Has anyone bought a large house to retire in

[Alicecatto]

Most people downsize when get to be about 60. We are thinking of upsizing because DH received a nice inheritance, and we never did get to have that dream home. We had a fixer upper which we fixed up. It is a perfectly nice detached house on a 1/2 acre. But, we have the opportunity to buy an amazing house on 8 acres… a small holding really, which we dreamt of for years. Our friends are telling us we should stay put or downsize, invest all the inheritance, and that way we would have no money worries, could pay for a luxe care home later etc.

The thing is we have done all the saving/pensions/investment stuff already, we travelled a lot by camping and caravanning earlier, so did most of what we wanted to do, we don’t have kids to leave our estate to (it would go to charity)…. I’m not quite seeing the allure of a small bungalow with a lot of money in the bank.

Did anyone here upsize in retirement?

We moved to a 4 bed so that we could have separate rooms for sewing and my hobbies and an office and library for him. Also a bigger sunny garden. We also had good bus links so could go out to lunch and a drink.

We've upsized in our 40s and 50s, we don't have as much land as that, about 1/3 acre - an extra big garden rather than smallholding size really. We've already planned out how we will cope with it in our golden years, we hired a permaculture garden planner and we'll be planting a food forest for the bottom half of the garden, which will grow all sorts for us but won't be much work once it's up and running as it were. As we age, the working bits of the garden will move closer and closer to the house - at the moment, we have a lawn nearest the house but in 20-30 years we'll get raised beds on half of it so we can still potter about and enjoy our space. The end of our garden backs onto a woodland so we feel happy about letting it rewild itself over time. Good for bird watching. :)

I wouldn't have any qualms about having more land and taking a similar approach to it. We have chickens at the moment, but once we reach an age where daily upkeep in all weathers become too much, we'll finish with that as well.

My advice is to be realistic, and plan for how your future years will look, so it doesn't creep up on you and overwhelm you. We even have a plan for when we will start considering building a wet room downstairs, moving our bedroom downstairs or fitting a stair lift, etc. We want to stay here for as long as possible!

8 acres is a lot! Do you have thoughts on using the land? The cost of upkeep? Equipment needed?

In your circumstances do what makes you happy but be aware that mobility etc can become an issue at any age but more likely into 70's so what's public transport like??? We've bought a house which is walking distance from everything we need, bus service to city, excellent selection of pubs etc and crucially we could stay even if mobility issues occur. We don't have one but friends have an allotment down the road ... it's down a lot ti personal preference, I just want an easier life

My in-laws did this, they wanted extra rooms as they were home more and wanted to be able to have lots of people to stay.

You could easily have another 30 years of active life. I would go for it and enjoy what you have been working for your whole life. Having money makes old age so much easier. My DH and I are still active at 80 and know that as soon as we need additional help we can pay for it.

Friends have, moved to a house with land at 65. They moved to have a proper garden after living in a terrace. They love it.

But...they are 70 something now...and while still very fit and healthy the upkeep of the garden takes a lot of time from other things they want to do. They both like travelling and hadn't really factored that in (rolls eyes) and are loath to employ a gardener. Though they do as one offs for particularly heavy jobs.

There's a lot of ongoing upkeep on the house, just big old houses are like that.

It's quite expensive to heat so they have a lot of thick curtains across doors etc. On the other hand they never need to buy wood for the woodburner.

Every so often they look at a lock up and leave ...but decide they'd rather keep the old big house.

We are doing this- bought a big house in the country to do up, 3 acres. We are now early 50s and planning to retire within 3-4 years (by which point the house should be done). We are hoping that we'll get a good 20 years there, DV and if not then we will sell.

My experience is that advice on MN is always too pessimistic- buy a bungalow by 25 because you never know what's coming. Better yet just buy a coffin, get inside and wait- that will save lots of hassle down the line 😂 This thread has been refreshingly positive, maybe because it's on the Retirement board rather than somewhere more general.

@CandleStub That made me laugh, yes stay in a box for years to make it easier to sweep up when you depart this life. Logan's Run!

You might never need a care home. Make sure you have one downstairs bedroom and bathroom, be near transport links and hospitals if at all possible. Not mad. It's called living.

@Alicecatto It's sounds like you're on top of it. 👍 I can recommend pigs if you're thinking of livestock. Chickens are fun too.

Better yet just buy a coffin, get inside and wait- that will save lots of hassle down the line

This made me laugh! I’m going to remember this line when my husband talks about downsizing from our lovely large house to a shoebox! 😂

I think if you enjoy gardening or happy to pay someone to do it go for it. Also with animals travelling may become difficult. So if you want to travel a lot I would weigh that up. But otherwise I don’t see the problem, it’ll probably keep you active.

