Are you moving house?

I downsized in my early 60s. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t do it now. Too much stress and hassle. So do it asap. Good luck !

Thanks for all the input I am taking into account transport, GPs hospitals shopping etc and I’ve been steadily clearing ‘stuff’ the last 3 mths but still a lot to go. I’m not intending on taking everything furniture wise with me, hopefully I’ll have enough to buy new.
NonGrannyMoll it’s hard making all the decisions but if it’s going to suit you to move then try to make the decision and make a start.

We're not moving, have never. However, my brother moved when he retired. He looked for his location carefully, thinking to how he lived and what he liked in his days, weeks, and months.

He decluttered, packed, moved home to live with us. His agent priced his home, he was quite willing to accept less and do whatever was required - he'd no daft notion that his home was perfect or that he'd find perfect.

In the end he married, old age shock. They live in her home.

Norah

We're not moving, have never. However, my brother moved when he retired. He looked for his location carefully, thinking to how he lived and what he liked in his days, weeks, and months.

He decluttered, packed, moved home to live with us. His agent priced his home, he was quite willing to accept less and do whatever was required - he'd no daft notion that his home was perfect or that he'd find perfect.

In the end he married, old age shock. They live in her home.

Wow!
It goes to show how anything can happen however carefully you plan!

Not that kind of excitement here but I have begun to declutter and have booked a valuer from an Auction house who will hopefully tell me if I possess any furnishings worth selling.
I must also speak to a book seller. I have been given a few contact numbers.

If not, there's always Freecycle. Our charity shops are very sniffy about taking stuff.

My New Years Resolution was a decision to move. The
maintenance has become a stress and I really don't use
all the space I have. Decluttering has begun and I'm
enjoying it. Major decision of where to move to is the
most difficult. Small steps is my motto.....

Grammaretto
^My DC all have so are not short of advice. They have my best interests at heart but are not holding my hand
I have no intention of living near any of them -at least I don't think that's a good idea.^

That is what we thought, and planned our relocation to be more accessible, but not close to either.

In particular, as DD has never married or had a live-in partner, I was determined that she shouldn't find herself the single daughter expected to look after her aged parents.

So what has happened? She did some recce in the town we have in mind, saw the house of her dreams and moves in next month. We will probably be within a mile or so of each other.

Her agument is that being that close to us, she will call in on us for the occasional hour when she comes into town to shop, and, if there are any emergencies, she is on the spot, not having to get into the car and drive for an hour or more to reach us. We have no intention of being dependent on her or expecting her to be at our beck and call, so we will have to see how it works out.

I wish you both good luck please keep us up to date with your journeys.

At present we are living in a 3 bed semi. Far too big for us to manage. We have decided to look for a suitable bungalow. Easier said than done. We have been to see a few but all needed completely gutting which we don’t want to do. We don’t mind a bit of painting but not major work. Another thing to consider is stamp duty goes up in April. Apparently contracts must be signed by 1st April otherwise the new rate stamp duty kicks in. This is what an estate agent told us.

We recently went through the whole house selling/buying process, and it wasn't all plain sailing.

Our sale process went through quickly and smoothly until the day prior completion date, when we were contacted to say that the buyer wanted the whole central heating system replaced, and he wanted us to pay for it! Yes, the system was old, but it was in full working order. The buyer already knew that, and the house price was agreed, taking all of that into consideration.

We were in a position where we didn't need the funds of the sale of the house in order to purchase our new property, so we simply said, 'no way'! He obviously thought, at that late stage in the proceedings, we'd back down and pay for it, in order not to lose the sale. He was wrong! Yes, it would've meant us having to pay more stamp duty, but we were prepared to take the risk and said no. He backed down, and continued with completion the following day! There are many people out there who will 'try it on', don't let them get the better of you!

Along the way, we had two house purchases fall through on us, which was very stressful and disappointing, and we were at the point of not wanting to bother looking anymore! However, we decided that those houses simply weren't meant to be, and with hindsight we're now glad that they didn't go through. We found another property which is far more suitable for us as new retirees, in a lovely area, with nothing much to do other than putting our own stamp on it, and it has a lovely manageable garden to enjoy. It was definitely 3rd time lucky for us. The purchase went through quickly and smoothly before Christmas, and we'll be relocating and moving into it this month.

