When downsizing is on the cards

[Monkeypuzzlesandwich]

...and you have grown up children and no other half - so the world is basically your oyster..where do you go? Flat in a city or a house by the sea?

Marking my place - I am really starting to think ahead to where we might move when we retire. Shame it won't be for at least 8 years yet!

I love the idea of being near enough to the coast to get there easily if not actually on the coast.

Re climbing stairs, no doubt it's what you're used to - I'm in a 4-storey house and think nothing of climbing three flights of stairs with the hoover in hand. When you don't have to do that any more, I can see why your fitness might decline.

Anyway, the big decision for me today is that I'm going to view a house by the sea this week - it looks beautiful and has views of the sea from the bedroom!! I've never seen anything yet that I wanted to view - there was always something that was a drawback, so it'll be interesting to have a look. I don't know the town very well either, so will start doing some research.

Keep us all informed whats. What happens if you love it..?

Also what town out of curiosity?

South coast between Brighton and Portsmouth

If I love it, I'll have my work cut out getting this place ready to put on the market - I'll have to get the Chuckle brothers in with their pasting table and paintpots PDQ.

But seriously, I do have too much to do first, so it's just a quick reccy to see what it's like around there. I have an overgrown garden and walls that need skimming, so there won't be any quick fixes to be done.

I don't think the house will be around for long anyway, I'm just picturing the terracotta pots of geraniums outside and windows opening towards the sea front, with white billowy voile curtains...

That narrows it down whats how very secret squirrel of you! thought we might get a link to some property porn!

I honestly wouldn't worry about the state of your current property (unless of course it's bright orange and needs to be neutralised!) IME doing your house up to sell is a waste of time. People usually see through it all anyway.

I want a house with billowy voiles

No, it's not really doing it up to sell, I've been revamping the kitchen and have decided to do less of a revamp and just decorate, so I'm part-painted etc. However, I'm very pleased with my new LED downlighters (I installed myself -shameless boast!) and want to tell everyone to GET RID OF HALOGEN BULBS - they cost a fortune to run and people have them all over the place. They're easy to swap over to LEDs, which use a fraction of the power that halogens do. End of rant.

The thought of living in a much smaller house really is very tempting.

A lady after my own heart whats - after living in a big house it's very exciting to think about a smaller cosier home and of course being free of my horrendous mortgage.

Would also like to throw another question out there - people who have moved away from family - what was the reaction?
Surprisingly my children do not seem as attached to my current home as I thought they would be. When I mentioned a possible move to the coast I could feel them planning weekend breaks already!

A lot of you are very sniffy about Bungalos. I presume some of you would buy a large ground floor flat with your own garden, yes? Think of them like that without the maybe problem of people living above.
I think that it's because of its association with retired people. I'm retired. One side of me is a couple in their 20s with a baby and the other side a couple in their 40s.
Also, I'm very lucky that I've always lived within walking distance of the beach.

Monkey -you get flats with gardens and terraces/balconies

Yes, I do have a preconceived idea about bungalows being for the very elderly. I realise that's a generalisation and I expect I'd think differently if I lived in one in an area with young families etc. For some reason if it's a ranch-house type of house on a big plot I'd be very keen. Maybe I should view some bungalows and see what they're like.

The thing with flats is the leasehold aspect - I feel it's more restrictive in terms of what you can do to the place. However, I love older houses, Victorian especially, so flats aren't ruled out at all.

Whereabouts are you, Button?

Sounds like you're moving near me, What's
Happy to advise if it is!

I've lived by the sea for 15 years and was very sniffy about bungalows until I saw what people have done to them, think New England style. It's a big retirement area which keeps the village shops alive (rubbish bus service) and the shortage of family homes and the obsession with building retirement flats means a lot of younger people live in bungalows.

I'm getting excited just thinking about looking at this house now! Thanks, Beachy, I may be picking your brains shortly

Seeing another thread about BEM populations in coastal towns has also got me thinking. I got a poor impression of Poole/Bournemouth last time I visited the area - it looked too white and middle-class for my liking. I'm looking for somewhere with a friendly, healthy mix of population, not UKIP types.

Hope I don't get flamed now.

Slightly envious as a 40 year old with 20 years left on the mortgage. If you are a real free spirit then a rental abroad would be a great life enriching adventure of course.

My sister's just done that - she's rented an apartment in Sicily for a year - it's beautiful, complete with vaulted ceilings in every room and hand painted murals here and there, polished floorboards and two balconies. I'll be popping over when I can. She pays about £500 a month!

My mortgage is interest-only. There's no way I could ever repay it, it's mahoosive. But when I sell I'll have enough equity to buy outright. At least, that's the theory.

whats are you me?! That's my plan. I just need to work out if I want to spend all the equity on buying a house outright or holding some back as a safety net.

I like the idea of living abroad but I don't think realistically I'm that brave. I'm just browsing through rightmove now, Weymouth is looking good...

I won't use all the equity if I can help it. I'll save some and buy a 'mid-life crisis sports car' and keep some back for lots of travelling. If my DC need help with deposits etc, I may have a bit for them too.

I'd definitely consider living abroad tho. My idea is maybe to have a lodger in my house by the sea, who can keep an eye on things while I roam around Canada, the Far East and South America with a backpack. Not that I'm planning.... much

Wow whats is a woman with a plan. I admire that. You have lots to look forward to! Who knows, the house viewing this week could be the first step towards this dream life! What's stopped you doing this sooner??

I have a DD at college and DSs who are still living at home, so there will be some big changes to be made when I eventually up sticks and move. Fortunately DD thinks I should just ditch all the baggage and go and the boys are getting to a stage where I think they would benefit from some independence anyway. I need to do it carefully though. I don't want them feeling that they're cast adrift and homeless.

The amount of stuff I've accumulated over the past 10 years is ridiculous though. I get stressed just thinking about sorting it all out.

Oh ok, yes my kids are already independent so I understand.

I know what you mean about stuff. I had a go at clearing out the loft a while back and that was hardwork. I wasted a lot of time looking at old photographs up there! I think you have to do it a bit at a time and focus on having a clear out one room at a time. I've also started selling off some of my furniture as I honestly can't see me taking it all with me. I like the idea of starting afresh.

Do you have an ex lurking in the background that could house your kids if the time/need came?

No. XH's house would be unsuitable for all sorts of reasons, most of all because he's there. DC will be OK. I'll make sure of that, that's my job. I might sneak a sofa-bed in somewhere, just in case.

Ah shame about XH. Sounds like a bad one.

Yes always good to have a place they can rest their heads. You'll probably find they won't much but it will be nice for them to know they can. Boys tend to drift towards their girlfriends parents eventually IME.

I have spent a lot of time worrying about what they will do, but I have to just bite the bullet. They're all resourceful and perfectly capable of living on their own anyway. I'll only be a phone call away.

You do need to get on with living your life. They will be absolutely fine no doubt. Do they know you are viewing somewhere this week?

The house situation is getting to me now as i do feel like its time to close this chapter of my life.

Will you be pleased to move from your house and area? does it hold very fond memories? i have had a mixture of feelings about this house but i think a fresh start (at my age!) will literally change my life.