I have moved to a ground floor flat from a 3 bedroom house recently. Have moved a lot in the past but had spent 20 odd years in my last home which I loved, found hard to leave but in the end the most important thing for me is to retain my independance for as long as possible. Have done many years of hospital car service and have seen so many people have some problem that means that they could not drive, that occurs suddenly. In the countryside you are stuck without a car and either have to spend a fortune on taxis or depend on other people s help or infrequent buses. So with independance a major reason I made lists of pros and cons, ranging from the practical - nearness to shops, hospital etc - to personal needs - access to a garden , close to countryside etc. Then I did what I have done in the past with other homes. Start by thinking about what areas you might consider and any that you definitely dont want. Then in the pro areas, check out general transport availability, and how early and late this runs. Nothing worse than having to be like cinderalla when you go to a theatre or cinema and have to dash off at the end to get the last bus!! Once you have a couple of possibilities check if there are two roads in and out. If there is only one way in and out this can become a problem with road works or becoming very congested. Then I would start buying the local paper weekly from the places you fancy. You will find much information in them, ranging from what goes on from open gardens to whist drives, and a general idea of anywhere that can be a problem say a square where the kids congregate and there is problems in the evening. Read those over a few weeks and you will get quite a good idea on the style of the place. Once you have decided on the general area you fancy, do you know a few people in that area who might give you some ideas about the town? In the meantime you could have a look at some flats in that area online or from the estate agents, more with the idea of the dimensions of flats rather than costs, just so that you get some idea of what space you will have. My husband and I found it was really worth the faff of getting some graph paper and then cut out a scaled graph of the flat and then comes the fiddly bit! We cut out to scale the furniture . On each piece put a number and then write down on a piece of paper the list of every item. Then the fun bit! Much easier to play with bits of paper to try out different configurations. What would be absolutely vital to take and what could be changed etc. You will start by wanting to take so much, but as you move things about you will find that this does not always work out. You may even find that you change your mind about taking things and decide to sell them or give them to the children if they want them , but buy things that are better suited to your new place.As this is going on , my next advice sounds a bit mad but it proves very worthwhile as I have proved. If the town you fancy is close by and you have a car, then set out to have a few days sleuthing. So if you have a road or possible area of flats go there and park up very early. I set out a form with times across the top and vehicles down the side and so can then sit there with my coffee etc and just tick off the different things and times so that you can do that at different times of day and weekdays and weekends. If you go early one day and stay later another you get a good overall view of how much traffic and if it would be a problem for you. We had seen a property we liked in one place and I did this for 3 different days and times and decided not to buy, when you saw the amount of traffic passing, which was only likely to get worse. we bought our previous house and I was always glad that I had made that effort. You might also deliberately go and stay b and b soon before the weather improves, especially if it is a bit too far to go to easily for a day. To stay somewhere on a very ordinary winters week gives you so much more idea than on a lovely sunny summer day , when you can easily make choices based on just a one day view. Well that seems rather a lot of effort I am sure, but it is worth it to be more sure of what you want and more likely to make a good show. If whilst doing all this you actually find that you either dont really like any of the places you have seen or just realize that you could not afford the kind of place you want then that is still a good result and you might think of the possibility of dividing your home into two flats where you stay in the ground floor level and let out the upper flat to provide you with income. Personally I would prefer to do a lot of this before I involved my family . Once I am absolutely sure of my decision to move and a general idea of where I might choose . Then you know that the major decisions and ideas are yours and then friends and family can make comments on your plans and may give you new ideas that may not have occurred to you. if you happen to be a member of something like WI or Rotary or Garden clubs again you may have an easy contact with the place you might like to visit and get some ideas from people who already live there. I do hope you find some of this helpful and wish you every good luck in your new home. Of course there have been ups and downs in my move but to say that I moved in the middle of the pandemic and could not even use all the normal things I would have done, I did make the right move and definitely practically. Yesterdays strong wind has not worried me in the slightest as am not responsible for the roof etc and could just sit in my warm flat and be glad I was not out in the bad weather.
