Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I hope I never have to live in an apartment again. We're going the opposite direction. Hopefully a few acres of land, house, maybe a swimming pool, and some trees.
I totally understand. I've lived in apts, and owned a mobile home in a park. The mobile home option was ok because at least it was mine and there wasn't any noise from people around me. I think if I became unable to take care of my huge house, 2 acres w/ pool, I'd sell out and either get a small house on a 1 acre lot and then pay someone to help take care of it all. I cannot imagine living close in with people and like someone else said, there is the fire hazard thing being in an apt complex. I wish there were retirement communities where they did sell very small cottages in group settings with lots of trees, etc where one could still have a small garden and dogs.
OP, sounds like you are still in adjustment shock to me. Let's look at the positives... you have a lease, you can make a change when it is over and buy or rent a small house again. You have already gotten rid of alot of "stuff" so that pain is now over... and you can make another new beginning -- (yeah, I know moving is a huge pain). I've lived in big houses, little houses, apartments, townhomes etc... and for me, every moves takes about 9-12 months of adjustment time to the new surroundings, new space, new neighborhood, etc. I've found that as I get older (retiring very soon) it takes longer to adjust to any changes.
We are selling our house this spring and moving to a luxury apartment complex prior to actually retiring (which will be to Florida!! YAY!!) - the reasons we are choosing to move are to save money, plus I am fed up with spending time & money on repairs to house... landscaping, yardwork, repairs, etc... ugh... and to make it very easy to get out of town when we pull the plug and set the retirement date.
As we all know there are no "ideal" situations. The plus is that you CAN make another change... take this time to research and decide when and where it will be.
We had a 1500 sq. ft. farm house on an acre of land that was sectioned out of a 50 acre cotton field that surrounded us, and decided to move into a bigger home in a subdivision when we retired, for reasons left to another thread. Part of the reason was we thought the convenience of stores and restaurants would be nice since where we lived, everything was a long drive. We soon realized that being able to converse with our neighbor across the street, while standing in our garage, or having conversations with the next door neighbor with only a vinyl fence between us was too much for us to get used to. We needed the country life again.The house in the subdivision was nice, but too big, and the subdivision was way too restricting for country folk like us.We sold the house at a loss, but found us another wonderful home that is more manageable at a little over 1700 sq. ft. on 2 acres. Now we see deer, rabbit, squirrel, birds, and trees rather than row upon row of cookie cutter homes. This is more like retirement. Like the old saying " You never know what you got till it's gone." We are very happy here. Sometimes it's not all about the money.
I totally understand. I've lived in apts, and owned a mobile home in a park. The mobile home option was ok because at least it was mine and there wasn't any noise from people around me. I think if I became unable to take care of my huge house, 2 acres w/ pool, I'd sell out and either get a small house on a 1 acre lot and then pay someone to help take care of it all. I cannot imagine living close in with people and like someone else said, there is the fire hazard thing being in an apt complex. I wish there were retirement communities where they did sell very small cottages in group settings with lots of trees, etc where one could still have a small garden and dogs.
Such places do exist. One just has to look. My HOA is not a retirement village (not age restricted). They are private homes with the association maintaining the landscaping and house exterior shell thus they are for all purposes, maintenance free. Each home has a fenced in backyard (20x20) where one can pretty well do as they wish for gardening, etc. Each owner maintains that portion of their yard inside the fence. We have no house pet restrictions. There are restrictions on what you can do outside your fenced in backyard (about nothing) and there are parking restrictions (no overnight street parking)'
The fact that we have few amenities (no pool, no tennis, no clubhouse, no walking trails, etc.) does make for low dues and little to no arguing about how things should be.
I have no business relationship with the builder. I am simply and owner here and I post the link for reference.
Good thread, I am still finishing reading all the responses.
I am an almost retired single lady and I am selling my large 3200 house with acreage & pool.
That much is for sure, but the next step is undecided.
