My idea of a retirement home is one near a transportation hub, not in the middle of nowhere, so I can go places (assuming the pandemic will be over at some point, of course).
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H and I grew up in a rural area about 2 hours (with traffic) away from a major airport and it is a PITA. I no longer have family there but it always requires us renting a car because no one is willing to pick us up/take us back to the airport. No shuttle service and way too far for a cab/Uber.
This was one factor in our relocation. Although we will be very close to one child, it will be easy for the other to visit us and vice versa.
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Yes, fairly convenient access to airports is important, as it access to medical care, especially as we age.
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I was also going to make the point about being near an airport. It makes it more convenient for selves AND potential visitors.
We are less than an hour from DIA (Denver, a major hub). That streamlined transportation when DS went to college in Boston. Now that heās settled there, itās great that he can take a direct flight to visit. Once he even came home for the weekend to surprise DH at his retirement party.
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We start looking to downsize from our current home. My criteria are moving to a more urban area where I can walk to shops while my husband wants a water view. Itās the last condition that raises the price tag!
Since we want to buy then sell, we need to get a preapproved mortgage. Itās a hot market, no contingency, almost all-cash offers. Having retired for a few years with no monthly income source, the process has been fascinating. The mortgage is asset-based, assessed on our retirement asset, and we will need to figure out how to draw down to minimize our tax. We wonāt have any problem selling after buying but will still have to cover the difference and carry a mortgage for at least 6 months. Good thing we donāt need to move, simply waiting for the right house to come.
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Thatās what I was after too. I had to let go of the water view, but I have the urban walkability and I can walk to the water, and do every day.
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We have talked about downsizing for a couple years. Havenāt pulled the plug on that yet though. Easier to live with faults/limitations with an existing house in which you have lived for decades than it is a new house. We likely will be moving again when I retire so question at this point is do we want to move twice. Longer we wait, the less sense the double move makes.
I view yardwork as a positive. Enjoy it. All 4 seasons of it. My dad took care of his yard until he was in his mid 80s so I have a few more decades to go. Idea of moving to a small place with little/no yard has zero appeal to me. Smaller place maybe (and it depends on how much smaller and functionality of it). But definitely no interested in not having a yard or a small yard. My wife tosses stuff out regularly so we donāt have an issue with having too much stuff.
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We downsized extensively a little over two years ago, moving not far, from one area of Alexandria VA to another. I didnāt know most of the still-existing neighbors but did have a small set of friends that I cans still see regularly, and I actually am closer to my fellow retired work friends than before.
We moved from a nice suburban community to a condo in new 55+ community. In general, we find ourselves just where we want to be, although nothingās perfect. We only have one single daughter, who lives in an adjoining jurisdiction. We are avid bridge players and the opportunities in this area are great, although the pandemic put an end to in-person games, we find online games are very convenient. We arenāt into gardening/lawns at all, and were also happy to escape the water problems our basement seemed to attract.
Our condo is 1499 sq ft, which works fine. We sold/donated/discarded much of our 25 years worth of stuff and have plenty of room for what is left. We arenāt into elaborate decorating, and certainly have no problem with the reasonable covenants as long as everyone else respects them.
Because we moved into a new community, weāve been able to meet our mostly-friendly neighbors. There are almost too many clubs, activities, and the like for socializing. I have a small number of activities I enjoy, but there are fewer activities that attract older gentlemen, married or unmarried.
Probably the most unfortunate thing in all this is that, if weād waited another year to sell, weād have been able to sell for at least 25% more than we did. But who could have foreseen the effect of the pandemic? And we were more than ready, after helping with caregiving for my Mom for many years.
Lots of things to consider, different strokesā¦We also are happy to have decided to stay in a house with lots of stuff that darling daughter may have had to deal with on her own.
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I have the water view but no walkability to shops other than the pub across the street.
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My husband would be OK with that!
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One downside I see to moving to an apartment is controlling future costs. As a renter you are at the mercy of your landlord. Rents can rise or Iāve seen instances where the landlord wants to move themselves or a family member into the unit. In some markets youāll be hard pressed to find an affordable replacement.
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Rent may be unpredictable but so are property tax increases.
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We have the water view, but definitely no walk-ability. We can get to the neighborhood bar/restaurant with the golf cart though. We moved 6 times in the last 15 years, and after stints in Baltimore, Philly and Charlotte over the years, we were ready for a slower pace. We wanted to move far from traffic. We downsized, but now weāre starting to look at adding a bath and maybe changing another room to a bedroom. No one in our family (other than parents) has visited us for 15 years; now that we live by a lake, everyone wants to visit 
glad to see everyone, but we may need to make a bunk room. We debated moving to a condo, but we just werenāt ready for the close neighbors; perhaps in another 10 years weāll change our minds. I donāt think weāll follow DD, but she can use our house as a home base when she comes back to visit her school. We may do airbnbs to go stay near her wherever she heads next.
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Such helpful and insightful info! Thank you!
