In 2019, we sold our 2600 square foot home (2 story) on 10.5 acres and moved out of state to an 1100 square foot new construction cottage (one level) on a teeny tiny HOA lot. Our big house sold for $317,000. Paid $208,000 for it in 1987. It was new construction then. Over the 32 years we owned it we put tons of money into it, including $100,000 the last 7 years living there. Everything was brand new and move in ready when we left it.
We did not have a mortgage on our former home- had been like 15-20 years we were mortgage free and planned on staying that way in retirement.
I wanted to break even with our downsize and I am talking EVERYTHING that was involved moving, including moving costs (which we had to do TWICE because our home sold before our new home was finished and before hubby was retired- so we had to rent for 5 months), closing costs, atty fees, real estate commission, town fees to meet new codes in the former home, additional things to be done in the new house, radon mitigation, whole house generator, decorations, medicine cabinets, light fixtures, porch chairs, etc, etc, you name it- EVERYTHING! No easy task and that is an understatement in New England.
We managed to find it at $275,000 (with the upgrades to the base rice of $240,000) and then adding in all that I mentioned above, we are at $316,000. Just made it! Phew! Our property taxes are 1/2 of what they were before, though still incredibly high for what we have. Of course, now we have Medicare premiums and that alone totals $600 per month! So all in all, when all is said and done our monthly bills are pretty much the same as they were before.
Before we lived in the woods secluded in a rural area. Now we live in a community that is similar to a 55+- like something you would see in Fla. with homes just an arms length from each other. Have a clubhouse and pool. Residents arrange the social events. Low $150 per month HOA fee takes care of trash, road plowing, lawn mowing, fertilizing, weed control and mulching. We do have to take care of the snow on our tiny driveways. No biggie at all. Vacation area. Can walk to the lake beach, restaurants, activities. Most conveniences like stores, bank, hospital, cultural venues, just 4 miles away in any direction. Cumbies is right across the road so can walk. Have sidewalks outside the development (but huge steep hills. LOL!). Mountains and more lakes are all around us. Had to do some compromising, of course, but that's how it is with everything in life.
We thought of renting but the rents are outrageous and just didn't make sense. And today it is not easy to make money on selling your house and buying another even if it is much smaller because the cost of real estate is outrageous, yet in some areas when we sold it was not. Now according to Zillow and Redfin our former home would have got us another $100,000, but then anything we would have tried to buy would also have cost us at least that much more if not even way more.
We still would have preferred our other lifestyle to a degree. We love the peace and tranquility of the mountains and woods. But to move here and live that way would also be just as isolating and then we would have eventually had to move again as we got older. Then maybe another final move- meaning assisted living or nursing home- and all that moving is exhausting and very expensive. So we did this one step so we could age into it. I always kept telling hubby- don't think about our age now (60's) but when we are 80 (if we make it). I also told him even if we hated it we are not moving again! Moving is not for the faint of heart, Too many pieces to it! Not to mention living this way we immediately made connections with other people and have the social life we really didn't have at our other house.
We do spend more money on eating out with others/organizations and a bit more entertainment, but we have not really done any big vacations either because of the pandemic ( I will not fly right now or go to another country and we will not drive anywhere that takes more than 8 hours)- so I look at it like we have that money to do fun stuff in our home state), except to nearby VT and we ate in a lot while there to save money (not because we were concerned about the virus). We try to do things that don't cost money or at least a lot of money. Fishing, swimming, friends have a boat so we treat them to dinner once in a while, hiking/walking/sightseeing. When we worked we rarely ate out or spent money on any entertainment. We waited until our vacations. We were home bodies and pretty frugal and still are, but we have more free time now so sometimes it can't be helped. Before, most money went towards maintenance and improvements for our former house. Now that is not the case. Oh- and we got rid of two of our Vermont timeshare weeks which puts more money in our budget for misc. Heck- we're retired and we are always on vacation really! LOL!
We vacationed here and VT for years, but this area where we live now we only visited a couple of times before moving. Living here is fun, but it is also noisy and gets crowded in the summer- especially bike week. We are surrounded by camps and resorts so there is music and fireworks and revving engines and boat noise in the bay behind us and loud voices by the fire pits at night. The train and cruise ship horns from down at the boardwalk. Plus a lot of people here have dogs and there's the barking. This summer it kind of got to me and I was happy to spend a week further north to recover.
The house does seem cramped sometimes even with just the two of us. It essentially is a U shaped kitchen with a dining area off the living room (cathedral ceilings) and 2 small bedrooms (king sized bed fits fine in master) and 2 small bathrooms. Big walk out basement- another 1000 square feet, which essentially is hubby's man cave with all his crap and just my exercise equipment.
We are not finishing it off (again- not spending the money or energy) but we do not have extended family (no grandchildren either) or friends that would easily be able to visit us as many of our neighbors do. At our old house we had turned our son's bedroom into a guest room and I can count on one hand how many times anyone stayed over. Our son who lives in the state we live in now, only came home for Thanksgiving weekend, as did my BIL to go hunting with my husband. My parents used to stay over on the pull out couch in our study, but they are now deceased. So learning from that, we felt no need to have extra rooms to dust and heat and furnish for other people that probably would never visit anyway. If they do I have already told them they would need to either bring a twin size air mattress (and even that would be tight in here) or stay in a hotel.
New England is generally high cost of living, but NH has no state income tax, doesn't tax retirement income, and no sales tax. Plus it has a specific political community here that meets our criteria for being with like minded individuals, so that helps as well as that was important to us.
I agree in terms of de cluttering NOW! Get rid of everything you can. Don't overthink it- just do it. You won't miss anything, trust me! It's very freeing!
