Smaller home for retirement?

[CAMSDADDY]

We retired 7 years ago and moved form Snellville to North GA (Young Harris).... We built a 3100 square foot home with 3 Masters on 3 different levels and an "office" space over the garage... Another set of stairs... Built on 5 acres of pasture... Not one tree... With walls, gardens, fence and more, the maintenance is overwhelming.... inside and out...

I think we need to downside again....

And I do have a detached 3 car garage, but with a "breezeway" from the house to the garage with barn doors on either side of the breezeway so we can open it up...

One think I definitely don’t miss is the multiple levels. We have 3 steps to get in the house and everything else is flat.
I remember reading that you have 3100 square feet and 5 acres of light bulbs to change, clean and mow. Man it sure makes a condo look tempting other than neighbors being right up on you

 

[Cruisers460]

I know it sounds insane, but I find peace while on the mower…

Not really, 24 acres with most of it having to be mowed. Hate it some days, others its just peaceful to sit on the tractor. Zero Turn and a tractor and it isn't such a chore. Good luck on the smaller home, now I have two, one for the wives crafts and one to live in. May sell one and build a craft barn at home.

 

[THREEJAYS]

We are still in the one built when married 42 years ago, have detached garage, big shop , she shed and various other shed’s to park stuff, 9.5 acres plus 15 across rd Would like to have one level house but I m faily content living on main floor of about 14-1500 sqft.

 

[spistols]

Not retired, @12 years away. But downsized after the last kid left. Went from 3400 sq ft to 2500, but we don't use 1000 sq ft of the new house.

Happier than ever!

 

[gh1950]

That's my plan - to move to a smaller home. I still work from home, and I sit here all day listening to the compressor cooling about 1000 sq. feet I never use.

Downturn in real estate crashed my immediate plans, but still my long range goal.

 

[outlaw1961]

Sometime in the future gonna have two homes to sale. The wife and I will probably just move into one of those 55 and older communities and be done with everything.

 

[joel2000]

2100 sqft ranch on a full unfinished bsmt. 1/2 acre lot. I love getting on my little Kubota tractor and spending that small amount of time cutting grass. Retired in 2018 and loving life.

 

[basstracker89]

OK, here's some thoughts. You can add an electric chair on the stairs. They're not cheap, but cheaper than moving. Also you can just have a lawn service keep up the outside. If you were to move, maybe a ranch all on one level and a flat lot. I like a full basement so you can easily get to all your mechanicals, storage and a workshop. Down sizing isn't a bad idea, but in doing so you have to get rid of a lot of stuff. And getting a flat lot, you may have to get an older house. Being all the good lots have been built on years ago.
I lived in a started home for 35yrs. There isn't any place you can hide from the wife. You're always under each other's feet. Where we are now, I have to remember to carry my phone with me. Otherwise she may not find me......

 

[TrueGrit]

Wife and I are wanting to go small and mostly off grid. Our house is almost in the middle of our property and the nearest road is over a 1/2 mile away. Trying to figure out how to sell or give it to the kids is complicated because of deeded access and their spouses. We're kinda stuck but it could definitely be worse.

 

[basstracker89]

Wife and I are wanting to go small and mostly off grid. Our house is almost in the middle of our property and the nearest road is over a 1/2 mile away. Trying to figure out how to sell or give it to the kids is complicated because of deeded access and their spouses. We're kinda stuck but it could definitely be worse.

You got that right