I agree that living near grown son (heās 30) could be a moving target (job might take him elsewhere). However, where he lives now is a place heās wanted to live for many years, he has a solid network of friends there, and he likes it so much heās said heād always want to come back if he ever left. And quality healthcare and airport hub are nearby!
Iām somehow intrigued by the idea of moving over 1,000 miles away while still young enough to make the most of it all and join new communities/networksā¦
In the state in which currently live:
- itās high tax (including pension tax)/high COL,
- my husband & I did not grow up here (so donāt have the childhood friends, connections, etc.),
- we have no family here (just good jobs that we both enjoy and good friends from the past 20 years).
Without the tie of parents to care for or siblings nearby - the call of adventure (and being closer to son) is becoming more interesting.
All the scenarios/factors are so thought-provoking - thank you!
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My husband thinks we downsized but I donāt! We moved from a 1950 sq ft 3 BR 2 bath in Chicago suburbs to a 1500 sq ft 3 BR 2 bath in San Diego. We do have less other rooms - no loft or study, but the old house had two long hallways that didnāt add to livable space. This house has tons of outdoor space - we say we have outdoor rooms for reading, dining, cooking, and living, all of which are usable most days of the year. And need a lot less cleaning than indoor space!
Our lot sizes are about the same but this house has a big pool and deck and a paved RV pad so much less actual yard. Old house was two stories with a one car unattached garage; new house is one story with a two car unattached garage. There is still plenty of grass for husband to mow and plants for him to tend to.
It took me five years to convince husband we should move, then five years to effectuate the move. We had to wait for him to retire, son to graduate college, and MIL to pass away - at age 96. He wanted the new house to be similar to the old in terms of house size and yard - no condos or townhouses. Also yard had to be flat with a lawn and he didnāt want a pool. We were running out of options when this house came back on the market and I am delighted to have the pool, even though it does increase costs.
Son was in Chicago when we left but later got a job in Seattle, so at least weāre in the same time zone and on the same coast.
In terms of social life, we literally only knew our real estate agent when we moved and a local flipper who was fabulous help to us. I had researched ahead of time and found a Meetup group for baby boomers which helped us develop a group of friends. I had not really had any friends back in Chicagoland or any social life so this is far better.
We had developed a whole list of criteria when considering relocation which Iāll put in a separate post.
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So - when we were considering relocation because I couldnāt stand winter anymore, we had scoured the nation and narrowed it down to a few locations. Then husband insisted we put together a spreadsheet with all our criteria and individually rank and rate the locations. Hereās what we considered and some subsequent thoughts.
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Cost of housing. We ended up in the most expensive choice and had to increase our budget to get the house we wanted.
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Weather - snow, rain, heat, cold. This was the impetus for the move; I was done with winter weather and did not want to end up anywhere that involved snow in any way. Success!
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Cost of living (taxes, utilities, food, gas, etc.). In the end, it turned out that California income taxes werenāt much different than Illinois because CA is tiered and IL was flat rate. So less of a factor considering where we were. Property taxes were actually lower for a more expensive house so yay! Energy costs are much higher than we expected - we use a lot less energy but it is much more expensive. Gas is more expensive but much less driving.
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Recreation/entertainment/access to body of water, beaches. We knew we wanted to live near a large body of water. So now weāre exactly one mile from the Pacific Ocean. Husband found a tennis group through the Meetup we joined and plays weekly year round; he is in a senior basketball league and also goes biking. We spend lots of time at the beach and there are numerous scenic walks close by.
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Socialization opportunities (JCC, synagogues, universities). Again I had researched of time to see what might be available. I got off to a slow start because my mom passed away back in Illinois literally days after we moved here, so dealing with that occupied most of my time in the first months. In addition to the Meetup group, I found various sources of senior classes and tried out some of them. I didnāt really make friends but it was nice to have the interaction. There are plenty of sources if I want to be more involved and Iām checking out some new Meetups.
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Major urban access, access to city center. We knew we wanted to be near a major metro area. Related to this is medical accessibility - we knew any major city would have multiple options. I will recommend moving before age 65 because it becomes more difficult to find new doctors when youāre on Medicare.
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Employment potential. This turned out not to be a consideration but we looked at it.
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Neighborhood, walkability, shopping, etc. When we narrowed our choice down to San Diego, we came out and rented VRBO for a couple of months in two locations to really get an idea of all of this.
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Ease of transportation - airport, highways, trains. Weāre a 10 minute drive from the airport and relatively close to highway access.
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Safety/crime. We researched statistics in general and in specific neighborhoods.
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Rental availability - houses? Condos? Etc. This was in case we couldnāt find a house in time and needed temporary housing.
