Future home

[a60dan]

things DW & I agree on:
- need to eventually live in a place without stairs
- don’t really want to buy next home in Western NY where we live now
- it’s hot in Florida where youngest son & wife live
- we could hire most everything done around the house for what we’d pay in rent
- we want to keep our 20 ft travel trailer and would prefer not pay extra to store it

There are very few home maintenance chores I enjoy.

I also have a hard time paying someone else to do it IF I can find someone reliable.

I’m curious to hear about experiences moving into condos, single story freestanding homes, owing 2 places summer/winter (especially the maintenance), getting rid of 30+ years accumulation, etc.

I searched using the app for similar topics with no results.

 

[pacergal]

There are many variables in the questions you ask.

We currently live in a single level home, but do plan on moving sometime in the next 10-15 years to either an apartment, or independent living senior place. We know we will want a smaller place, and no yard work.
The only question I can answer is getting rid of accumulated stuff:
Ever since retirement, 6+ years ago, we have "purged" once or twice a year. We go through closets, cupboards, storage racks, etc in the house, garage, and sheds and get rid of/donate "stuff". It is an ongoing process. I figure if it is something we haven't used, worn, read, etc in the past year, do we really need it? That's the question we review for everything.
We do keep things our kids have stated they want, but have no place for now. They will take them eventually!

 

[marko]

FWIW, until the day she died at age 92, mom lived in a three story house. Her bedroom was on the third floor and she'd trek up and down all day.

Every time I suggested either a stair lift or installing an elevator to avoid the stairs, she'd scream at me: "...This is the only exercise I get!! How do you think I got to live this long?..."

 

[COcheesehead]

We had the condo, townhome experience. I wouldn’t recommend it. Common wall noise, HOA financial unknowns are two biggies.
We live in an all one level home. It’s the smallest house we’ve ever lived in at 2200’ sq ft but it feels like one of the largest. When you eliminate stairs, hallways, etc, it opens the house up. All the other homes had masters on the second level. You don’t realize how many times you go into your master - closet, bath etc. We love single floor, single family living and you are more likely to be able to store toys/RVs on your property.

 

[Slater]

Im 50 & love my condo life, im is san diego, 1500sqft, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 12 foot ceilings really help with making things look open & spacious....
I do have stairs though, it is what it is...
yes I deal with hoa dues but does cover insurance on the dwelling, trash, water & sewer....
I have zero interest in maintaining a yard or a building for that matter so works for me..
Even though owning a home was great also, I intentionally chose the condo life as a lateral move for many reasons. I liked the construction, easier life-style, closer to my elderly mother, we were commuting my son to school as schools in the area were a better option, etc...
I do share one common wall with my neighbor but noise isnt an issue what so ever.
I outright own it & its an end unit so I dont share the entrance area with my neighbor, & have my own front side yard area which is maintained by the grounds landscaping company.
Also im not responsible for any roof leaks or plumbing issues internal to the walls.
Older we get, life & mobility gets more challenging & I found that im enjoying life more keeping things simple....

 

[COcheesehead]

Im 50 & love my condo life, im is san diego, 1500sqft, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 12 foot ceilings really help with making things look open & spacious....
I do have stairs though, it is what it is...
yes I deal with hoa dues but does cover insurance on the dwelling, trash, water & sewer....
I have zero interest in maintaining a yard or a building for that matter so works for me..
Even though owning a home was great also, I intentionally chose the condo life as a lateral move for many reasons. I liked the construction, easier life-style, closer to my elderly mother, we were commuting my son to school as schools in the area were a better option, etc...
I do share one common wall with my neighbor but noise isnt an issue what so ever.
I outright own it & its an end unit so I dont share the entrance area with my neighbor, & have my own front side yard area which is maintained by the grounds landscaping company.
Also im not responsible for any roof leaks or plumbing issues internal to the walls.
Older we get, life & mobility gets more challenging & I found that im enjoying life more keeping things simple....

