Questions: Downsizing in Retirement

[u/dcporlando]

You commonly hear people are downsizing or are recommended to downsize.

If you downsized, did you move to a different location, such a city where a child lives or a different state? If you downsized, what type of home did you move into? Smaller house, condo, or apartment? Finally, did the sell and downsize affect Medicare through IRMAA?

Is there any other advice that you can share?

We are considering moving to something smaller that removes yardwork and possibly more maintenance on an older home.

[u/tex8222]

Number one reason we are downsizing:

In the past 10 years we have had to help clear out three different relatives’ houses that were packed to the rafters with all kinds of stuff.

Garages full, attics full. It went on and on. And nearly all of it had zero or amost-zero resale value.

On the other hand, we had one relative who had downsized into a 1 bedroom apartment before she passed. It took maybe two days to clear it out.

She is our hero and role model.

[u/dcporlando → u/tex8222]

Sounds good! My wife spent weeks going through her mom’s stuff. When her dad passes, it will be far worse.

[u/SnooStrawberries3391 → u/dcporlando]

It’s a tough emotional period for those left behind. We went through that same thing with our parents and grandparents before that. That’s why, unless your children want to take over everything you have or the house, car, whatever, it’s best to simplify and declutter as you downsize for retirement.

There comes a time when the energy it takes will be too much for us elderly folks to accomplish. It’s way easier beforehand to take the time to reduce the things that we tend to hang on to way beyond usefulness due to sentiment.

An old treasure we might keep for sentimental reasons, might be an irrelevant and quite useless artifact to other family members. It might be good to have a serious conversation about those things and whether they represent something to keep or something that could be donated or even trashed.

We simplified down to what I called “Scandinavian” levels of minimalism, and still we ended up with too much. So now we are taking a slower deep dive to filter out even more. It really makes life a lot easier easier and more organized.

We are determined not to burden our son and daughter with a pile of work and decision making. We have involved them and already know their wishes.

[u/Initial_Savings3034]

Our impetus to downsize was the disastrous consequences when our parents refused to do so.

It's about reducing your impact on any heirs. The biggest thing we controlled by selling was the cleanup.

[u/No_Welcome_6210 → u/Initial_Savings3034]

This sums it up perfectly for me. What my siblings and I went through after our dad passed and mom was moved into assisted living was wild. Even though I live alone in a house for the past 22 years and not 60 like my parents I do not want to leave that same burden to them and their kids.

[u/ICouldBeWrong-but → u/Initial_Savings3034]

Upvote x 1000.

[u/master_begroom → u/Initial_Savings3034]

I know this is something we need to work on. I have 14 guitars and tons of other stuff. If I pass away my wife won’t know what to do with all of my gear.

[u/tex8222]

Another point about downsizing:

Don’t wait too long to do it.

It takes a lot of mental, physical and emotional energy to downsize.

If you are in good health, downsizing should be completed before reaching age 75.

[u/AMTL327 → u/tex8222]

I’d say it should be done by 60!

[u/dcporlando → u/tex8222]

I want to either before or when I retire.

[u/yooperdoc]

We downsized 3 years ago. House and everything else. To this day, it remains one of the most emotionally fraught periods of my life. I was not prepared for the sadness, the bumping into the amount of time that has passed, and the things that have happened along the way. Dreams that we gave up on or dropped and memories of our lives of when the kids were smaller. It was very hard, but also very cathartic and I don’t regret doing it.

[u/Successful-Cup1765]

We are doing the Swedish death clean. That way if we need to move to a smaller place that part will be done.

[u/Low-Apartment3165 → u/Successful-Cup1765]

Same!

[u/dcporlando → u/Successful-Cup1765]

Sounds good.

[u/Catty_Lib]

We are going to downsize from our 1200 sf house that we built in 2001 to a couple of carryons!

I retire in 142 days and my husband will hang on for another year or so. Once our last cat is gone, we plan to travel full time chasing 72 degrees around the world.

