What Age do you consider moving?

A stairlift in my house would be very difficult ( and expensive) I think NotSpaghetti as I said there are 2 sets of stairs and a long passageway in the middle too .

Moved to a similar sized bungalow but much smaller garden and 170 miles away, to be nearer to daughter. Absolutely no regrets, I was 67 DH 69. Both of us have been very proactive in joining things and now, two years on, feel part of the new area and know people.

Go for it Nanaplenty. You are still young. Your plans sound perfect to me. As we age time seems to fly. Free up some money and go travelling/visiting without any financial worries and swop for a smaller labour free garden. Good luck persuading your husband. Maybe find some suitable properties on Rightmove first to show him what you have in mind.

gillybob - if you love your house, might a stairlift work for you eventually? If necessary of course!

My mother-in-law moved close to us last year aged 94 so no age is genuinely too late if you are fit enough. She had been in your position previously, Grammaretto, with a husband terminally ill with no desire to move. She had many times discussed with him a move from a large old house in the middle of nowhere but he saw no need. She moved immediately after he passed away, to the edge of a market town into a nearly-new property. It was a big upheaval but a new start after years of caring.

That was seven years ago and she decided to come closer to us after a friend became very ill but lived miles from her family. She saw this as a warning and acted really quickly. The property she moved into is no smaller than the last but this time she has chosen to do a whole string of renovations (!) - most of which were unnecessary in my opinion - but she has enjoyed it and says that negotiations with the builders etc and getting up early for the workmen has kept her alert, interested and busy.
Whilst she does sometimes complain that all this is exhausting, she seems to have developed/renewed a genuine joy of life. I’m amazed by her energy and zest for the new!
There is hope for us all!

Oh how I agree with all your comments.

My other half doesn’t want to move, and I do.

But! And it’s big But. We just can’t seem to motivate ourselves. The thought of all the stress etc.
Trouble is, we need to move.
House too big and requires a lot of maintenance. Hubby still works full time and what time he has if is spent on gardening and maintenance, his health is not good and I see a day when I might be left to do it all and quite frankly it frightens me..As PamelaJ stated, ‘it’s easier if there are two of you’.
I am seriously thinking of the Churchill retirement properties. They do everything for you including selling your house, removals, solicitors, the lot.

Anyone had experience of them?

I am in the same position. 3 floors, not good with arthritis so with some regret at leaving our family home I have decided to move to a bungalow. It will also free up a bit of cash!

Go for it! Start by getting your property valued and move forward from there. Life is for living so do what makes you happy. Difficult if your husband isn’t on board, I know. But there’s nothing worse than living with regrets.

Sounds lovely Gillybob

I live in a 2 bedroom house so couldn’t downsize as such really. The only problem being is that it is a 3 storey house with lots of stairs. (The builders way of cramming more house into less space) . My lounge/sitting room is on the first floor and the bedrooms are on the top. I love this house but can see all the stairs becoming a problem as we get older.

I'm 66 and my husband is 63. We've both very active people. We've just sold our lovely large period cottage with a large garden and orchard and bought a modern four bed in a village with all the amenities - bus stop outside, shop, pub, post office, fish and chip shop. Half an hour by bus to nearest city and about five minutes to nearest small town, for when we can't drive. The main driver is to be nearer our only daughter and son-in-law to look after their baby a couple of times a week when she goes back to work. We're about half an hour from them, which we thought was a respectful distance, so no-one's crowded. The other reason is that while we're managing fine now, we know increasingly that may not prove the case. My husband is very practical and there's always stuff needing doing in our old house, which I would find difficult to organise tradespeople to do instead. Also while we have got rid of the mice which try to come in every autumn by using sonic plugins, these have to go in the roof as well as the house and the thought of mice petrifies me, so I couldn't cope with that on my own!!!! Moving is not for the fainthearted!!! I've moved many times but the legal side of it now seems so much more complex and lengthy. We've been lucky, our buyers are very nice people who were very reasonable and didn't push for any reduction after the survey, which of course showed up things as our house is over 250 years old. Our new house has one more bedroom and bathroom than we have here, and a much smaller garden. We'll be sad to leave our cottage, but it's the right time for us. An un-looked for by-product is that we've liquidated a nice bit of cash too. I'll just be glad to wake up at the beginning of August when it will all be over and we'll be in our new home, albeit surrounded by boxes. I think the key is to do it before you think you need to, it's a punishing, stressful and tiring process. We have been fortunate to have each other to lean on and it would have been so hard had this not been the case. My parents future-proofed their house which meant that my dad was able to live down-stairs when he got frail, but the huge garden was a nightmare to manage, so as well as looking after him we had to get people in to do the garden - I promised myself I would not put my daughter in that situation, It's not fair to do that - so yet another pressing reason for us to do it now!

The problem is, you know you could do with downsizing, but when it comes to it, you don’t want to give anything up!

I quite often think I’d like to live in an apartment, because I don’t want the bother of the garden, we have a gardener once a week, but that’s an expense we could do without. I still work, so my weekends are largely taken up with cleaning, there’s always something that needs doing, maintenance, decorating etc. But I love my home, and think I might feel like a caged animal in a little flat, not to mention the fact, that we both like our own space

It’s a hard decision to make

Be wary of moving too soon into sheltered housing. I know people who have downsized too soon and now regret it.
De clutter of course and future proof as some of you have done. A stairlift and downstairs cloakroom.
My in-laws have been 10 years in their smaller house which has these things and they are in their mid 90s.

