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Yes, we finally did in 2017. I had lived in that home for over 40 years, it was my childhood home that we added an addition in the midst of raising kids. It was a large home with an inlaw area in basement and almost 2 acres. It felt like an albatross the last few years for so many reasons... we kept purging but it felt like it was never going to end.
We ended up in another state... in a 2100 sq ft condo/villa with a tiny post card yard that the HOA takes care of.
I can't emphasize enough what a relief it was, you don't realize how much something is weighing you down until you get to the other side of the process.
I would anticipate another downsize in another 5 or 10 years, but my mom lives with us now so it works just fine, and we have another 10 or so years until retirement. As another poster mentioned, be careful to not downsize too much the first time.
If anyone out there is thinking about a downsize, do it while you are healthy enough and have the energy!
And, the price (of course, it was 2010) was awesome. It looks like the perfect house.
What I don't understand is why Zillow says there has been almost no appreciation in the last 9 years. Taxes are low and the schools are OK.
Where I live (in Denver) the appreciation in that time has been about 75% in my neighborhood for houses at the top of the price range. And, for scrapers, the price increase has been 220%.
The answer is there is a lot of home building going on in my area as it is a very desirable area. All kinds of new, bigger homes from $150K and up which holds down the value of older homes.. My home, based on recent sales, has increased in value about 10% in last 8 years. I am not complaining. After all I need a place to live.......LOL
Downsize? I actually wouldn’t mind it if housing prices in my area warranted it. We’re a family of 4, kids are 10 and 8. Went from 4,000 new construction in 2015 to 6,300 (7,000 if you include the garage). Did it for two reasons. (1) we were sick and tired of living in a construction zone after 4 years, with no end in sight, plus what was a quiet road had turned into a busy road with plans to make it even busier. (2) bigger house was a cosmetic fixer-upper which allowed me to get it for about $0.70 on the dollar. With prices continuing to climb here, especially with HQ2 now coming (along with Google and Microsoft), for us to downsize would mean paying more than what we paid for this McMansion in a gated country club neighborhood. It just doesn’t make sense financially. So, we’re here through high school and then will likely bail out. My hope would be for this house to pay for the next one with mostly cash somewhere else in the country. As it stands today, we’re about $300k in the positive.
But I totally get the appeal of decluttering and downsizing to a more easily manageable lifestyle. I look forward to it for sure, but it’ll need to come with a boat and a few more “y’alls” in the area. Basically back to where we came from and why my screen name is what it is..
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