think the one you are thinking of is Modera?
Actually I’ve determined that the one I am thinking of is Natick Common Residences, 31 South Main St.
Not too many rentals in Concord but I know of a nice rental complex in West Concord. Arlington, Belmont, Lexington are all possibilities too.
Many young professionals are sharing homes or apts. Not yet at the dream of independent living. CC parents have talked about high rents for their kids. Some younger folks with $ jobs look at RI, even Providence, commute to work.
Places like Concord, Lexington, Wellesley, the Newtons, and others are considered highly desirable, expensive. Good schools/places to raise kids. Not particularly diverse in flavor or what to do. So it depends on what you want, for environment and activities.
East, toward the Cape? Rent a house?
To me, picking a downsize location does depend on some things beyond our control. We’re older, the medical care in Boston (or Providence) is superior. Not the same in some outlying communities. The ease of other services (the rest of life) changes. Each of us is comfortable with different sorts of supports.
A great RE agent can help.
Let me throw two things out there which are a bit different. Since you own your current home, you should consider the monthly ‘interest’ on the value of the house as part of your current expenses. No bank account would give you much right now, but, if you maximized the monthly yield for that, it could pay for, say, half of a month‘a rent. If your house is appreciating like crazy right now, it is a different story as that asset is indeed earning you some $.
Second, I assume you have children and I would like to suggest that you think of them in your long term plans in terms of your ultimate needs when your health begins to wane or you are very aged. My MIL bought a HUGE and extremely expensive house when she was 72. She is 92 now, and for the past 10 years she has been unable to live alone, yet unwilling to move. She has blown through all of her money and now her children are financing her lifestyle. My kids’ college finds were impacted by her unwillingness to move. My suggestion is that a reasonable point, when you are still young enough and well enough to cope with change, live someplace where you can age in place without having to depend on others to pay for you and/or give up every weekend For you (and neglect their own families). I have made it very clear to my children that it is my wish to never do to them what my MIL did to her children (and spouses, and now EX-spouses). (And, yes I know her children let all of this happen, but she convinced them that the stress of moving and giving up ‘her kitchen’ would kill her).
We bought our house 32 years ago. It has probably doubled in value in those years - but it is more like it doubled up to 2008 and then it went down and now maybe it has caught up. So the house as an investment is not performing particularly well right now.
I have just the one daughter and the move would be to be closer to her. My father lived in a much too large house until he was 85 and then sold and went into assisted living (and is living off the proceeds of the house mostly). I don’t want to be in a too big or too hard to maintain location come 10 years from now (when we are 70). So I want to move now into something low or no maintenance and right sized for us.
I don’t need to be in the best school district or have the fastest train into the city. However, if I am going to be near Boston and my daughter who lives there, I want it to be easy enough to get in to visit and enjoy the culture it has to offer.
Medical care in Boston is world class and I would definitely use it. Another reason to want to be about 45 minutes from the city tops.
I did connect with a Real Estate agent yesterday and told her what we are looking for. Hopefully she comes through with good ideas.
If you downsize, what do you do with furniture?
Our realtor put us in touch with a woman whose business does house cleanouts. The furniture we weren’t taking wasn’t really worth selling, so we had her donate it. She even found a family to take our piano and arranged for moving it.
I would try and sell the furniture first and then if nobody wants it donate and then as last resort just throw away. My furniture is old but not antique - I don’t feel very attached to much of it.
My current house is 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with both a living room and family room. If I go down a bedroom - the third bedroom is my “office” and doesn’t really have furniture (just an IKEA desk and chair). My family room furniture is ready to throw away anyway (27 years old).