Down, up, right-size

[ExFlyBoy5]

One thing I would like to downsize though is the back yard. We're on a double lot with many big shrubs and some trees in the back, so several weekends a year are dedicated to trimming and clean up. It is nice to see from the living and dining rooms though, like looking out over a pleasant green park.

We also have a large backyard that my DW insists won't be "won" by nature. This means many hours trying to beat back the inevitable! At 43 years old, it's great to live in a park-like setting, but it will stop being fun before too long.

My Dad also lives on a large lot that at one time was on the local gardener's tour. It was beautiful, simply magnificent. But that was through the efforts of my Mom's 3-4 hours of DAILY work on it. Today, I can barely keep it from being overgrown and keeping my Dad out of trouble with code enforcement.

 

[GoodWishes]

We also moved after ER. All part of the ER plan. We rebuilt/expanded one of our rentals and moved into it. It was about 10 miles away so not too far.

Downsized house: From 2 story >3400 sq ft down to 1 story >1700 sq ft. We probably would prefer another couple hundred sq ft more but due to the lot size, either need to apply for a variance or add a second story. We don't want to bother with the variance and don't want to have trouble walking up/down stairs in another 30/40 years. We want to stay for the long term. Everything was built with later living in mind like higher plugs.

Downsized lot: From >1/3 acre down to no longer use acre as a measurement After the construction, we landscaped both the small front and backyard to be low maintenance, no lawn, hardscapes with pavers, rocks, easy maintenance plants.

Upsized financially: From an excellent expensive neighborhood to an even more expensive neighborhood mostly due to a more centralized location that we can walk, take public transportation and join into all kind of happenings while we are still young and want to do more. We paid a lot to rebuild/expand the house and more monthly due to higher property taxes.

We have been living here for over a year and we are very happy about it. Glad that we did even though it was a lot of work building the house and moving. The house and the lot are much more manageable due to the smaller size and low maintenance. The location is near everything for daily living and for leisure/enjoyment but yet still a quiet family neighborhood.

 

[RunningBum]

I have known several folks that REALLY upsized after all the kids moved out and I never really understood that thought process. To each their own, right?

Maybe they've wanted to upsize for a few years, but didn't want to move out of the school district? Once the kids were out of school they were free to move where they wanted. Just a guess.

 

[O2Bfree]

I have known several folks that REALLY upsized after all the kids moved out and I never really understood that thought process. To each their own, right?

Maybe they had a premonition that one or more kid would be moving back in later, perhaps with grandkids in tow!

 

[Scuba]

I understand and certainly can see your point of view. We are very lucky to be able to do this and it turns out that I really value having control over my envireonment. Don't like to find new places to rent or move my stuff around. Like my cars in the garage and my clothes in the closets. Like my decor and art. Agree it's very expensive and can be time consuming. Certainly not for most people. But I like it.

I think it's great that you can afford to have your lifestyle. Completely understand the positives and would love to be in that situation, but also wanted my freedom at 56. Couldn't do both so we settle for renting additional properties. They are never quite as nice as our primary residence, but we enjoy them and when we leave, we're happy to walk away with no further responsibility for the property.

 

[rayinpenn]

I'm facing a similar challenge ...
My 3000 sq ft, 4 bedroom, 1 acre lot, $10k real estate tax, awesome school district home doesn't work for us any longer.

Considerations
1. Come September we will have 2 at Penn State so I'll need to stay in state
2. My bum bionic knees remind me how much I want a first floor master
3. Let someone else mow the lawn
4. I want turn key with more security.. a condo seems like a reasonable move.
5. Daughters first job is about 30 minutes away... need to draw a 40 minute circle around that.

No doubt about it moves cost money - but if we want to do a bit of snow birding - turn key would be great. Now that the youngest graduated HS and I will be working PT there are lots of options and considerations.

 

[brett]

We just moved from a six month rental condo that turned into a four years rental.

1400 sq feet, fully developed basement, open plan, and HOA means no gardening and snow removal. Lock and go.

Cannot believe the things we kept when we packed up into a container after selling our house. I still have 'mystery' boxes to go through. Keep hearing the words 'why on earth did we keep this'. Thought we did a good job in downsizing from our house to a container but not as good as I thought.

I suspect that part of it is that our tastes, wants, and desires have changed over four years of rental living and lots of travel. What has changed for me is lack of accumulation. Got rid of so many clothes and have no desire to shop for more over and above what I really need. We have found that our attitude toward many things has changed through four plus years of retirement/downsizing.