It’s easy to say age is just a number, but so many people leave it too late and only think about a move when they are really too old to or have developed health issues.
The time to think about it is before you really need to, but most of us don’t .

I have given so much away since being widowed, if anyone said they loved this or that and I was not that bothered, I would say take it. I now have one spare bedroom with nothing in it as all that's gone, just the carpet and curtains remain. If and when I make the move I will get rid of the current furniture and start again. The next place will be smaller so there will be some cash left. Trouble us I can't find anywhere to move to that I love.

Craftyone

I became very aware of this after my mother in law died, even though she had downsized a couple of times, she had so much stuff that she had horded, every time she moved we’d try and sneak things off to the tip, but she wasn’t having any of it, and when she died, it took us all ages to sort through it.

I instantly ordered a skip, and we spent a weekend sorting through our loft and garage (to be fair, half the stuff in the loft was the children’s anyway) and I regularly sort through drawers and cupboards, we’ve got a lot of stuff , but at least there’s some order to it

Downsizing during the `mature` years is not just for us and for a potential move, surely it is also done for love of our AC, in the great scheme of things. Older ones should be passing first and what then? Leaving a house, shed, garage full of accumulated stuff, just when AC would be coping with grief and probate. Those of us who have suffered widowhood, we know what it was like and most would not wish that on those we love

Hi . We live with the attitude age is but a figure. !! we have moved so many times in our lives . We lived in eastern europe for 7 years but with pressure from the kids who know little about the wonderful country of Bulgaria - we moved back to the UK. We have regretted it since we made the move a year ago. Our kids by the way are in Canada !! So we have just bought another house (back home as we call Bulgaria) and going back very soon . We are 64 and 73 . So never stop what you want to do ... age is merely a figure.

At almost 82 and now on my own I am staying put in the house that has been my home for 42 years.
Firstly I could not contemplate clearing out the contents of a four bed, two reception roomed house with a conservatory.
It would be beyond me.
My D and GC live away so I need room for them to stay.
My S is temporarily living here as he is in a dysfunctional relationship where he and his partner, both with depression issues, need time out occasionally.
My GD spends time here regularly and I enjoy that.
I have room to live downstairs if that becomes necessary,with a shower room.
I can afford help in the house and garden.
I think too much pressure is put on people to downsize when in fact, they are very happy where they are with friend close by.

We made what I call a sideways move in January. We had lived in our previous house for 25 years. We moved into a new build with more bedrooms and bathrooms but a much more manageable garden and house in general. The new house is about 20 minutes drive from the old. Our old house was 250 years old. The thinking was that it would be an ideal house for our children and their families to stay in when visiting. (Having said that none of them are married yet and there are no grandchildren in the offing but there is nothing like being prepared). Packing up a house after 25 years was hateful and jolly hard work. Do not underestimate how stressful it is, and our sale and purchase were relatively straightforward. I lost count of the number of charity shop and tip trips we made. I am not a hoarder but my husband is and I still feel we brought too many garden tools, ladders etc. with us. We envisage staying here about 10 years depending on health etc. We are 63 and 64. I have always had a dream of living by the sea but I feel that dream is slowly slipping through my fingers. Maybe, one day.

Thought we would downsize to bungalow smaller garden etc. As arthritis has got a hold!!! People that wanted our house couldn't sell theirs, so after spending what felt like a lifetime cleaning the house in case of viewings, we decided to take house off the market and sit tight. Need to move eventually but doesn't seem to be the right time yet. Our local friends keep telling us not to move and that makes me sad if we lose them but it will be our last phase in our life for 'adventure'

A subject I’m sure has crossed all of our minds as we get older

We’ve lived here for fifteen years, five years longer than anywhere else, and five years longer than we planned.

It’s way too big for our needs, but at the same time it suits us

We’ve got six grandchildren, three living close by, so the garden is full of play equipment, my other daughter and her family, live much farther away, so need extra bedrooms , sometimes in the school holidays I have four or five staying, and they would all be most put out if that had to stop

Plus, we’ve got so much stuff, big pieces if furniture, hundreds of books, oh I can’t bear the thought of having to part with anything.

Realistically though, I know in the next five or so years we shall have to give it some thought , but I am not looking forward to it at all

We are vaguely thinking about it. Where DD is currently looking property prices are much cheaper. We have looked at moving to the same county for price reasons.
DH is 71, I am 65 and our autistic son is 28 We could get a nice bungalow, which would be good as DH has dodgy knees and I struggle with stairs. We couldn't afford one here.

We are a bit older early 70's and late 70's and have been downsizing our possessions for a long time now with no particular intention to downsize the house but the other day we noticed there is an outline planning permission for a retirement village near us and we are now wondering if we should think about this. We have friends in their 70's who are still trying to care for elderly parents and don't really want that for our children. I can see where you are coming from and it does sound a sensible idea but if only one of you wants to do it I am not sure you can make it happen at present. Perhaps you could get your eldest DD to bring up the subject of moving nearer to her and see if that starts a conversation.

nanaplenty Mr C was 70 when we moved here, six years on he is clear the renovation tasks he took on when we moved would still be possible but would take so much longer to accomplish. Did we move at the right time? Yes, we think so for us but it's so individual, I think impossible to generalise. It did take me three years to clear nearly 30 years worth of family 'stuff' from our old loft so if you both agree to move don't underestimate preparation time, it's far less stressful and we found interesting to clear things bit by bit with time to look and reminisc rather than to do it in a rush. We took photos of much of our 'stuff' and then let the item go. Wishing you well whatever the decision.