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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Originally Posted by MichiganGreg
Bingo- that's a great plan! So OK, to address the idea of perfection, nothing is perfect, but some things are just plain ol' practical, and border on great. Our Pole Barn with shop will also have a small apartment for us to stay while we finish the final house. Meeting with the builder tomorrow. Great beats normal everyday
'Perfect' is certainly a 'chase' for retirees... and each of us will have different ideas, then 'stuff happens'. On average I have found my friends who retire early have 3 relocations (for various reasons) Health / activity changes, eldercare, grandkids, adult kids, too much or too little house, noise, HOA battles, restless
Fortunately, most have been very GOOD changes (learning's applied and living situation improved)
It has been my experience / observation that moving 'back - home' seldom works. (though it could)
My mom did 6 relocation / 'executive' house flips during retirement (she enjoyed that activity and the changes of location) Not for everyone, many people / couples cannot, or chose not to deal with construction, hassles, moving, and insecurity.
For the shop w/ apartment, one of my single friends has a GREAT set-up with a 120'x240' very tall shop and a (small) 3 story apartment inside. His deck alone is 30 x 120' (3600 sf) and has a beautiful view overlooking a river valley.
Most shops I build with apartments on rural acreages for resale are only 36 x 30. Often in 'chalet' style / walkout (cars on bottom, living above, with vaulted / loft over 1/2 the area and cabin type vaulted ceilings over 1/2 of the living space, (1080sf+500sf loft) with the vaulted end having lots of south facing windows and a good view (facing away from future home sight). Usually add a wood or pellet stove and stonework and lots of woodwork. loft is fine for guests / kids / and a GREAT place to read / quilt / do sewing / hobbies. Access can be from lower level (cars) and also main level (I like to build on hillsides and I really like my basements (ez to cool, ez to heat, and VERY quiet for sleeping)
Neighbor has a 40 x 60 shop with 1/2 (40x30) lofted apartment all finished in knotty pine, with a 'walkout' deck / entry on hillside (visitors don't even know it is an apartment in a shop.) Rear facing, so assessor does not know either
My own places have 40x60 shops with 1 and 1/2 story apartment in rear corner, and a overhang along one side with RV storage, power, and hookups (extra Bath, community / canning kitchen, and Laundry accessible from RV, Shop, or apartment) I like to have an outdoor / separate shower / bath / laundry so campers / RV visitors / workers can enjoy privacy of not having to come inside house / shop.
For those of you who were favorably discussing separate bathrooms in your dream house, you have another vote. Six years ago, a friend and I purchased a retirement home together. When we bought it, the basement was just a big empty rectangle. We had a wonderful time designing two bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry room for the basement. What we ended up doing was having private half baths opening out of our separate bedrooms. The door at the far end of each half bath opens into a shared shower room, with a large barrier free shower. We realized in discussing it, that it was unlikely we would be desperate to get into the shower, and unable to wait. The same cannot be said for a toilet and sink. It's been over five years now, and having our own half baths has proved to be one of our best design decisions ever. If anyone is designing a dream home, you might want to seriously consider it.
I knew two things. I wanted out of socal smog. Where I lived the air other than in winter was grey and you literally couldn't see the mountains outside of town for it. I had problems with breathing when the smog was bad. I had a worsening problem and took lots of allergy meds. It had been suggested moving to a place with more clear air, but until I visited a friend in Oklahoma, hadn't had firm plans. I'd never been in a small town, but I liked it. My friends had a similar story, and they liked it too. When I went home, back to crowded socal, my friends had suggested I consider the area. Also, the sky was blue here, and there was no smog. Socal had improved some, but it was still usual to have grey soup for a sky.
Just to see, I looked at houses online and found one I fell in love with, same town my friends were in, for small change by socal standards. I even called the real estate people about it. More I thought about it, I decided to mention it to family. They were willing to help, and we bought the house. So when I arrived early to hopefully fix the regrestration mess for the con, I got to look at my house. It needed work, and while I went home and packed and sorted, and waited for the lease to be up, I was looking forward to something new.
Has it been perfect? No, but it never is. I'd like a way to get around town myself. And I hate spring storm season. But overall, had it worked? Absolutely. If I'd tried to wait for perfection I'd still be out in socal and miserable. I wouldn't be missing the things I left behind, or assumed would be easy to find, like I do. But at the end of the day, I feel comfortable. Unless you want to wait forever, you'll never find perfect. But figure out your greatest needs, and work on those first. Tomorrow doesn't have to be perfect, just better than it was.
I've come to view life as an adventure, and like all of them, parts get old. Moving is a way of renewing yourself, and there will never be that final perfect place you never want to leave.