Having served on a couple HOA boards my comment regarding HOA financials is you don’t know what you don’t know.
Where are all the common elements on the reserve study time line and I hope anyone buying into an HOA community asks to see the reserve study. No study, no dice. All those things owned by the HOA, external stairs, outside walls, patio decks, pools, roofs, sidewalks, etc will need to be replaced. Reserves, If any, only go so far, then it’s special assessment time. Yikes. It’s the worst of all lumpy expenses.

 

[W2R]

things DW & I agree on:
- need to eventually live in a place without stairs
- don’t really want to buy next home in Western NY where we live now
- it’s hot in Florida where youngest son & wife live
- we could hire most everything done around the house for what we’d pay in rent
- we want to keep our 20 ft travel trailer and would prefer not pay extra to store it

There are very few home maintenance chores I enjoy.

I also have a hard time paying someone else to do it IF I can find someone reliable.

I’m curious to hear about experiences moving into condos, single story freestanding homes, owing 2 places summer/winter (especially the maintenance), getting rid of 30+ years accumulation, etc.

I searched using the app for similar topics with no results.

This is not a perfect solution, but I thought I'd describe our living arrangements and how something similar might or might not suit you.

Frank and I each have our own home, next door to one another. Each is single story, about 1500 sf, on a 50'x120' lot. Not a lot of land, but enough that we don't hear any noise from our neighbors or the street.

Here, in our hot, wet, subtropical local climate, grass grows like crazy and needs absolutely no watering or fertilizer ever. We planted a variety of St. Augustine's grass that is named after our suburb, because it grows so well here and everybody has it. It's green, lush, and beautiful.

So, we got rid of every plant on our lots except for grass. No more trees, bushes, flowers, nothing but grass. We pay a lawn guy to mow and edge. That costs each of us $1000/year, give or take a hundred or two. Our yards need nothing else to look great, and we never spend even a minute on yard work.

I have a big detached extra-large 2-3 car garage that could shelter that 20 ft travel trailer if I had one.

Our set-up wouldn't work for the OP due to the hot climate here in New Orleans. But maybe something similar exists in a cooler climate. Also we hire the lawn guy (probably for not much more than it costs to store your RV).

On the other hand, we are happy here and would be miserable if we were in a snowbird type of arrangement where we had to ditch our homes for half the year and drive a bazillion miles to live someplace else for the summer. Not our cup of tea. Each to his/her own!

 

[Katsmeow]

We just sold our single story home which was our second single story home. We just went under contract to buy a split level house. We would have preferred a single story home and enjoyed living in them.

There just aren't a lot of houses here that met our overall criteria and we decided that being single story could go. I have a friend who mother (late 80s) lives with her and has a suite of room upstairs. They put in a stair lift for her and they have found it works great. They also take heavy stuff upstairs using the stair lift. So we decided that could potentially work for us.

The split level is nice because the flights of stairs are short. It is 5 steps to the main level and the a different flight of 7 to 8 steps to the upper level and similar to the basement. I am living in a short term rental now that has a flight of 14 steps. Going up or down 7 t0 8 steps is fine.

We looked at one house where they had put extra handrails on the stairs and put very nice grab handles on both sides of the basement stairs. I think we will end up doing that as well. I think the split level will work for us for anything other than having to use a wheelchair. If that happens on a long term basis then we might have to move but hopefully it doesn't happen.

Having recently moved and looked at lots of areas, my perception is that one story houses tend to be rare where lots are small and land is expensive. Some areas we looked at had virtually non one story houses. Your best bet might be to look in 55+ communities which typically have one story houses. But, then your 20 foot travel trailer would probably be a problem.

 

[OldShooter]

- need to eventually live in a place without stairs ...

FWIW DW and I just built a single-level lake home. It's harder to do than it is to say. Internal stairs can be eliminated without much effort, but stairs at the entrances to the house take some thinking. Front door, back door, attached garage require site prep to match heights and careful concrete work to ensure water drains properly away from the entrances. Suppliers of exterior doors typically offer "low profile" thresholds but these usually feature at least a 1" obstacle. Floor finishes (carpet, tile, hardwood, ... )have different heights out of the boxes, so must be adjusted with shim plywood or other means or there will be height differences where they meet. In-floor heat just makes this harder. Like everything, the devil is in the details. It takes an alert and detail-oriented general contractor to make sure everything is right and thoroughly understood by the subs.

