Interesting Merrill Lynch report on housing in retirement

[LARS]

Pretty much everything you've been told about downsizing, etc appears not to be true according to Merrill Lynch/Age Wave survey, “Home in Retirement: More Freedom, New Choices.”


Retirees and Their Homes: They Want It Their Way | Next Avenue

 

[48Fire]

Doesn't seem like big surprise here. Would be interesting to compare data to ER Forum subset

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[braumeister]

Pretty much as expected.
Up to mid-20th century, people adapted to the world as they aged.
Boomers insist that the rest of the world adapt to them.

Disclaimer: I'm a boomer too, but I like to think I'm not typical.

 

[M Paquette]

It can be incredibly difficult to get some personality types to relocate someplace better for them. People often develop a sentimental attachment to things, including homes. (I think of them as a structure for living in, a heap of lumber, wallboard, siding and shingles, which annoys DW no end.)

DW has a strong sentimental attachment to our current home, which made my later years working difficult (2-3 hour commutes, each way), and threaten to make retirement difficult, with a large yard, stairs, bad kitchen, and similar elder-hostile features. Fortunately, with some financial freedom and careful planning, it is possible to avoid some pitfalls.

We can readily adjust the home for single-floor living, leaving the upstairs as a guest suite. I've already replaced all the windows with designs that can be operated from a wheelchair for most. Doorknobs are all lever-type mechanisms, hallways and doorways are ADA-compliant, and fitting a wheelchair ramp at the entryways is trivial at a 4" rise from the outdoor flat surfaces.

We're working on a kitchen remodel, and I insisted on the layout accommodating a 60" diameter clear circle at certain points (wheelchair turning circle) and one 30" counter for baking (and wheelchair access). Every cabinet deeper than 12" has to use pullouts or drawers. DW thought I was crazy, until I pointed out the situation her parents are in. (Elderly, in a two-story home that can't handle 1 story living, kitchen with deep cabinets that MIL has to crawl into to fetch things, etc.).

DW is starting to catch on.

 

[mpeirce]

Disclaimer: I'm a boomer too, but I like to think I'm not typical.

Sorta like all those teens expressing their "individuality" in pretty much the exact same way as everyone else ;-)

Though frankly, most of us folks in this forum really aren't typical.

 

[heirloom]

We always said we would relocate in Fl when we retired. Now the time is here and we have grandchildren. This is now the prime time to be with them, while they are still young and want to see us.

But we still go down to Fl for 18 mos. Don't want to leave our cat alone to long.

My husband is already looking for an elevator to install for when our knees can't climb these steps. Nice way to think about retm't...LOL

 

[Sunset]

Those stair chair things are pretty useful.
The ones that screw onto the actual stair steps are easy to install (and remove later).
Would be much cheaper than an elevator.

 

[nuke_diver]

Our current house will be (should we choose) fine for us forever. Not too big (3 bed/ 2 bath) and a single story so no stairs (I had my first knee op in 1977 I knew stairs were something I would rather avoid a long time ago). It does have a big yard but with the drought here dirt is going to be easier to maintain .

And we got married in the backyard so there is some attachment to the house...I guess?

 

[Big_Hitter]

We moved to a 1 story last year since this will be our "final" home.


Most of the article is spot on to our situation - we upsized.

 

[athena53]

DH and I will be downsizing because we want a ranch design- all the living on one floor, possibly with a finished basement. Our realtor has set up saved searches for the areas we're looking and what I see is that the ranch designs get snapped up very quickly. So, I think a few of us are considering future mobility issues. I've seen DH fall down our steps. He's very careful but I don't want to see that happen again and neither does he.

 

[marko]

But we still go down to Fl for 18 mos. Don't want to leave our cat alone to long.

L

That's kind of a long time to leave a cat alone. Jus' sayin'

 

[Big_Hitter]

DH and I will be downsizing because we want a ranch design- all the living on one floor, possibly with a finished basement. Our realtor has set up saved searches for the areas we're looking and what I see is that the ranch designs get snapped up very quickly. So, I think a few of us are considering future mobility issues. I've seen DH fall down our steps. He's very careful but I don't want to see that happen again and neither does he.

that's why we moved - we live in the foothills and it's really really tough to get a one story - we snapped this one up a year ago in a private deal


yes, falling is not good. falling down a steep, icy driveway taking out the trash is really not good

good luck!

 

[Walt34]

Same as nuke_diver I had knee surgery in 1990 so knew stairs would be something to avoid in the future. Our house is a ranch for that reason.

 

[HFWR]

Sorta like all those teens expressing their "individuality" in pretty much the exact same way as everyone else ;-)

Not just teens. Think of all the groups who do this: hippies, yuppies, bikers, goth, punks...

And all the people "keeping up with the Joneses"...

 

[jIMOh]

Doesn't seem like big surprise here. Would be interesting to compare data to ER Forum subset

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

Cynthia Hutchins, Director of Gerontology at Merrill Lynch, said “most people plan to work in retirement and a home office helps them do that.” The average retiree, she noted, “is not thinking about what it’ll be like when I’m ‘old old.’ They want to be relevant and connected.”

Living around only people their age? No thank you. Roughly two-thirds (67 percent) of people 65+ said they prefer neighbors of diverse ages and generations; by contrast, just 53 percent of adults under 35 said that. Turns out, only 7 percent of retirees today live in age-restricted communities.