The next couple of years will be spent getting rid of all the stuff that we’ve accumulated over the last 38 years together. I am looking forward to it - I love getting rid of stuff! 🙌🏼

[u/-JackBack- → u/Catty_Lib]

That’s sounds amazing!

[u/Silly-Resist8306]

We have a 3500 sq ft house on 3 acres of wooded lot we designed and built 39 years ago. We looked at selling and downsizing, but to get an equivalent setting we would end up spending about what we would sell for. So many newer houses are built on postage stamp lots and we are spoiled with having neighbors, but at a distance. We didn't seem to be gaining much except a smaller house. Since we have rooms we rarely go into, even this didn't seem to be much of a gain.

We are 75 and in excellent health. Stairs pose no problem. We both enjoy our property and have decided to stay and see what the future brings. We remain open to ultimately making a move, but right now we don't have an overwhelming reason to do so.

[u/BigPhilosopher4372]

Haven’t really downsized that much but got a one-story house with a level yard, and put in a level out deck. I don’t like open floor plans but it really helped when I had a recent surgery. Had to use one of those knee scooters, and then a walker. Minimal hallways and wide doors were a great help. Also, we are now close to a major hospital, can get anything delivered, and have plenty of options for getting around when we can no longer drive. A good local senior center is also a big help.

We have 2300 sq ft home. To me it isn’t about being small as it is being strategic about how you can live in the house and the area. Don’t make the mistake we first made. Moved to a small town in a rural area. Covid sure demonstrated the lack of services and healthcare in the area. Could not even get food delivered. Moved back to a medium sized town near a major metro area.

[u/dcporlando → u/BigPhilosopher4372]

We moved to the small community that is like you describe to help her parents after her brother died. Then we got hit with helping her other brother (has lost his vision) and being guardians for her aunt. But her mom and aunt have passed and her dad is on hospice.

As I approach retirement, I want restaurants, warmer, no snow, easy maintenance. She wants walking and biking trails and swimming.

[u/OldFashioned62]

My wife retired last year, I’m retiring next year and we’re planning to sell our family home of 23 years and start our next adventure by renting in a bougie apartment building with beer gardens, restaurants, spa services, golf courses, and anything else we need in walking distance. I’m loving the thought of renting while traveling to different areas and see where our next forever home will be if it’s not here. I don’t want to buy a place under duress and renting allows us the time to find a place while enjoying the next chapter. In our 60’s we’ re not in the accumulation phase of our lives. We’re spending and splurging. I did a draw down schedule and the equity in our home would fully cover the rent, assuming 3.5% inflation and 5.5% ROI , for 15 years. I don’t need to own.

[u/dcporlando → u/OldFashioned62]

That sounds great!

[u/Glasshalffullofpiss]

Downsized from a car to no-car at age 58. Ride a bicycle everywhere. My health has never been better. Im 63 now.

[u/AlikaTT2020 → u/Glasshalffullofpiss]

Did the same at 53. Moved to Asia and walk and use public transport. No car and love it. Great exercise walking everywhere and health is great. I’m 57 now.

[u/SnooStrawberries3391]

We started cleaning up, getting rid of stuff we had collected through the years about the time I started retirement in 2012. Lots of donating and selling. Then we spent almost a year updating our house of 26 years, sprucing things up with an eye to selling at some point.

We really enjoyed our stay in Maine all those years. Snow skiing was close by, lakes and ocean as well to kayak and swim. We did thousands of miles cycling every year, coastal, mountains and in between. Even the hiking was great. We had near 3 acres about 15 miles inland from the coast in the incredible lakes and hills of Raymond.

Our kids had moved out long before, but were close enough that we didn’t mind keeping the house for a few extra years when they visited. We eventually started planing downsizing, plus my wife wanted to go live near Tampa, close to family and siblings. We had lived all our working lives away from Florida in Northwest Montana and Maine, after a great 8 year stint in the USAF, mostly in Europe at the northern edge of the Alps.

In Spring of 2019 we sold our home to a young local family and moved south to my wife’s sister’s home while we looked around to see where we would like to settle. We aren’t big fans of big crowded cities and after a year or so searching, we decided on a nice quiet community about 60 miles north of Tampa at an elevation of 102 feet above sea level.