Sometimes things don't work out for a reason, so just try to prepare yourself for any setbacks, and then move on.

Also, try to appoint a good solicitor who comes on recommendation from someone you know. We had several quotes, and certainly didn't go with one of the cheaper ones. However, we still had to keep on their backs constantly, and some of the paperwork we had from them was shockingly poor! I think some solicitors use a lot of young, inexperienced conveyancers to do the majority of the work, and it's very telling!

Thankfully, we got there in the end, and I'm hoping never to have to do it again!

Good luck to those of you who are embarking on the process!

Grammaretto

Norah

We're not moving, have never. However, my brother moved when he retired. He looked for his location carefully, thinking to how he lived and what he liked in his days, weeks, and months.

He decluttered, packed, moved home to live with us. His agent priced his home, he was quite willing to accept less and do whatever was required - he'd no daft notion that his home was perfect or that he'd find perfect.

In the end he married, old age shock. They live in her home.

Wow!
It goes to show how anything can happen however carefully you plan!

Not that kind of excitement here but I have begun to declutter and have booked a valuer from an Auction house who will hopefully tell me if I possess any furnishings worth selling.
I must also speak to a book seller. I have been given a few contact numbers.

If not, there's always Freecycle. Our charity shops are very sniffy about taking stuff.

This organisation has just been recommended on another thread:

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/

growstuff

Grammaretto

Norah

We're not moving, have never. However, my brother moved when he retired. He looked for his location carefully, thinking to how he lived and what he liked in his days, weeks, and months.

He decluttered, packed, moved home to live with us. His agent priced his home, he was quite willing to accept less and do whatever was required - he'd no daft notion that his home was perfect or that he'd find perfect.

In the end he married, old age shock. They live in her home.

Wow!
It goes to show how anything can happen however carefully you plan!

Not that kind of excitement here but I have begun to declutter and have booked a valuer from an Auction house who will hopefully tell me if I possess any furnishings worth selling.
I must also speak to a book seller. I have been given a few contact numbers.

If not, there's always Freecycle. Our charity shops are very sniffy about taking stuff.

This organisation has just been recommended on another thread:

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/

This company are profiteering.
Only 60% is given to charity.

Sago only 65p in every £1 is spent on actual help given by the Red Cross and various other Charities.

As always high wages for the Directors and high running costs account for the little that actually gets used for good. Despite the many Volunteers working away for nothing.

If you Google the amounts that the Directors of Charities earn you would be amazed, all from donated goods ( mostly, some shops sell new stuff too).

I moved 2 weeks ago, I am 70 this year and lived in the house I was born in! It was a wrench but once I'd made up my mind, I was gone! Very lengthy process selling my house,and had to live with daughter for 3 months while my purchase went through,but it was definitely the right decision. I have moved from isolated countryside to town, closer to both my daughters, shops, buses etc, very happy so far! I wish you all the best of luck Tanith.

👏👏👏 congratulations MattDanNana well done and best wishes in your new home.

We are 'in the process' as they say. What is the biggest bugbear for me? That we have to pay many thousands for solicitors etc and seem to have to do all the work ourselves....all the forms are online and that's difficult as we are both disabled and a bit backward with current tech. Uploading and downloading and doing the research etc to complete the forms - what are we paying for?

