Do downsizers ever downsize?

[NewbieOnHolidays]

We’ve seen so many detached family houses with husband and wife in their 50-60s (kids grew up and left), so now just 2 people living on 200+ sq.m. They all say they want to downsize, put house on the market at an astronomical price and fail to get offers anywhere close to asking and then just take it off the market. So once again a house came up, after 3 weeks they managed to get about 10 people who wanted to view, did an open day, we put an offer below asking, were now told there were 5 offers with 3 above asking, so they rejected our offer. We’ve been in this boat so many times and it always end up same way: we compete against non existent buyers who are very keen, offer way above asking, then we see the house keeps staying on the market or just disappears without sstc. Same street couple of months ago after 3 rounds of best an final competing against “many interested couples” and upping our offer every time we just got fed up and walked away, in few weeks sellers took it off the market. Do downsizers ever downsize?

Moving is stressful. I am determined to be out of here by 60, but I love it and can see me thinking we can manage a few more years. Until we suddenly can't and find that moving is really hard.

I think this is exactly what happens. In their 50s, fresh from the experiences of their own parents who left it too late to move, my parents said they'd move in their 60s. Now they're there they feel too young for that, and they also now have lots of grandchildren so the huge garden and space all feels useful again in a way it didn't a decade ago. They've also got much more rooted in their community since retirement. I completely understand why they don't want to move, but where they live is very impractical for elderly people - not just the house, but more so the location which is unliveable if you don't drive - and I do dread the inevitability of them waiting too long.

@HardbackWriter in a way the unlivable nature of the location ended up helping - DM had to have a hip replacement in her early 70s which meant six weeks of not being able to drive. No family within 4-5 hour drive (I managed to visit twice, DB didn't bother!) so she was entirely dependent on friends for lifts out, to the hospital and for shopping. She hated it but it did give some impetus to moving somewhere more sensible even though she didn't want to.

My parents moved - not downsized - in their late sixties.

they moved from the country to a house in the city - close to my sister and I. On bus routes - walking distance to pubs, restaurants, shops, doctors. If they can’t drive it’s not the end of the world.

This won’t make those angry at the boomer generation happy. They are still in a four bed house. Smaller garden because it’s in the city.

but they are happy and they are just as entitled to buy house as families.

In the (London) market around me, everything cost a pittance 30 plus years ago. Someone earlier on this thread mentioned a property bought in the eighties for £110k sold for £1.1m. 10 x growth, which as I say, is typical in my area. Even people who moved in 15 years ago have seen substantial gains, look at any house price index. Even if the smaller properties have also gone up in value, the downsizers will be selling a bigger house, so they will have cash reserves following.

A better incentive for older people to move would be helpful, but I don't think exempting them from paying stamp duty when they are downsizing is the way forward.

My DPs downsized in their early 70s, they moved close to us so needed less guest accommodation but they were still fit and vigorous and enjoyed a decent sized garden.DM still lives alone there more than 20 years on.
DMil upsized in her early 70s when she was widowed.She , again came to live near us but wanted space for our DC to enjoy and she herself enjoyed developing her property and establishing her garden.She died at home at nearly 90.All of the GPs had worked prior to this age and it was only in retirement that they had a chance to spend money on their interests and their homes and gardens.
We will be the same if we are lucky enough to live a long life.We have spent much of our wages on childcare and education As it happens we haven't benefitted particularly from surges in house prices where we live and if we moved here now with the jobs we have would probably buy a similar , comfortable but modest, property.
I understand your frustrations as my DD and her partner have been trying to buy for over a year and at their most recent viewing were one of 87 viewings that day! I don't really think it is up any one to tell others what to do but lots of factors have led to the current housing crisis and it needs a lot of unpicking.Expecting home owners in their 60s to downsize isn't the issue.