 

[rodi]

We are also looking at downsizing to a single level condo or house. Our criteria is a walkable neighborhood (level walk, less than 1mi from from a grocery store, restaurant, library). Also has to have in unit laundry, ac, and be within 2 miles, as the crow flies, from the coast (San Diego)

 

[W2R]

FWIW DW and I just built a single-level lake home. It's harder to do than it is to say. Internal stairs can be eliminated without much effort, but stairs at the entrances to the house take some thinking. Front door, back door, attached garage require site prep to match heights and careful concrete work to ensure water drains properly away from the entrances. Suppliers of exterior doors typically offer "low profile" thresholds but these usually feature at least a 1" obstacle. Floor finishes (carpet, tile, hardwood, ... )have different heights out of the boxes, so must be adjusted with shim plywood or other means or there will be height differences where they meet. In-floor heat just makes this harder. Like everything, the devil is in the details. It takes an alert and detail-oriented general contractor to make sure everything is right and thoroughly understood by the subs.

Exactly! The former owner of my present home was wheelchair-bound, and her long time boyfriend ("Frank equivalent") was a very talented general contractor. They left the steps at the side and front door (2 shallow steps at each), but the back door entry by the garage is from a concrete patio area that has no steps either to the garage or to the house. The concrete slopes up gently from the nearby driveway to the patio area with ultra-smooth transitions, and separates it from the rest of the back yard. The back door threshold is probably 1/2" or less and easy to get over either with my walker or with the former owner's wheelchair. Water doesn't go in that door because the concrete itself is a few inches higher than the yard.

Obviously no in-floor heat here in hot-hot-hot New Orleans. The floors are all the same height and continuous.

And people wonder why I call this my "Dream Home"! There are so many other small details like this back entry, that are expertly done with the elderly handicapped in mind.

 

[Ronstar]

We live in a 3800 sf 2 level house on wooded 5 acres with lake frontage, 3 car tandem garage capable of storing 4 cars, and a 2 car detached garage workshop.

Maintenance up the wazoo. Just finished 3 months of spring yard cleanup about 6 hours per day. Now I'm down to only a couple of hours daily maintenance.

Would also like to get a house in old age on a single level. I go up and down stairs 10-20 times a day now. And maintenance free on less acreage with few if any trees.

Used to have a snow bird condo as a 2nd home. Not much maintenance due to being a condo. But still a little bit of work lining up plumbers, pest control, etc. Don't see us getting a 2nd home again. Too easy to just rent a vacation place.

 

[Walt34]

We bought what we hope is our "forever home" 20 years ago after retirement. It's a rambler style but does have a basement. If necessary we could go for months without going downstairs. It has a 2-car attached garage which where we come from in the Washington, D.C. area is a real luxury. We had planned on going into a CCRC when keeping up the house ourselves became problematic, but the costs of a CCRC are going up faster than our COLA'd income so we're rethinking that plan although we remain on a waiting list for one. (You don't have to accept when they call, you can wait until the "next opening".) We could if needed hire out all maintenance including housekeeping but we'd really prefer to keep doing it ourselves. After seeing what relatives went through we are very much aware that may not be possible.

 

[CountryGal]

Every time I suggested either a stair lift or installing an elevator to avoid the stairs, she'd scream at me: "...This is the only exercise I get!! How do you think I got to live this long?..."

She does have a great point.

 

[38Chevy454]

I agree with a 1 story house being preferred. Stairs can be an issue in later years. As for owning a second home, we do have a snowbird place we bought, it is pretty easy to lock and leave. We are responsible for the house maintenance, as it is a small house on the property which is in an RV golf resort. So all grass mowing is and many utility functions are covered by HOA. We could leave our motorhome down there, but we use it in summer so.it travels back and forth from home to FL.

Our main home is a lot more work, being a little out in the country on 2.5 acres. Single story with basement, and a big detached garage. The motorhome is stored in the detached garage when home; along with my classic cars. Lot of yard work, although I don't mind the mowing. Lot of plants that take time. At some future point this place is probably too much work without paying for help. Hope that is many years in the future and will deal with it at that time.