I finally moved on the 17 th Dec just before Christmas, I had sold my house in March ( so I thought, was a week from completion, had found my perfect property close to family, my buyers buyer just pulled out saying they d changed their mind!!!) the house fell through, went back on the market, I did find another property ( where I am now) it’s lovely but not the one I wanted sadly, I moved on my own staying with family between houses for a few months and it’s been hard, tiring, stressful and I hope I don’t have to do it again. Am now at the point of getting work done to this house but am confident I ll be happy here, stick with it and just take things slowly, don’t stress over what you can’t change and go with the flow would be my advice, once you ve moved just give yourself a task of emptying one or two boxes per day and you ll get there, I ve still got a couple to do and a bit of decluttering and I still feel like I’m living in someone else’s house but every day it feels more and more like my place and it’s been worth it 🙂

Hi, we moved house 3 months ago. DH left virtually everything to me which actually made it easier. It took almost two years from start to finish and we changed agents during that time. Our first sale was to first time buyers in rented accommodation. We couldn’t find anything to but in time before the end of their lease. We put it on the market again and got £15 k more! This made all the difference. Although it still took us a while to find somewhere we both liked all went smoothly in the end!
Good luck and don’t be taken in by pushy estate agents. Once they get you a buyer they put the pressure on for you to buy something that may not be right for you!

Sago

growstuff

Grammaretto

Norah

We're not moving, have never. However, my brother moved when he retired. He looked for his location carefully, thinking to how he lived and what he liked in his days, weeks, and months.

He decluttered, packed, moved home to live with us. His agent priced his home, he was quite willing to accept less and do whatever was required - he'd no daft notion that his home was perfect or that he'd find perfect.

In the end he married, old age shock. They live in her home.

Wow!
It goes to show how anything can happen however carefully you plan!

Not that kind of excitement here but I have begun to declutter and have booked a valuer from an Auction house who will hopefully tell me if I possess any furnishings worth selling.
I must also speak to a book seller. I have been given a few contact numbers.

If not, there's always Freecycle. Our charity shops are very sniffy about taking stuff.

This organisation has just been recommended on another thread:

anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/

This company are profiteering.
Only 60% is given to charity.

That doesn't sound unreasonable. I expect the organisation has warehouses to keep the stuff and I wouldn't expect it to be able to run its vehicles for free. I expect it has some paid employees, if some are volunteers.

I meant even if some are volunteers

We've sold our house twice - April 22 and then again April 24 - but failed to complete twice and I blame the estate agents in my area. You are not allowed to view a property unless you have already sold your own and thus you end up in a chain which just gets longer and longer and eventually those at front of the chain get fed up of waiting and it collapses. As soon as your buyer pulls out you are no longer "proceedable" (sic) and you lose your intended purchase. It's cost us £10000 in solicitors and surveys so we're now staying put. Good luck 🤞

Thinking about it seriously now as I'll be 70, on my own, this year and need to downsize but it's hard as I love my home. My daughters are always on at me about it. It was their family home but time has come...given myself 2 years to get stuff cleared out etc but terrified that house won't sell or I won't get something where I want at right price.... very scary....I empathise good luck

Seamus89

We are 'in the process' as they say. What is the biggest bugbear for me? That we have to pay many thousands for solicitors etc and seem to have to do all the work ourselves....all the forms are online and that's difficult as we are both disabled and a bit backward with current tech. Uploading and downloading and doing the research etc to complete the forms - what are we paying for?

You are the only one who can provide information about your property! How do you expect your solicitor to know about it? And yes, things are done online now.

orly

We've sold our house twice - April 22 and then again April 24 - but failed to complete twice and I blame the estate agents in my area. You are not allowed to view a property unless you have already sold your own and thus you end up in a chain which just gets longer and longer and eventually those at front of the chain get fed up of waiting and it collapses. As soon as your buyer pulls out you are no longer "proceedable" (sic) and you lose your intended purchase. It's cost us £10000 in solicitors and surveys so we're now staying put. Good luck 🤞

An estate agent should take their clients’ instructions as to whether people who have not yet sold their home are allowed to view. It’s not their decision to make. Personally I would only want viewers who have already sold with a very short and complete chain, or who are genuine cash buyers, but that’s my decision not my estate agent’s. I’m paying them to do what I want, not to be told what I am to do.

We’ve moved four times in the course of our 55 year marriage, non of them straight forward. I just want to say that I really believe that no matter how disappointed you may be along the horrible and stressful journey, you will end up with the right property in the end. I wish you well, and if you can believe this it does help. A bit. Please let us know what happens.

Am I considered a cash buyer if I have no mortgage?