Great post ...exactly my situation. Husband is 15 years older than me ....at 83, having had two mini strokes, and now poor eyesightm and on going vasculair problems ....he agrees a move from our present 3 bed bungalow (we moved from a large house to here to make things easier)...as the garden and the maintenance is too difficult for him now, although he refuses to let me get anyone in to help and insists on climbing ladders. He can no longer drive (although he insists he can, and will if I am not looking !) ...he is getting a bit shaky with walking as well, and not much use in his left hand anymore. However, as someone else on here said, he absolutely refuses to ever part with anything ...he took all his furniture, at vast expense, from Bexleyheath where he lived with his late wife, to Menorca, costing thousands, then to Brittany costing just as much ....then down here ! the cost of moving it all would have covered completely new stuff ! He has ancient tools, including a large work bench, many ladders, a shed full of stuff, a workshop full of stuff ...he insists would have to go with us ....how do you fit all that into a small retirement flat with 2 bedrooms, just one large lounge, and maybe a balcony ? Answer ...you don't, so here we stay until he decided either to let me get someone to do the garden, the maintenance etc ...but then we still have the problem of the distance to the local village ...too far to walk (although my doctor is nagging me to walk for exercise ! ...I do it sometimes ....then have to stop for a coffee which probably defeats the object of the exercise !)
Another problem here, is like the lady in Ireland ...nothing but nothing is selling ! and with the uncertainty surrounding BREXIT there are a lot of houses owned by ex pats on the market ....and if they sell, they are only selling for a lot less than people paid for them. Even our French neighbour who is trying to re locate has been on the market for 18 months with not even a viewing ! The only option appears to be to rent this one out, and rent a small apartment ...another option my husband refuses to consider ! I think we will both be here until the weeds overtake and the cobwebs engulf us ! Problem !