If you do go two story, just make sure it has a downstairs bedroom and bathroom so you could transition to that area if can no longer use the stairs. This is what my aunt and uncle did when they built their retirement home in Maine. Uncle now needs knee replacement so was a smart move.
For those with concerns about stairs, why not thought to one of the stair lift thingies?
That has always been the plan with our house. Hoping I havenât missed a big negative on those.
Lol.
I think that should be a âlast resortâ type of option.
Itâs interesting that this thread has focused so much on the stairs issue. It was in the OP that his wife wants single story.
My Mom hasnât been upstairs in the house I grew up in for years. Thank god Dadâs still able to easily and safely make it up and down them.
Thatâs what I told the Mrs. As stated above, itâs a last resort, but my plan is:
a) live in house until we NEED single floor living (in our 80s)
b) IF something happens before we have time to plan, get the stair thingy
An old high school friendâs parents are a mess right now. They bought a giant old-old-old house on a big property. A flight of stairs is probably 50% more steps than in a standard house, and they have a 3rd floor on top of that.
The father lives on the first floor. The mother, last I heard, scoots up the stairs on her butt. The whole property has just gone to crap.
I think the big fear for a lot of us is that we donât want to end up like that, but I think we also have to be realistic about how that comes to be.
Honestly my biggest fear is that Iâll suffer from dementia and no one will do anything about it. Is there a service you can sign up for where they come to your house every 6 months and do a âAm I Crazyâ check?
Well yeah, I donât plan to get one tomorrow. But I plan to be here forever.
I also think a pneumatic tube like the banks have would be cool but Iâd need a bigger air compressor.
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This is Plan A material.
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Barry. I will share my N+1 experience. Small is overrated. Get the right layout and rooms that you want and do not focus too much on the overall size.
We are empty nesters that downsized from 3800sf (with several rooms that had no utility to us) to 3,000sf (that all rooms fit our needs and lifestyle). If I had it to do over, I would probably increase the sf by a few hundred. Now, the key is what we actually use. We have 1800sf that the wife and I âlife inâ. Open floor plan. Family room, dining, kitchen, master, office and toy room along with a 700sf deck. Every room overlooks 3 miles of the lake. Stunningly beautiful all day every day. Downstairs we have a social room, 2 bedrooms (with lakeview), 2 baths for guests and 1,000sf of storage/workshop for us. Some of our neighbors have 2 bedrooms but only 1 bath for their guest and they all regret that. There are no rooms I would get rid of. There are no rooms I would add. I would simply make every room larger. I put 10â ceilings and 8â doors throughout and I love that aesthetic. All the lakeside is glass so the house feels larger than it is .. but I would still increase it.
Stairs. NBD. If you get a single level ranch instead you will likely have the complaint that it is too spread out.
Balance being frugal with getting what you want. You are likely to live there the rest of your life, or at least a significant portion of it so focus on rooms that function for you.
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Iâve been reviewing your posting history, and Iâve got some bad news for ya, buddyâŚ
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Some one pays attention to me?
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Update:
I pulled out 21 current listings in our area and price range. It turns out that we line up pretty well. There were a couple of examples where we disagreed, but as I said when we bought the current house, âwe can disagree on 100 houses, as long as we both like 1.â
Side note: She pulled me to the computer and said, âokay, now hear me outâŚâ which is a sign that sheâs about to come up with a terrible idea. She did find the âbedroom on the 1st floor,â house, but literally everything else with it was wrong: too small, too expensive, wrong location, bad floor plan, not enough light, etc.
If anything, I want more space than I used to because I have more stuff:
PT / workout room, piano / instruments, yada yada.
I couldnât imagine downsizing.
If she does this while less than fully clothed, enjoy your new small expensive house.
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We have more stuff, too. But now that weâre downsizing my dadâs belongings, which includes stuff passed along from my late mom, AND some stuff from previous generations, it makes me want to get rid of at least excess stuff of my own. They werenât hoarders, but they were definitely âsavers.â And I have some of the same tendencies. Wouldnât wish a stressful cleanout for the next generation.
Its called kids, My mom is very social lots of friends. If she did not have me she would be sunk. Not dementia yet but brain bleed from a fall 8 weeks ago and now in respite care.
Donât have any of those.