We bought a house with 40 acres in our 40s, we have no plans to leave, ever. We have ponies, dogs, cats, ferrets, sheep, geese and a tortoise. We have set things up to be as little work as possible and we just have a 4x4 to do jobs like harrowing. We buy hay in and tractor jobs we let build up over the year and we have a lovely guy who comes in for about a week every year during the winter and goes through our to do list. We rest and rotate, use poo as a fertiliser and the sheep as toppers and compacters! The ponies live out except in extreme cold and wet. The dogs are actually our biggest job. We love it here and have no plans to move, ever. My closest neighbours are in their 70s and still ride every day and breed youngstock they back themselves. I have a friend of 84 who still runs a pony stud. She has help through the week but still goes out every day and cares for her ponies and land and is currently backing a youngster to be her new riding pony. She has physical limitations that I don't, at 51, but she is still going strong, still enjoying her life. Don't assume you will hit 70 and just become decrepit. Staying fit and active is the best thing you can do for your health. I am lucky that one of my DDs is also very into this lifestyle (half the animals are hers) and shares the burden, so she is my plan b if my mobility falls off a cliff. @CandleStub is right, people are too pessimistic. The notion that by 70 you will only be able to walk, carefully, from centrally heated room to centrally heated room and a patio is all you will be able to manage is laughable! I swear, some people just MAKE themselves old! Go for it, you never know what life has in store for you, so don't let "what ifs?" put you off doing what you want to do.

Edited to say: We are able to travel, but not for long, and we can't go at the drop of a hat, it takes a lot of planning! But it can be done.

I agree, @krustykittens - we are fitter now because of our large garden, not in spite of it.

You all are great. I really appreciate the varieties of comments and the helpful suggestions. I think in some ways what it is about is optimism. we could sit on a big pile of money, or we can live a dream and work together on something that will keep us active and happy. I suppose I better price out a robot mower, and a GPS one no less. Thank you so much.

I don’t think we are having animals, other than a cat, and from my user handle you can guess her name. We had chickens at one point, and they were fun, and then I found out I was egg intolerant! I thought being active in the outdoors and fresh air would be good for the both of us. I think we would do a little travel in our caravan, but I also suspect it will be so nice at home, that we’ll do it for a change of view now and again…not to “get away”.

Yeah. My MIL lived her in lovely old house till the end…she lived to 91, and I think part of the reason was because she was in a familiar space with a house of memories and all her things. Small houses can be useful in some cases for sure, and I even have had fun watching the tiny house channels on YouTube because the way they are put together is often quite clever. But I like antiques and prints, and this place would let me diesplay my things, and what my MIL gave us. That’s just nice.

You are living the life I have wanted forever, and I want to have this to look forward to and experience. We won’t have the animals, but we will have our farmer neighbour’s sheep on the lower 4 acres and get lamb and firewood in exchange (as mentioned above). My husband also told me that you can think yourself older than your years. I find when I am active and around and about, I don’t have aches and pains, and I am so much happier. It is sitting in an easy chair that is problematic for me! Thank you, and enjoy those 40 acres!

there is in fact a piggery. The previous owners raised Old Spots.

Oh, we do have a downstairs room that can be a bedroom and a full bath downstairs. That is not a problem. Hospitals are in reasonable distance, a mile to a bus stop that takes you to a large market town in 5 minutes and a medium sized town in an hour.

This also made me laugh. It is so, so true.

It has been a great thread…about enjoying life and making the most of it.

We bought a larger house when I was early 50s. Now I'm nearly 58 and it's getting hard work maintaining the decor and garden. The trouble is you don't want to think about that side of things. It's human nature not to.

Well if you can afford it and are fit enough to cope with the cleaning/ gardening etc ( or can pay for the services) then why not - if it all gets too much just sell & move
personally as a PP said I’d rather have a nice apartment on a marina but that’s just my choice…

just don’t go on Escape to the Country and bleat on about how as a retired couple you ‘need’ at least 5 bedrooms and a kitchen the size of a football pitch cos those people wind me right up!

This would be my dream I'd love the extra distance from neighbour noises and enjoy animals/wildlife.

When become less able you could also offer the remaining 4 acres to someone in similar way to current farmer so it gets taken care of, while you continue to enjoy the views.

Could the farmer not graze sheep on the larger areas temporarily to reduce mowing?