Although I’ve parted with some clothes, I still have a lot. I don’t buy that much (and some from thrift shops)…. I just keep things a long time. While I have space, I won’t fret over that.
When I cleaned out my mother’s apartment, clothing was easiest to handle. I shoved much of it in garbage bags and dropped off at ARC. I’m sentimental, so I did hang onto some things for me and sis. But in general I find the family antique furniture, dishes, knick knacks etc much more of a burden than clothing.
For hanging clothes, I have sections for long sleeves, short sleeves etc. Once washed, I stash it back at the “recently used” end of the section. So I do know which hanging clothes I’ve not worn in a long time. They are good candidates for international travel (when we can do that again), when I like to have some discardable items to make room for souvenirs etc.
Totally agree about the family hand-me-downs. I could care less about most else. Problem is that my children don’t want any of it (yet). And all nieces and nephews live too far away. I didn’t want any of it until our first house. Then all the furniture, tools, and even kitchen ware were both helpful and now treasured. I’m fearful that day will come for my children as well, and by then it may all be gone if we downsize too early.
Just wondering how folks who were contemplating (or have done) a dramatic downsize have prepared/investigated?
I know everyone says ‘rent first’ to get a feel for an area. And in a few months I’m hoping for a few 4-5 day weekends at various ‘future living’ options (in different states) to get a general feel whether any of these broad geographic areas are the right vibe.
But also trying to figure out the change in living space size - how to best get a sense of whether what you think you might like (e.g., streamlined ‘stuff’, less unused space, lower-maintence for travel, etc.) is ultimately what will work when balanced against what you’d be leaving…?
(i.e., prefer not to to be sitting in a city condo in a few years with our minimized stuff, regretting our lost yard and access to nearby woods!!)
My Dad downsized from a 5000 sq ft house to a 1000 ft condo. It was super hard for him and I don’t think he was very happy. They were snow birds for a long time so they had the condo for years before it became the primary residence.
We were lucky enough to try out lots of living spaces throughout out our life. Think tiny flats in my old country, 1700 sq feet starter home here in US, huge old 3200 sq feet plus basement plus in-laws apartment house we are living in now and cannot wait to trade in for something smaller (aka downsize from) since we only have one kid and no parents to live with us. We also have an example of my SIL house of approximately 1200 sq feet. So throughout these experiences we established the priority of number of bathrooms we cannot go lower, rooms we really need (example no formal dining for us) and then recreational items (like sunroom/library/reading area kind of space is a must, master bedroom has to be at least 15 by 15, etc) and established that the place has to be no less than 1500 but no more 2000 (with small deviations are possible for any other configuration of rooms).
I was happy Dad was able to close on his house on December 23, 2021 - it was looking dicy because the buyer was being squirrelly (a developer who’s going to tear down the house). Since Mom passed in 2021, he can claim the $500k total in capital gains tax exemptions. He would lost $250k in exemptions 9 days later.
And thanks for the thoughts, momofboiler1 & DreamerMom! I like the idea of slowly developing the list of ‘things must have’ & ‘things don’t want.’ Maybe the 4-5 day visits to different geographic locals can deliberately include different sized places to explore that aspect too…
So far my wants are:
Close to kids
Access to nature
Vibrant and multi-age, engaged community
Cost within our means (aka can pay all or almost all in cash w/proceeds from current house) - to reduce financial strain down the road
We rented a newly constructed 2 bd/2ba apartment very close to H’s office. We appreciated the ease of cleaning the smaller space. However that did not offset the annoyance of noise from neighbors (and each other, when just one wanted to watch TV), lack of private outdoor space, insufficient interior space for hobbies, lack of attached parking, etc. The house sale fell through and it was several years before we finally sold the house. The experience convinced us that we’d be happier in a smaller single family home instead of an apartment or condo.
The current wait time for much new furniture as well as for available delivery drivers makes me think twice about what we’ll take to our new home. I’m looking into refinishing and reupholstering old pieces. Meanwhile, I’ve found some small businesses through social media that restore vintage furniture that would suit our new home well.
You might want to read Houzz forums on building a home, remodeling, home decorating, etc. I’ve learned about space planning for comfortable use of various rooms such as the number of inches between counters and appliances in the kitchen or the minimum suggested dimensions for a dining room to allow for people to pass behind occupied chairs around a table. That helped me when planning our new home so I didn’t make it bigger than we need. Susan Susanka’s books are often recommended, even for people who plan to build larger houses.