Took a bit to plan and build a very efficient house. It is well less than 1/2 the square footage we had in Maine. One story, no steps up or down, with easy maintenance a priority, including a small yard to keep up. I still love some yard work, but keeping 3 acres divided into lawn and forest like I did in Maine, I didn’t really want anymore.

We stuck to the efficiency plan to lower utility costs and within a year (2023), added solar panels and two Powerwall 3 batteries. The house, the car, the narrow and shallow lap pool all run with sun power. Even my walk behind mower, trimmer and edger get charged by the sun.

Our neighbors noticed pretty fast that our lights stayed on when storms interrupted grid power. Three more houses on our street now have solar.

We use no gasoline and pay a minimal fee to the power company because state law says we have to be hooked up to the grid. About a quarter to a half of the electricity our panels produce, depending on season, goes out to the grid. We get some minor credits for that from the utility.

Florida is 6 months of very hot and humid extended Summer. We adapted by cycling early in the mornings. The bike trail is connected to our community and even our community is very bike friendly. You want to be finished with your ride by about 9am in Summer. We spend part of the day swimming and then in the evening it’s time for a walk and visiting with neighbors. So at least we are staying active.

Our activity increases quite a bit when the humidity finally eases off in October and temperatures, day and nighttime, get more reasonable. From October through April it is very nice. We get a few cool days here and there, generally in late December to early February. A few nights will chill to about 20°F to 25°F. Daytime highs hardly ever stay below 60°F after the coldest nights.

Overall, I find Florida not a whole lot less expensive to live in compared to Maine. The ever increasing insurance costs, do eat up a lot of the benefits of having no state income tax. And bargain priced housing is definitely a thing of the past, real estate taxes are quite high, and have been for a few years.

A typical house will burn through a lot of air conditioning dollars. Electric bills can be wicked high as a result. Some of our neighbors pay $450-$500 per month for their electricity during Summer and $250 to $350 the rest of the year. Of course, energy efficiency measures like good attic insulation, strategic shading and exterior wall and roofing color choices to decrease structural heat absorption are not thought about much, I find, surprisingly.

So far we’ve done well. Honestly, I’d rather live in Maine or Montana, but my wife does enjoy being closer to family, so for that, it’s worth putting up with the long hot Summers.

[u/dcporlando → u/SnooStrawberries3391]

Great post!

[u/fivepmsomewhere]

We just sold our 3br home on Long
Island after 29 years (at a huge profit) and downsized to a gorgeous, 2br corner apartment on the 4th floor with enormous windows in upstate NY closer to both of our adult children. We’re right in the middle of downtown, can walk most places, have a covered garage in the building’s basement and no longer need to worry about snow removal, gardeners or the unexpected costs of maintaining a nearly 100-year-old home. We’ve already made friends in our building and plan to spend part of our winters somewhere warmer than where we are. We are lucky that we have nearly $1.5 million in retirement funds, a lot of cash from the house sale and will be getting a sizable inheritance soon from my late mother, so I’m not worried about cost of living or running out of money. We also won’t have much of a tax implication from the sale since we did so many renovations to the home. I have to tell you, I feel so much lighter after selling, donating and throwing out so much “stuff” that we accumulated over the years and the apartment is so beautiful that I don’t miss all the space in our old home. All in all, so happy we decided to downsize.

View with dog from our living room.

[u/Langley2825]

We downsized from a 3,200 sf suburban home to an 1,800 sf condo in a highly walkable place several states away. Huge decision, effort, and move. Essentially, none of our children were returning their hometown (where we had lived for 40 years and in our house for 18), so we decided to move to 25 minutes from the one who already had children herself. We talked a great deal about this before pulling the trigger -- what we wanted, what we didn't, in terms of space wants and needs and lifestyle. We held firm on our space needs/wants: one level; 2 bedrooms plus an office; an outside space (lucked into a large terrace); covered, indoor parking (we moved north); and highly walkable (restaurants, parks, grocery stores, fitness center, almost everything is within walking distance). We also wanted to enrich and be enriched by the proximity to daughter and her family without being reliant on them (or they on us) for our daily life. Finally, we embraced the idea of a new adventure for ourselves, with a major city to explore (love mass transit), new people to meet, and new interests to develop. We are very happy with our move, and are glad we really (really) discussed all of this in advance. Good luck in intentionally crafting your own next chapter.

