Should I love or list my home of 26 years?

two rules of thumb i was given,move while you can, and its best to move sooner than later. I am in a 3 bed bungalow with big gardens, im 67 and Im starting to dislike maintaining it,I have known many to leave it too late with moving and the house becomes a liability.

Ditto Grammaretto & MayBee70. Big house, really huge garden and now now also on my own. Been here for over 10 yrs and seems a lot of little jobs in the house need sorting and the garden is a bit of a problem as I'm having a few joint issues. Don't really want to leave the home DH and I loved but wonder if I should do it now while still more able. Would need massive clear out which I have been very slowly working at but still have to face clearing away late DH's clothes etc and so many reminders of our past life together. Very difficult decision and also not as on the ball as I used to be so wary of making an unwise decision.

When one of us passes the other will more than likely sell up for a smaller place. Our current place though only two bedrooms has outside gardens that need maintaining etc
The survivor will move closer to son but still be close to our few friends and our doctors

After you have done all these works... Will it be the house you would buy today?

If you sell, you need to sort the house out. I have friends who have done this and are so pleased with the new look that they have stayed. Moving is very stressful.
However, I did sell my four bedroomed house and bought a dormer bungalow which needed lots of work, so much that my solicitor advised me not to buy it. However, I fell in love with it and did move and am pleased I did.
Also, as I age, I won’t have stairs and will have a downstairs bathroom.
Follow your instincts….
Just start my changing a carpet and freshening up the decor.

The amount you would have to pay out for solicitors, estate agents and stamp duty if you sell may be more than doing the work

We downsized to a 4 bed house that needed renovation so I planned it thinking of the future and it is so easy to look after and o steps obviously stairs.
Your house will need a considerable amount of work and money spending on it otherwise it will fall apart (Metaphorically) I and most of my friends have found that men find moving more traumatic and difficulty in adapting . At the end of the day it is your decision and difficult to make hope you make the right one.

Move.

Go and s

Lived in my house 40yrs, but like you needed things doing to it, we downsized to a newer low maintenance house 2yrs ago, tbf the clear out and move were stressful, but so glad we did move

Stay and pay. You know your home is perfect for you and moving presents a great number of unknowns. Also, if you need help later you would be able to acquire a good deal more in equity release from a big property.

My advice would be don’t take too long to make your decision! A month ago I was perfectly happy mowing lawns etc this week I have to really make myself and it takes two days as opposed to an afternoon! You never know what tomorrow will bring.

Yes it can be a difficult choice especially as you get older and are less able to do the maintenance yourselves. Lots of sound advice here. Good luck with whatever choice you make.

Granny23 Contacted local Estate Agent who visited and valued (no charge other than a promise to use her services if I did decide to sell. Her advice was to NOT spend money on repairs but rather to sell it as ripe for renovation.

We're almost certain our home will be removed - the property sold as part of our grounds, without a home. However, as noted above it's ripe for renovation - nothing we'd accomplish in our old ages.

We're lucky, ancient wood floors throughout, no need to carpet. We re-paint, same cream walls with white trim/ wood bits when needed. The electrics were done in the last add-on. Our home will see us out.

MayBee70

Might it be worth asking an estate agent to value the property and advise as to what improvements would be needed to make it more sellable? At the same time asking them to let you know of any suitable properties in your area that come on the market?

This is exactly what I did when DH died and his pensions with him leaving me with a big top rate of Council Tax, stone built cottage with huge garden which had been sorely neglected during his long illness. Contacted local Estate Agent who visited and valued (no charge other than a promise to use her services if I did decide to sell. Her advice was to NOT spend money on repairs but rather to sell it as ripe for renovation. She said that it was the very desirable location that would sell the property. When I decided to downsize (to a ground floor flat in a 15 year old Mews development, she was proved right and I achieved double the price for the old house as I paid for the small, easily managed flat (which HAD been newly decorated and had new kitchen appliances installed etc, in the same village, leaving me with sufficient cash to pay off both DD's remaining mortgages while leaving me with money to invest. My old house was bought by a newly retired couple who have totally modernised/renovated both the house and garden and love their new home.