Do you need to focus on sq footage or rooms? For instance if you could get a 3 bed, 2 bath home with K, LR, FR and a small yard in 1800 sq feet would that work? Or is a Dining Room a must? Or a basement? Instead of just looking at sq footage think about room wise what is a “must”.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Silpat! The dowsides to apartment living are something I haven’t yet experienced yet, so am not sure how to quantify - maybe staying for a few days in an apartment will give some flavor. Your new place sounds like a great fit! Love the vintage furniture idea. I’m just done with spending tons of $$ on decor and whatnot. Would rather travel!
abasket - interesting analysis! Maybe it is ‘type of rooms’ and ‘number of rooms’ and layout vs. straight square footage.
I think the first step is still - and we are slowly working on it! - answering the question of ‘what do I want out of the upcoming next stage?’ E.g., are certain hobbies going to be prominent (and will mandate more space)?; how many (and what kind) of animals will we have? (ha, the latter is going to be an important question, since we really want dogs at some point again!).
I always thing it’s sort of interesting that we “brag” about square footage in house. Sure it gets you a sense of the size of one someone has - but honestly I’m more interested in the benefits of a home - do you have a study? Sun porch? Kitchen will eat in space for 8? I’d rather know that than that your living room is 30x20!!!
Has anyone gone as far and moved into a RV either a 5th wheel or normal RV?
My better half and I have contemplated it. W says she still wants a base condo. I love the idea of being out on the road. I do worry that when I am 60-70 I might not want the hassle of hauling my house all over the country.
We do threaten the kids that we will do it and show up at their future homes and park in the driveway. Think Crazy Uncle Eddie from Christmas Vacation
I have posted before that we are experimenting with a downsizing move by renting an apartment (2BR/2Bath). We are not giving up our current home yet. I have found the apartment very quiet (which was one of the things I was worried about). We are on the top floor (so no footsteps above us). We have a small patio (haven’t used it yet since it is winter). The apartment is part of a large complex which includes a great deal of green space (as well as a restaurant, historic site, and pool.) I guess I will see in the warmer weather if this is enough outdoor space for us.
The one thing I feel will be hard is the lack of storage space. Although we are purging like crazy (I have been very active in the bag a week thread), I don’t know where we will put stuff like our Christmas ornaments, etc. I guess from a financial standpoint, renting a storage unit might make sense, if we decide to live only in the apartment.
It felt a little small in the apartment over the holidays (when my daughter was with us for a week). But I think it is fine with just the two of us. The idea is that we are so close to her that she will only stay over for any length of time during the holidays.
I like the lack of maintenance (call the maintenance department if something is broken) and the small space to keep clean (only 5 windows!) I also like that there are no steps (I currently live in a split and it seems like every room is on a different level).
@kiddie - that’s so interesting. I’ll be curious if you ultimately find that the apartment is a good fit after a few more months/season changes. I’m not sure we’d have the funds to keep two full-time places running - would likely need to do some short-term Air BnBs to get the feel.
@gpo613 - we’ve watched a lot fo those RV shows! Something interesting I’ve learned - if you have an RV with no other vehicle, then you are pretty limited in where you can go. I.e., if you visit a destination with a historic downtown (narrow streets, etc.) then it would be extremely hard to navigate a big RV there. So you’d essentially be stuck in the RV park in the outskirts of town. That wouldn’t be my first choice.
I’ve also run the numbers - some of those RVs are super expensive - you could fund 15 years of Air BnBs for the same cost!
That being said - a friend got a 5th wheel and is very excited about traveling all over the US with it!
There’s also a step up in basis upon first death (meaning no taxable gain). Not a tax person, but as I understand it. it can be a full step up to current date of death value depending upon how the title is held, whether it is a community property state, etc. otherwise it is a half step up.
Regarding the $500K tax exemption.
My experience is 10 years out, but, as @saillakeerie said, the deceased must have resided in the house in within 2 years of the sale. Their step-up basis is from an independent appraisal or municipal assessment around the time of death.
The living spouse gets credit for their half of the improvement cost, if necessary.