@Starseeking We viewed a property the other day that the owners had bought four years ago. No updates to kitchen or bathroom. Some new windows though to be fair. But they wanted 660k more for it than when they bought it! The price rises in some postcodes have been insane. Ours has gone up but not early by that amount. Lots of retired people in the area we are looking who love the leafy feel, nice shops. Bought in the area for school 40 years ago and have understandably stayed! Some are clearly wealthy with generous pensions. Others I suspect are asset rich but cash poor as some of the properties are just too costly to maintain judging by the state of them. They all still sell for well over £2 million. Three years ago, an unrenovated property could have been snapped up for far less but now there isn’t much price difference between done up and unmodernised!

My parents did move from a 6 bed detached to a 4 bed semi - not exactly moving down to a flat, but it was downsizing.

There is a major lack of suitable flats for older people to downsize to, unfortunately, and more needs to be done about this other end of the housing ladder.

I think you’re right as we have also come across the types your describing. I’ve put it down to posturing. Like a huge humble brag. Come and look around our home, covet it, clamber for it and then we will pull it off the market once we realise how desirable it is.

One house I’m thinking of which we couldn’t afford had the EA laughing. Apparently he’d sold it countless times and each time the seller changed their minds. He reckoned they just got a kick out of marketing it and had no intention of moving at all.

We are actually upsizing in our 50s and kids left home!
No chain from us as we are mortgage free since having mortgages since age 25 and sold our 4 bed 1 bath 2 toilets house in 2 days going £20k over asking to buyers who had sold and are renting so no chain.
We are moving from London to the coast so want a bigger house for family and friends to come and stay regularly which they will as it's lovely where we are moving to - lots of beaches and interesting towns and villages. Hour and 45 from London driving 2hrs on train. It's 4 bed, 2 bathrooms (one is a kind of wet room with loo and sink) plus en suite.
Had to go £26k over asking 'offers over' but, because, fortunately, house prices are much much lower where we are moving to compared to London ridiculous prices, we'll still have considerable money to invest.
So yes, us 50-60yr olds do move out of family homes.
Good luck finding something soon

I'm in my fifties with a house in a great location, just DH and I now, close to great schools, pet safe, four bedrooms, but I have no intention of moving. No way, would I get a smaller house in an off the road spot, in this area that I had invested literally 100s of thousands of pounds extending, renovating and fitting to a top spec anywhere else that I could afford.

Even if I could, I don't want to leave my home of 25 years, where I brought my children up and have pets buried in the garden and I feel safe and happy.

I suspect there are many other older people the same. I don't get those that put it up then take it down, unless their hearts weren't in it and they had been encouraged to downsize by family.

I downsized and my experience is the opposite end of what you are saying. I put my house on the market at the lower end of prices at the time. I had young first time buyers wanting to buy my 4 bed Edwardian house but offering 20% below my price, which was already low.
The attitude from some of the viewers, who had highly paid City jobs, was that I did not need a fair price, just that I should move to a smaller house. I needed to boost my savings for future repairs of my home and the possibility of needing a nursing home.

This is the situation I had. I honestly think my isolated ex-vendor enjoyed the attention of many people wanting to buy her house, having several people to talk to, and looked forward to doing so. They never actually had any real intention of selling.

That is a ridiculous uplift in just 2 years with minor updates @Ffsbrainscrambled. Unless you're looking in St George's Hill and the increase represents 10% property value, in which case that would actually not be unreasonable lol

This is how I feel about my house except that it's in the wrong place. So technically we won't be downsizing just moving to a small town instead of a village.

Well the first part I get - but the second part contradicts it somewhat. Maybe these schools are closing because of the lower birth rate?

@WomanStanleyWoman2 i explained exactly why in a following post. Nothing to do with falling births.

To be fair @Starseeking they have been there for four years (about a fifth of the usual length of stay in the road). I just looked up the area you mentioned - blimey are the oligarch’s doing a runner? There seem to be properties languishing. Pricing seems inconsistent too - some for multiple millions, others for 3.5 that look identical.

On a different note will energy bills make asset rich but income poor people consider selling perhaps? And I don’t mean solely older people but perhaps people who have over stretched themselves in the last few years or who moved into an area at a bargain price say ten years ago and it’s rocketed around them?