My suggestion, move out of high tax NY to a southern area that's warmer. Whether by your kid or not, your decision how close to be. Get s single family home that you can keep your trailer at home. Have as much house and yard size as you feel comfortable with.

 

[steady saver]

Like pacergal, I think the only thing I can add to is about decluttering. I'd say over the past half a dozen years that we've gotten rid of a good 40 if not 50% of "stuff" at our city home. This started after the boys moved out, with slowly getting rid of some of their stuff they didn't want and then moving on to every single room of the house, attic, garage...For us it has been a peeling away of the onion process. And it gets easier and easier as time goes on. Right now I am super motivated to unload things that are old hobbies or that will never happen...in the decluttering world some call it "fantasy clutter" - you know the hobbies you used to do but don't anymore or the ones you thought you'd do when you had more time but that you find you just really aren't excited about anymore? In my case it is quilting stuff (my mom made beautiful, hand-quilted Hawaiian quilts - just exquisite) so I thought I would carry it on. But guess what? I don't jump out of bed thinking about quilting. I would rather cook/bake, read, garden, meet a friend for coffee, research/write... any day.
One question that has helped me the most when I declutter is "do I want to manage this?" I also learned how so much of our "stuff" that isn't in the way, isn't really bothering us, is nevertheless sending out a silent "to do" list , telling us to "dust me!" "why don't you ever finish this?" "why did you buy this? - you paid a lot of money to just have me sit here." yada yada yada.

I don't consider myself a minimalist, but I do value simplicity and am at the stage where I value time and experiences more than taking care of stuff. It's a hard lesson obviously b/c we do have a second home and that certainly adds a lot of work. To your question about 2nd homes, all I'd say is make sure that at least one of them is a lock and leave. Our second home is a farm on 30 acres with a second recently renovated cottage on the property (with a B&B in mind). There is nothing simple or minimalist about that. When, at some point, we only have one home, I might not know what to do with my time.

Uh, I bet I can figure it out pretty darn quick.

 

[Koolau]

things DW & I agree on:
- need to eventually live in a place without stairs
- don’t really want to buy next home in Western NY where we live now
- it’s hot in Florida where youngest son & wife live
- we could hire most everything done around the house for what we’d pay in rent
- we want to keep our 20 ft travel trailer and would prefer not pay extra to store it

There are very few home maintenance chores I enjoy.

I also have a hard time paying someone else to do it IF I can find someone reliable.

I’m curious to hear about experiences moving into condos, single story freestanding homes, owing 2 places summer/winter (especially the maintenance), getting rid of 30+ years accumulation, etc.

I searched using the app for similar topics with no results.

We moved into a high rise condo. It's essentially an egg-crate built out of concrete, so there is no noise going through walls. Since most folks leave their entryway and lanai windows open, there can be some noise intrusion.

We don't like stairs either. We have elevators (two - in case one breaks down which is rare.) We even have a generator outside which keeps the elevators running if electricity goes out - which is not completely rare.

We live in Hawaii which is rarely hot and never cold.

HOA dues are $900 and covers everything outside the condo (including insurance.)

We keep a summer place on the mainland. It's not much, but it's home.

This arrangement w*rks well for us. YMMV

 

[Teacher Terry]

When I was married we downsized to a 1400 sq ft single story home. It was perfect for 2 people but Reno has a ton of single story houses.

Now alone I bought a 855 sq ft condo that I really love. It’s in a secure building and has an elevator. It’s made extremely well so very quiet. Heat, water and air conditioning are all on a central boiler system so not much that I am responsible for.

I sit on my balcony and enjoy looking at the beautiful courtyard. Our reserves are well funded. Plus I carry loss insurance which is very cheap and would cover any special assessments. You choose the amount you want to cover.

 

[old medic]

I will highly recommend a walk in shower. you may end up like me and taking a shower on the deck with a garden hose....

 

[Badger]

The closest I have come to living in a condo is the college dormitory and 3 years in an apartment. I have no desire to ever live in any building that is multi-family unless I become too feeble (body or mind) to take care of myself. At that point it would be a nursing home. Although I prefer to do things myself, when necessary I can hire someone to help with maintenance, cleaning, lawn, painting the outside, etc.
I don't want to deal with noisy neighbors (above, below, or beside me), HOA, schlepping groceries up to my floor, or having to go out to a mail box everyday. But that is just me. You may enjoy that.

