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Are you moving house?

(284 Posts)
tanith Sun 02-Feb-25 07:41:04

Finally I’m starting on moving house just wonder if anyone else is doing the the same and want to share the journey with me? I’m in mid 70s and it’s tough making every scary decision alone.
I’ve struggled for months with this decision but now I need to get on with it. Join me for support.

loopyloo Sat 08-Feb-25 08:33:13

Looking back at my life I realise I've moved every 10 years or so and the main advantage of this is new pasture and leaving behind sad memories.
We have no plans to move currently and I rather envy you people. Would love to move somewhere near the sea.
Hope all the house viewing goes well.

tanith Sat 08-Feb-25 08:21:19

Monica sounds like you are doing viewings yourself? I don’t think I will do that as I fear if I don’t ‘like’ someone I won’t them in my house, how daft is that! Good luck with todays viewers. Onwards and upwards.

M0nica Sat 08-Feb-25 08:06:28

Well, we have had more viewers. they all love the house, and especially the garden, but most have houses on the market themselves, and being a very old house it has idiosyncracies that do not suit everyone. The house is in excellent condition. The house blurb describes it as 'well maintained'

We have had about half a dozen people teeter on the brink of making offers, we have reduced the price, and the estate agent says if we reduce again people will begin wondering what the problem with the house may be.

Now we have heard that someone else is showing interest in the house we want to buy, I am feeling quite down in the dumps today.

Still 2 more viewings today, both with houses to sell. Ah well may be the people who came yesterday, house sold, but doing more viewings today will come back for another look, they said they probably would.

tanith Sat 08-Feb-25 07:55:08

This moving house is not for the feint/faint (not sure which is right) hearted. Well everything is done now and when I give the go ahead the house will be on the market. Next is booking some viewings. I’ve had a few wakeful nights I can tell you.
How’s anyone else’s journey going?

M0nica Thu 06-Feb-25 08:10:55

Well, we are bucking the trend. We are house renovators and improvers. We are trying to sell our big village house, a listed building 550 years old, to move nearer our children, to a small town where everything we need is a mere 100 yards away, easily accessible on foot or buggy.

The difference being that while we do hope to buy a specific house, it is not a sensible retirement flat or modern property. the house we have in mind is another listed house, not quite as old, but a renovation project. The difference being that instead of us gradually doing the property up ourselves over the years, we will be employing a builder to do the work, although DH will still do the project planning and management, and I will do some of the redecorating and make the curtains.

tanith Thu 06-Feb-25 07:33:11

So many different solutions that people find suits them. It’s very interesting.
I’m lucky that my family have been letting me go slowly as I will be leaving a daughter and Granddaughter here in London and it’s going to be a wrench as we are very close, they understand why I’m moving but are sad about it as my daughter doesn’t drive so visits won’t be just a quick 10min walk as it is now. I will miss my lovely neighbours I don’t think they believe I’m actually going, they will need to find a new solution for parcel deliveries as I take them in all the time.

Grammaretto Thu 06-Feb-25 01:07:31

That's interesting winterwhite.

My DC sound a little like yours.
Not a retirement complex but certainly they see me in a much smaller house.

I am going to sell up but mainly due to the rising cost of keeping up this very large house now I'm on my own.

I will miss it terribly. My lovely garden, the space, the quiet position tucked away behind the busy high street and my studio which has been my workplace for 45 years.

One of my DGC cried when he heard it was going to be sold. But he is a child and lives in New Zealand.

Karen22 Thu 06-Feb-25 00:38:36

A small apartment. My mum recently passed away so I've some inheritance so I'm going for a shared ownership. I'm presently decluttering and having to get rid of lots of my furniture, which is hard but il get there !
I feel for those of you having to sell your property , must be stressful . Best wishes and here's to our new homes

Karen22 Thu 06-Feb-25 00:34:06

Yes I will be moving soon, but thankfully I've no house to sell as I've rented .
I'm downsizing to an

winterwhite Wed 05-Feb-25 17:10:59

Best wishes to all the movers on this thread. My problem is different. DH and I are being nagged (no other word) by the children about moving into some form of retirement complex with care if needed! They're ganging up against us.

DH is frail and I have some mobility problems and poor vision. We're in our early 80s. Last year we gave up the car and rely on taxis and home deliveries. I think we do jolly well. Certainly we rattle around rather but we're now used to and enjoy the space.