I see there are posters on here in their 50s who think they’re being lumped in with the downsizing contenders! That seems very young to me!!

Perhaps there will be even fewer people downsizing in future because many of us - particularly in expensive areas where you need two high salaries - are having children later?

DH will early 60s by the time the youngest sits her A levels! That’s why we want to upsize now so we have at least a decade in our (not) forever home.

Does that mean even fewer expensive, large homes in future fuelling prices even more?

I speak to a lot of elderly people in my work and this topic comes up A LOT when I do visits to their massive houses where they only live downstairs.

The biggest thing that I hear is that they don’t want a flat, not because of the potential stairs but due to leases and service charges, people are terrified of them. Bungalows are often as expensive, if not more expensive, than houses so why would you expend all that money and effort moving if you weren’t going to release some equity? It’s understandable. Plus people don’t want to admit they will (fairly soon) struggle with big gardens and stairs even.

That said, a little bit of understanding that it’s harder to buy a house these days wouldn’t go amiss! Most (anecdotal and massive generalisation) do seemingly believe that younger folk can’t get on the ladder because of too many Starbucks and Netflix subscriptions.

Why do people of retirement age need so much stuff? When you retire you should be downsizing your stuff before you get too old, never mind your house. You can't take it with you, and it's not fair to leave all the work to your kids when you pop off.

Nobody ‘needs’ that much stuff @MidnightMeltdown but it’s entirely emotive and no one wants to be reminded of their mortality. I’m mid 40s but can see why older people could find it distressing to move away from all those memories. I don’t know whether it’s worse to live in a house surrounded by the ‘ghosts’ of your (hopefully still healthy!) children though.

My DM moved countries in her late 70s after the death of my DF. She’s had to downsize from a house to an apartment but is living in the inner city with an amazing view and giant terrace and has found a new lease of life (if you pardon the property pun).

@MidnightMeltdown I don't disagree- but they do - a lot of older people just don't have clear outs

I am watching a location location location right now where there is an older couple (70s) who want to move. They absolutely do not want to downsize as their kids live in Singapore and the Netherlands so they want plenty of space for them to visit them when they come. Budget of £600k in Cheshire. They want 4 beds, a kitchen diner snug, large living room, utility, the works really.

To me, that is a family home. I suppose the difficulty is you cannot tell people what homes to buy and they are entitled to purchase what they like. But I do agree that at that age, people should be looking to downsize so they can de clutter and not leave lots of stuff for their kids to sort when they die, and also so the property is manageable for them as they age.

My mom is 60 soon and she wants to downsize which is good because she has a four bedroom house which is full to the brim of everything you could think of. She is also single I think a smaller house would be easier for her to manage too. Whilst she is in great health now, you don't know what the future holds and her kids are scattered around so a good time to be trying to move!

@Ffsbrainscrambled thats a very good point about having children later in life. Probably a big contributing factor as to why people are leaving it later or not at all downsizing, or at least a comparable factor to other considerations such as cost of moving/hassle/stamp duty etc.
I wonder though, if with the shift in rental properties coupled with decreasing pensions, this might be a good thing? - extended family living together meaning less pressure on the care system. Etc. a return to the mid 20th Century version of living with families living closer?
or as pp said - rental to youngsters at a cheaper price with the pay off of helping an older person with living.

But I do agree that at that age, people should be looking to downsize so they can de clutter and not leave lots of stuff for their kids to sort when they die, and also so the property is manageable for them as they age.

You can de-clutter a large home.
People can be hoarders at any age.
I've seen lots of threads from older people - my age who have had the experience of sorting an elderly parent's home and don't want their DC to do the same. Many in my generation were born to younger parents than is usual now and had their own DC later. So, like me they had aging / dying parents at the same time as teenagers.
I have always liked space rather than clutter, though fighting a constant battle with DH. We plan to move to a not-much-smaller house de-clutter but I still aim to de-clutter.