I say, if you want a new place, and you aren't fully ready to decide then research. And when you figure out what want, then GO FOR IT.
I like deedolce's plan. If you know you aren't happy where you are, go find a place you will be and have an adventure along the way.
I think the thing which made this work was that first off, I was sure I wanted to move. Not everyone is. But its a final thing, and you have to give yourself time to know if you really want to live the place your looking. I like the glacially slow pace of things. Some may not. I get frustrated to sometimes, but its not sufficent to be unhappy.
I've learned that the stuff that makes life happy isn't always firmly defined pr fancy.
My wife and I started looking for our perfect retirement home when we were in our late 40s. The requirements were:
Beautiful setting on acreage
Single story with surroundings easy to install a handicapped ramp.
Affordable enough that we could have it paid off before our planned retirement date.
Structurally sound.
We then proceeded to build our retirement home with updates and accoutrements suitable to our planned lifestyle. We're there, almost. We still have to convert one bathroom to a handicapped accessible room with a floor level shower that will accommodate a wheelchair. We just turned 70 and are healthy enough, but are planning for the future. With yard service, a weekly housemaid and home nursing care, we figure they will haul us out of here toes up sometime in the next 20 years.
A great way, actually, to keep your kids from getting their inheritance, that they didn't deserve because they treated you like cr@p when you got old and were no longer useful to them.
A great way, actually, to keep your kids from getting their inheritance,
that they didn't deserve because they treated you like cr@p
when you got old and were no longer useful to them.
Really?
Even if such a rancorous reason exists...
there are a thousand better ways to give away your estate than bending over to a bank.
We are having one heck of a time trying to find the perfect retirement home -we are picky-very picky. We have made numerous trips to TN looking at houses after finding them online -and have come close but no cigar. It's always something!
Does it make any sense that we should just find something "temporarily" that suits us but isn't the "dream home" just so we can get our stuff out of our home in NJ and get it sold?
Then while in our interim/temporary house we will be closer to the area and not have to make numerous long house hunting trips.
We may even build so we would be close enough to keep an eye on construction.
Does that make any sense? I know we could rent but my husband was a builder and is always remodeling stuff so I think buying would be better for us- we would probably even make money on the deal.
How did you go about finding your retirement home if it was several states away?
We looked for 4 years to find the perfect home. Never found it. However what we found was houses that fit the bill and we would be able to shape them into the house we want.
My suggestion
Make a list of what you want. And I mean everything you want in a house. Location, size, land rooms layout etc. Now take that list and go over it. Split that list into two lists. A the MUST have CANT live without and I CAN live without this.
THEN START LOOKING
It is hard to find a house that has everything you want. It's practically impossible. We found one that was very very close but I lost out. I found another. I had to compromise on a few things but overall it wasn't anything I couldn't do without. And I'm adding those things as I save for it.
We decided to live in a series of 5 year plans so we didn't look for a permanent retirement home.
Instead we moved every five years to totally different places, while we also satisfied our pent-up demand for travel travel travel.
Here's where we lived and why....
2003-2008
Bisbee AZ. An historic funky artsy mountain town (5600' altitude). After our lifetimes on the East Coast, we were anxious to explore the SouthWest and West, including HI.
2008-2012
Ajijic (Lake Chapala) Mexico. We always wanted to live outside the US. Being 30 minutes from the Guadalajara airport allowed us to explore all of MX by air. We also were centrally located where beaches (to our east) and colonial cities (mostly to our west) were accessible by car.
2013-2017
Gulfport FL. A funky artsy beach town with brick lined streets within 25 minutes of Tampa airport. We needed frequent non-stop flights to DCA to look in on an elderly parent (we flew up every 6 weeks, staying with him for a week to give his caregiver a break). In between caregiving, we traveled frequently to Europe.
2017 - ???
Ajijic, Mexico. We just bought a larger home there which we'll move to in April. We are now 64/65 years old. Will this be our permanent retirement home? Could be.
For those of you who were favorably discussing separate bathrooms in your dream house, you have another vote. Six years ago, a friend and I purchased a retirement home together. When we bought it, the basement was just a big empty rectangle. We had a wonderful time designing two bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry room for the basement. What we ended up doing was having private half baths opening out of our separate bedrooms. The door at the far end of each half bath opens into a shared shower room, with a large barrier free shower. We realized in discussing it, that it was unlikely we would be desperate to get into the shower, and unable to wait. The same cannot be said for a toilet and sink. It's been over five years now, and having our own half baths has proved to be one of our best design decisions ever. If anyone is designing a dream home, you might want to seriously consider it.
Great idea! Brilliant!!!!
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