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We tried to downsize and ultimately failed miserably. When we looked at what we needed pre-pandemic, we thought we needed a four bedrooms (one for an office) so the shift from five BRs would not have been that major. [Two BRs could be small. But, we wanted a place our kids could still come for holidays.]. We concluded that we did not need a living room as people rarely use them, but ShawWife had wanted it to be walking distance from a town center (our house a the time was also] but I wanted a long view, preferably of water or a big field (in an ideal world, we would be in the mountains and I have had such a view when we lived in a houseboat in Sausalito and my office window looked out over Richardson Bay to Mt. Tamalpais). Over time, I convinced ShawWife that she only went to town at most once a week and was more likely to drive to one of the local farms for fresh produce. But, she went hiking, cycling and kayaking daily. So, we got rid of the āwalk to townā constraint.
We ended up buying a much bigger house (7 BRs, 6 BRs) on a bend in a river (so I get a long view). It is next to a mile of conservation land on the right and a farm on the left and conservation land in front of a farm across the river. We bought the view and got the house (grandfathered in its location) at a very attractive price because the seller had cash needs (price was lowered several hundred thousand dollars and we offered $1000 more than asking that day on the condition they took it off the market immediately.
The upsides:
- We have a phenomenal view and lots of solitude, which was fantastic for a pandemic.
- I have a phenomenal office.
- The house is a grandkid magnet (we donāt have any yet, but we are planning for them). Bicycling, kayaking, swimming (salt water pool), snoeshowing in conservation land next door, hiking nearby).
- We are grateful almost every day that we live in this wonderful location.
- We have one-floor living (except for my office) and the in-law suite is already equipped for aging in place. We decided to use it as our MBR so that we could live there, hopefully until they wheel us out.
- The local Muscovy ducks have adopted us and trained us to feed them.
- Property values for this kind of property have skyrocketed as people want this kind of space to have office for adults and rooms to work for the kids. I know Zillow and Redfinās estimates are not accurate, but their estimates of appreciation in the last couple of years are equal to the appreciation we got over 20 years in the other house. But, see the cons.
Cons:
- Relative to what we need, there is a lot of extra space. The previous owners had added a 2 BR, 2 BA one kitchen in-law suite and moved their for 6 months a year (and 6 months in FL) and their youngest daughter raised her family in the main part of the house. Note this could be a pro if one of our kids wanted to move in.
- Everything is more expensive. We used to pay someone $40 to plow our driveway. Now way pay either $110 or $140.
- We need to hire serious landscaping help. The previous owners planted all these specimen trees but things are overgrown and we need to hire someone to cut back.
- We are still across the country from our kids.
- Property taxes are a little higher than in our previous house/studio in the same town.
- No doubt the property taxes will go up substantially over time.
@blossomās point is well-taken. But, even if you are not that gregarious, you can do things in stages and build a community. My in-laws bought a house in Florida many years ago and each year extended the length of their stay. They began to make friends in the community ā synagogue, local cultural organizations, neighbors, etcā¦ By the time they were spending 6 months a year there, they were part of the community. I tried to convince my mother to buy a place in Florida and my BIL tried to convince her to move to an independent living facility 15+ years ago. She refused both. Two years ago, she moved to a senior independent facility and says that it was too late to move but if she was going to do it, it would have been better to do it sooner. She actually seems reasonably happy there now.
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ccreader - that is exactly the situation that we are heading into, but you are farther along. I would appreciate it if you could update me on how both the mortgage and tax situation go for you. Are you going to get advice on minimizing taxes?
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Wow, Marilyn and Shawbridge! Thanks for that detailed analysis! I like the spreadsheet idea - Iāve started a rough list (see above) but interesting to think of laying it out so cleanly and applying to each location option.
I would really like to keep working for at least 5-7 more years (husbandās not saying much about his plans - heās younger than me, but has worked long and hard at his career and is a little tired!). His job is mainly remote.
So at the end of the day, our options will probably be predicated on the possibility of me getting either: 1) a portable job, or 2) a job in the (ultimate) destination location. Either of those possibilities actually sound interesting and fun - and would give us (hopefully) a new network of people, too. As much as I like my current work & friends - the idea of new adventure is somehow really compelling!
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This is what we did:
We found the area we want to buy our next house, asked for a realtor referral, who then introduced us to a broker he worked with. My husband deals with the broker (itās been 30 years since we had to get one!) They came up with an acceptable down payment and we will carry 2 mortgages for a short term while we list our house. Not necessarily the lowest rate but hopefully it will be only for 6 months or so.
As for tax, itās more tax planning than tax minimizing. Our financial life is pretty straightforward. The first step is to stop Roth conversion and use that for the downpayment. Next is to determine which investment to sell and how much over how long to spread out the tax burden. Of course, it all depends on whether we have 3 months or 3 years to find the next house. 3 years, we will have a bit more breathing room. 3 monthsā¦ well, the taxman will get whatever the taxman wants!
The future is unpredictable and the tax code is fluid, we will see if we seek tax advice. Under an ideal world, we will sell our house first, be nomads for a few years then buy. But between the pandemic and a husband who does not want to be āhouse-lessā or live in temporary housing, we have to jump through hoops. Sigh.
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