It sounds as though the house has been neglected and doing everything you mention will be very costly. Will there then be further things that crop up? Is the house really a money pit? As someone else said, do you use all the rooms?
Like karmalady, we downsized seven years ago to a new build (in a village, not on an estate). Big rooms like our old house but fewer of them and all are used. Brilliant insulation, much cheaper to run. As you get older, tackling jobs and moving will be more difficult. Only you can say whether your house will be so perfect for you both in ten years’ time, by which time you will probably not be so fit and moving will be no picnic. If you’re going to do it, do it now.

Well if you stay and the electrics need doing, then you can have plugs put at easy reach level, for example, you can do other future proofing for "getting less able things built in". My sister even had an internal lift installed, but hers is a very big property - but she will never have to move. And make all the flooring non trip: eliminate steps that are not absolutely necessary, and so on.

But if you stay, cost in having gardeners, cleaners etc in the long term.

We are in a four bedroom detached house it’s too big for us but we won’t move. It’s in a nice area it’s ten minutes walk from where I grew up and it’s in a wooded area. Our friends are all close by we have really good neighbours. Even if one of us died I cannot imagine moving it’s a familiar area so we like it.

In the past I did a lot of the work especially decorating but we got someone in to do it last time. I had to admit defeat my joints gave in to heavy work. The only thing we really need to do is declutter but that’s not going to happen any time soon. My dh mantra is if it’s old it’s worth something ridiculous but he is stubborn.

If you are comfy where you are don’t move weigh up the pros and cons. You don’t want to live regretting if you move and are not happy. It’s like retirement you have to adapt don’t sit on your laurels. Have something to be keep occupied or it won’t work you have to be content.

By way of encouragement - my mother-in-law bought a house that needed work three years ago at 96.

She was determined to move in at once (!) and then had all the work done over a period of about six/eight weeks. She did the rewire, new kitchen and bathroom remodeling all at once then had the painting done and parquet polished and new carpet throughout. It would have been harder if she'd had lots of stuff everywhere of course.

It is a 3 bed family home with a large garden - which she has subsequently had altered and cut into steps and terraces so she can get round it easily.

You can do this if you want to!
Admittedly you won't be looking forward to the upheaval but you have time to plan and get your ducks in a row!
Good luck.

pascal30

As you have the perfect location and love your house I would get quotations done and then see whether you can afford to stay. It could be lovely for your old age if it is redecorated and has new carpets.. good luck

I'm with you here.
You know all the problems with the house and still love it.
Get some quotes for the jobs and get the work done if you can afford it - I'd stay put.

Sister and I encouraged mum and dad to leave the family home before dad got too ill. Never regretted that as moving 40 yrs of 'stuff' wouldn't have been easy after he died.
Both sister and I downsized when our youngest children left home.

I have been thinking of having a valuation on this house. It’s really too big for me now and there will come a time (not far hence) when the garden will not be manageable. The roof will need some work soon. Nothing serious but if I wanted to sell it that would have to be addressed, and it wouldn’t be cheap. I would sorely miss my surroundings, though, and my lovely neighbours.

As you have the perfect location and love your house I would get quotations done and then see whether you can afford to stay. It could be lovely for your old age if it is redecorated and has new carpets.. good luck

Good question. One we have been a bit wrestling with in some ways.
And good answers.

Sounds like the plumbing, heating, structure of house is ok?
Might be worth getting a full survey done before making the final decision? To have a full picture?

Get some costings of all the work that needs to be done by contractors, remember that Electrical work need to be done by a Certified Electrician, not by a chap down the road who is handy.
Then cost out how much to move, including legal fees and stamp duty.
You probably won’t find it’s much different in cost, but you also have to factor in the upheaval of having the work done whilst you are living in the house. Maybe a new build would suit you better now?
We have a bungalow, the bungalow next door was knocked down and a huge house built, I think that when we move the same will happen here, so we will tidy the place up, fix the bathroom tiles (no point having a swanky bathroom fitted now) and sell it as ‘having potential’ much as I love our bungalow I don’t love our location, although it is very peaceful here. We would rather take the hit on the price than spend months having builders/plumbers/electricians in when we are still living here.
When we move it will be closer (almost next door ) to the rest of our family so we won’t need the 5 bedrooms that we have at the moment for when they all come to stay.
I’ve started taking photos of the gardens during the different seasons, in case new buyers want to keep all the trees and hedges around the property, but if next door is anything to go by they would rather have the extra 15ft of land all around, than trees and hedges that support local wildlife.