One thing for sure is that I don't want a lot of yard work, or house repairs. I am moving to a very simple lifestyle. One where all my time is not taken up trying to take care of all my stuff..
My thought is to rent a townhome or apartment to try it out. If I don't like it , I will try to find a small house with an easy care yard.
ipoety said "I find that so long as there's a world outside your door you can live in a thimble."
I think that may be true for me. When I want nature , I take a hike in the woods at our lake, go camping, kayaking, or biking in the nature park. I don't go play in my yard...
In fact, having a yard means I am home taking care of it instead of enjoying those things I mentioned
Financially I think renting and buying something small for cash will work out about the same for me.
The advantage to buying that I see is that I am more diverse with my money than having it all in stocks.
Also if the "sky falls" in our country, having a house is a good thing I think..
We sold our big home in Anchorage, moved to a small ski town. We are renting to test the waters before we buy; however, we now find ourselves thrilled with renting, the freedom to travel to another small ski town if we choose.
However, we are renting a small house since we don't want to share walls. Before we bought our home in Anchorage, we were in an apartment where we could hear our neighbors in the bathtub!! Not fun LOL.
Lived in houses most of my life, in my last ten years working we moved into a large townhouse. We hated the HOA constantly making rules, changing them, increasing the monthly maintenance, and missed working in a garden. We retired, bought a house with 3+ acres and absolutely love it. I can have my workshop, bird houses, gardens and am happy. Should the time come we can't handle it, we'll either hire people or go to independent living. Our neighbors help each other out, which is something you don't find too much with everyone working. Our 83 year old neighbor has same acreage and does all his own work and takes care of his wife who has Parkinson's disease.
Such places do exist. One just has to look. My HOA is not a retirement village (not age restricted). They are private homes with the association maintaining the landscaping and house exterior shell thus they are for all purposes, maintenance free. Each home has a fenced in backyard (20x20) where one can pretty well do as they wish for gardening, etc. Each owner maintains that portion of their yard inside the fence. We have no house pet restrictions. There are restrictions on what you can do outside your fenced in backyard (about nothing) and there are parking restrictions (no overnight street parking)'
The fact that we have few amenities (no pool, no tennis, no clubhouse, no walking trails, etc.) does make for low dues and little to no arguing about how things should be.
I have no business relationship with the builder. I am simply and owner here and I post the link for reference.
I really appreciate posts like this, where the poster enjoys where they live and describes what they like about the place, and posts a link that shows the community...opinions by people without a commercial interest or financial ties to the builder are the best opinions IMHO and I hope to be able to check out different places recommended by different people on this forum!
I can't imagine giving up my home for an apartment. My idea for low-maintenance living is to move to a smaller home in a walkable city and pay someone for lawn maintenance.
I love having a home, yard and garden. I want to be able to plant flowers and vegetables, and I value my peace and privacy.
My spouse and I didn't marry until we were in our mid-30's... so between the homes we grew up in - his family moved constantly - buying and selling homes when his mom got tired of them EVERY THREE YEARS and I lived in the same place for my first 17 years, then I moved all around and eventually across country where I met him - we bought our first home when I was 40 - he was 38. We've been homeowners for 19 years and we love it. It's the longest my spouse has lived in one place. Almost the same for me.
Because of our apartment living history - we both hated it - and because of the recent experiences our parents and inlaws experienced with HOAs... (my folks felt like renters even tho they owned - and the inlaws felt like they were dealing with the gestapo at their last place)... we're pretty much cemented with the idea that we will live in our own home until we need assisted living.
Spouse's family were landlords - so he learned at the hand of the masters how to contract out work and how to do the small stuff by himself. We are not afraid of anything.
Matter of fact - I probably won't retire for another 5-8 years - but we're just back from California - looking for that retirement property - as prices in CA are lower than they have been in years. We hope to buy and rent it out until we retire.
It's easier to make changes when you have experienced the gamut as we have and know what you want.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sounds like Shock...