Living in homes they’ve settled for? Quite the contrary. Two thirds of retirees surveyed said they’re living in “the best homes of their lives.” And if they don’t like the homes they’re in, “they’ll find a place they like better,” Dychtwald said.

“This is the beginning of a new chapter and, for many, it’s a fantastic chapter — particularly for the first 10 or 15 years. So think of what matters to you, now that you have independence,” he said. “What are your priorities for a home? Do you want a living room? Do you want to live in an area where you can take quiet walks? Do you want to be close to restaurants? Then, get as as many of those things as you can, rather than stay on autopilot and pine over days gone by.”

Those quotes echoed my assumptions before reading, my thoughts on subject and in my own words, here is what I seek (I am not retired yet).

I live on my terms- being close to my kids will be important, they are seven right now, but if they move, I will likely own a property close to them to visit.

I don't want to be a burden on others, so I will likely own property in 3 locations (by kids, by family and by skiing), and travel to and from as needed (that is my independence).

It would be nice to know how many of the people surveyed owned more than 1 property. Would be nice to know what level of wealth as well.

As for this forum, I'd like to also know how many are tied to kids vs never had kids... in addition, ER types to me march to our own drummer, we won't answer to kids as the independence trumps much of the other things many consider normal.

 

[molly]

We moved to MO (University town) to be near our children and the grandkids. When we moved - we actually upsized our our house from 2800sq' to 3500'sq ft.

Why would be do such a thing? We have a lot of family that visits and the grandkids -as we anticipated - are here a lot. They have their own playroom and a place to keep their toys.

Our house is built on the side of a hill so it is sort of a ranch type house - with everything we need by entry of the front side of the house. Yet....we have 2 bedrooms, big family room and playroom downstairs with big windows that let in the light through the backyard.

The first floor has everything we need without ever going downstairs - laundry, kitchen, 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms, direct garage entrance.

Our house has become the great family "get together" site.

It all depends on what you want from your retirement.

 

[Music Lover]

I divorced in the early 90's and kept the house...an 1800 sq. ft. 4-level split. After 5 years of paying too much mortgage, I was ready to sell. At the very same time, a 116' x 630' lot next door to my brother came up for sale. I bought it in 1996 (at age 35) and began sketching house plans to build my forever home. I was building a bungalow...no more stairs for me.

6 months later a house that my brother and his wife had always liked came up for sale and they decided to sell. Their house was a 1000 sq ft fixer that they had plans to renovate, but had never got around to doing. Being handy, I scrapped the plans to build, bought their house, and sold the lot.

I have been there for 18 years now and have no intention of moving when I retire next spring. So far I have: added a double garage, gutted and replaced the kitchen, done a foundation repair, replaced plumbing and wiring, installed hardwood, built a sunroom, 2 decks, a fence, and replaced all the doors and windows. The only stairs are to the basement, but 99% of houses here have basements. The main floor is a typical 3 bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom. The basement has the laundry area, a pool table, and rehearsal space for 2 bands that I'm in. I couldn't ask for a better place.

 

[Badger]

I moved to a beach community outside of a major city in NE Fl after graduate school. It was either that or the mountains of NC. In a few years (1976) I bought a small beach cottage (1000 sq ft) to fix up which I later sold to buy another larger one story (1500 sq ft) house to fix up in a desirable neighborhood within a short walking distance to the beach, near police and fire dept, school and military base. I settled and bought as if I was looking for what most people want for retirement and with no intention of continuing to buy larger. So here I will stay with no need to buy down to save taxes and other expenses. As I figured years ago the location was important. Now most of the houses around me have been torn down and McMansions built so the neighborhood is even more desirable than ever with no chance of it going downhill in my lifetime. Due to local laws my taxes will remain low as my property values increase. Over the years I have made improvements to make the house more comfortable with low maintenance so I have arrived where many folks want to be with much less hassle over the years and no need to move. The house was paid off years ago.

The house/property is now worth 10X what I paid. I have no desire or need to move. I had a plan years ago and it has worked. There is more than one way to catch a fish.

Cheers!

 

[Cobra9777]

We still live in a huge empty nest. Yes, there's emotional attachment. We're near the kids, which is nice, and it's quite convenient when they visit. But it's just too big... 4.5K ft2 on 2.2 acres, with 2 detached structures, plus a pool and a pond. We spend $25K/yr on property tax, insurance, maintenance, and utilities. There are 4 HVAC units and 5 full baths. Plus, there's always some $10-20K improvement on the backlog. Right now, we're young enough to keep up with most routine maintenance, cleaning, and some repairs/improvements. But we are definitely looking to downsize at some point. We can reduce expenses by $10-15K/yr, add several hundred $K to the nestegg, and cut back the labor-intensive upkeep.

Problem is: We're not willing to go back to subdivision-style living. Our downsize specs are extremely specific and thus not something we're going to stumble upon casually. We'd like 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, a large professionally-equipped kitchen, one very large open living/dining area, a small office, utility room, and air-conditioned space for my woodworking shop. We don't want a lot of acreage, but we like separation, trees, decks, waterfront, a view... something unique that gets us outdoors. And we'd like to stay in Texas near the kids.

Anyway, it sounds like we fit the profile described in the ML piece. We'll likely stay put for another 5-7 years, which is roughly how long I think it will take to find a downsize option that DW and I both agree on, plus get the current place in shape to sell.