They say this because they don't live very close and 'worry about us', esp one of us dying leaving the other to rattle around even more. That's inevitable wherever we are it seems to me, and a solution will be found for whichever one it is when the time comes. I don't want to cut short our life here for somewhere small. I wouldn't know where to begin searching for such a place or weighing up the pros and cons of the whole idea. Head firmly in sand.

Has anyone else been under such pressure?

pascal30 Wed 05-Feb-25 14:02:25

fliss444

My husband and I have had a turbulent couple of years due to his poor mental health and I thought we were going to divorce. To cut a long story short we have sold our property recently and have adopted a non traditional life style by investing in 2 holiday lodges each one being close to our respective families. It's a second marriage with adult children on both sides.
Early days yet but I have not seen my husband as settled and calm as he is now. Long may it continue.

What an innovative solution.. your lodges sound wonderful.. and a bit like going on holiday each time you swap toseeyour children..

tanith Wed 05-Feb-25 13:51:52

Thanks Charleygirl5 I had the council pick up some heavy stuff from my garage I intend on taking as little as possible with me. I have a way to go yet but I’m getting there.

Charleygirl5 Wed 05-Feb-25 11:47:07

When I moved from my last house to the present, I paid to have the rubbish moved from one loft to this one. Moneybags does not live here, so my present loft is totally empty, and my garden shed is so minimalistic that somebody could sleep in it! The rest of the house is not so, but I am working on it.

With luck the weather will be warmer when you move tanith.

tanith Tue 04-Feb-25 16:47:24

My daughter works for this particular estate agents so no I’m going with them, I’m getting a deal on fees and houses sold in my road are rarely on the market for more than a few days before they are sold it’s a very popular road. Which is why I’m holding back going on the market as I don’t want to be rushed and the agent is happy to go at my pace.

Claremont Tue 04-Feb-25 16:45:38

Oh I hope not to move house again for a very very very long time.

M0nica Tue 04-Feb-25 16:38:30

We suffered from that - and then the service we got was very poor - and this was one of the biggest estate agents in our area - not a chain - and specialised in the market for our kind of house.

After about 6 months we changed agents and although we haven't sold, the new agent is getting us a steady stream of potential buyers and speaks to us regularly and always gives feedback after viewings.

Barleyfields Tue 04-Feb-25 16:19:59

Are you getting more than one valuation tanith? I would advise you to do so because some agents make a practice of over-valuing to get your business.

tanith Tue 04-Feb-25 16:17:26

Well one step forwards for me today my valuation done today but I’m putting off going on the market for a few weeks I just want to take my time and not be rushed. The valuation is more than I guesstimated which is good.

Grammaretto Tue 04-Feb-25 14:15:09

Well done Sarahmob I should do the same.
A bungalow has just come on the market today along the road.
Excellent position; fab condition; a bit too big for me on my own and rather expensive but although it’s perfect in many ways, I just can't see myself in a sensible bungalow yet.
Am I putting off the inevitable?

Sarahmob Tue 04-Feb-25 12:47:31

We’re hoping to move this year. Our house has just gone on the market and we’d like to move into a bungalow. We’ve seen a couple we like the look of but have decided to stop looking until we get a potential sale. I hope that all of our sales and purchases are speedy and relatively painless.

I have started decluttering - I took a large bag of shoes to the clothing bank yesterday. I was really ruthless about what I got rid of.

Barleyfields Tue 04-Feb-25 10:02:41

I hope you feel a little better for sharing Yertiz. Best wishes.

Yertiz Tue 04-Feb-25 09:55:45

Thank you Barleyfields. This is the first time I've talk about outside of the family

Yertiz Mon 03-Feb-25 19:42:09

Thank you Grannmarie. It's been a rough year but I'm lucky to have all my family close by

Grammaretto Mon 03-Feb-25 19:25:39

That sounds an interesting solution fliss!
I hope you both find this meets your needs.

It does make depressing reading all the sales falling through. 😪
Good advice about not taking clutter with you.
I intend to be minimalist when I move out.
I won't be thinner though.

I sent a friend away with boxes of vinyl records today. She thinks she and her DH can get some cash for
them.

If my private sale falls though, I don't know what I'll do as I don't have a
plan B.

That's so nice M0nica that your DD is moving to be near you. Does that mean you can't move now?

fliss444 Mon 03-Feb-25 18:33:19

My husband and I have had a turbulent couple of years due to his poor mental health and I thought we were going to divorce. To cut a long story short we have sold our property recently and have adopted a non traditional life style by investing in 2 holiday lodges each one being close to our respective families. It's a second marriage with adult children on both sides.
Early days yet but I have not seen my husband as settled and calm as he is now. Long may it continue.