Cheers!

 

[Koolau]

The closest I have come to living in a condo is the college dormitory and 3 years in an apartment. I have no desire to ever live in any building that is multi-family unless I become too feeble (body or mind) to take care of myself. At that point it would be a nursing home. Although I prefer to do things myself, when necessary I can hire someone to help with maintenance, cleaning, lawn, painting the outside, etc.
I don't want to deal with noisy neighbors (above, below, or beside me), HOA, schlepping groceries up to my floor, or having to go out to a mail box everyday. But that is just me. You may enjoy that.

Cheers!

I suppose it's not so much a matter of enjoying such things as rarely experiencing such things. Most of our neighbors are quiet and - if not - there are rules that are ENFORCED. I would say we're predominately older folks, but we do have a few school kids. Keep in mind that the condos are 2 BR (or a few 1 BR.) So, it's not like we have multi-generations of people living on top of one anther.

We have a "no pets policy" which is "bent" for smaller dogs IF they don't bark. We have a no-smoking policy which is rigidly enforced - so no smoke from someone else's condo to ours.

We haul our groceries on a cart which is quite convenient and distances to the elevator are minimal.

It's true our mailbox is in the lobby. That's probably the "worst" issue with our condo from a convenience standpoint. But, there is a portico at the front door that is convenient to stop and pick up mail every time we are out.

Much of living someplace and enjoying it is getting used to it.

I really love not doing outdoor maintenance!

 

[folivier]

As I put in another post we recently sold our SFH in a retirement community for a condo. It was a challenge to find a unit with our requirements but we got lucky. Our condo is in a 100 unit gated community. We're in a 4-plex, others are up to 10 units together. Has a pool and small workout room. It is 1523 sqft 3 bed/2 bath with 2 car garage which gives me room for the stuff I didn't purge and projects. All units are ground level so no stairs. We're in a residential area with 3 grocery stores from next door to less than a mile. Barber shop across the street. Multiple places to eat. Theatre a mile away, etc.
We only spent a week there before we drove to our mountain cabin and will be here until November. Our cabin is NOT elderly friendly, bedrooms are upstairs, 1 acre lot is sloped, need to cut and split firewood for our winter trips here. But it's a great community and we'll enjoy it until we can't. Then we'll sell it and move back fulltime into our condo which is near our sons.
Our motivation for buying the condo is to be nearer to better healthcare, nearer to our sons, lock and leave. We'll still travel once we do sell the cabin. But for now the cabin is great and keeps both of us healthier by spending so much time outside.

 

[Koolau]

I picked up on the idea of being close(er) to medical/hospital care. I never thought of that even into my 50s. But now, it's a must. Being able to get medical help trumps a lot of things for us now.

 

[Montecfo]

I suppose it's not so much a matter of enjoying such things as rarely experiencing such things. Most of our neighbors are quiet and - if not - there are rules that are ENFORCED. I would say we're predominately older folks, but we do have a few school kids. Keep in mind that the condos are 2 BR (or a few 1 BR.) So, it's not like we have multi-generations of people living on top of one anther.



We have a "no pets policy" which is "bent" for smaller dogs IF they don't bark. We have a no-smoking policy which is rigidly enforced - so no smoke from someone else's condo to ours.



We haul our groceries on a cart which is quite convenient and distances to the elevator are minimal.



It's true our mailbox is in the lobby. That's probably the "worst" issue with our condo from a convenience standpoint. But, there is a portico at the front door that is convenient to stop and pick up mail every time we are out.



Much of living someplace and enjoying it is getting used to it.



I really love not doing outdoor maintenance!

Koolau,

Sounds like your building is very well run. Great situation.

 

[Koolau]

Koolau,

Sounds like your building is very well run. Great situation.

It's actually known for that in the "community." Still, there are always issues whenever you have a cooperative of ANY kind. I've been in gun clubs, churches, HOAs, flying club, etc. They all have disagreements among members and it always leads to "issues." Hopefully they become trivial.