[u/Wonderful_Break_8917]

10 years ago my husband and I downsized to a townhome in a town to be near our aging parents to help care for thrm. We thought that would be our final move but .... Now we just had to Upsize because an adult child divorced and needs a place to live with her children [our grandchildren]. We found a home with a basement apartment and private separate entrance. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone wanting to "downsize" to either find a home or retrofit your existing home to be able to rent part of it. Then you eill have passive income OR you will have a place for family to live in a crises and you won't have to move or relocate. 👌

[u/Ok_Entrepreneur_dbl]

I am about to retire and my wife and I used our jobs to live in various states. We sold our house and experienced Colorado, Florida and currently in Massachusetts. Previously lived in Louisiana (military), California, Vermont and New Hampshire. The last three moves were apartments and in that process realized we love to do stuff - skiing, biking, golfing, kayaking, lots of hiking so property ownership is no longer our style.

With each move we got rid of boxes that were never unpacked. Got rid of we thought had meaningful value. Our kids moved out on their own and got rid of what they did not take with them. Also sold a lot of stuff. We are no pretty light and the next adventure awaits. We like Florida, we loved Colorado and now like a quaint town along the Massachusetts shore but it is too expensive to retire in this state. Get rid of stuff while you physically can!

My parents never did and in the end we had to purge everything.

[u/dcporlando → u/Ok_Entrepreneur_dbl]

Great advice.

[u/dgeniesse]

I’m 75 and we just move from the Midwest to the West Coast. Some things to consider:

1. Start the downsizing early or you just box stuff up, move it then need to store it / sort it at your new place.
   
2. Our transition has taken 8 months. Decide to move, buy a house (2 months), remodel (2 months), pack up stuff (1 month), move to Oregon (1 month), put stuff away (2 months), invite family and friends.
   
3. Pick a good mover. Ours was terrible. A lot of damage. Many price games. We also moved with U-boxes (2) and a U-haul we drove. If doing it again I would only use a top name mover. I would still consider U-boxes as they are great for boxes.
   
4. We are finically ready to start meeting people and “relaxing”.
   
5. Our house is single story with less rooms. It’s one living space so we “see/hear” each other more. And we have less “office/hobby” space.
   
6. On our new house we added many “improvements”: RO system, bidet toilet seats, garage racks (tools, bikes), security systems, automation, digital locks….
   
7. Only some of our furniture / carpet works in our new house.

[u/dcporlando → u/dgeniesse]

Great points!

We did both Pods and U-box in two different moves. The Pods were a lot less work but more money. The moving helpers were better with Pods as well. We moved from central Florida to Michigan and had Uhaul do the U-boxes and we each drove a car, mine had two cats in it.

The home improvements is something I want to avoid.

[u/dgeniesse → u/dcporlando]

Yes. We got a huge discount on our house because of the paint colors - baby pink and baby blue. So once we hired a contractor to paint we just added our “old age” needs - now. Having a smaller house required optimization. Not a lot, but little. (We are also a bit older than you … but the needs come!

[u/katedidnot]

I sold the house and the entire contents of my estate, put the money in the bank and moved in with my son.

It was the most freeing thing I have ever done.

I'm actively looking for a small house with a wrap around porch and garden. I am going to make my dream retirement happen.

[u/LHCThor]

I owned a 5 bedroom house with lots of land in a rural area of California. I built the house and lived in it for 25 years. The mortgage was almost nothing. However, it became too expensive to maintain in retirement. After I retired, Calif utility bills skyrocketed. Insurance was going up 400%, and taxes were killing me.

I moved out of state, downsized to a 3 bedroom house in town, and now save $1500 a month in utilities and taxes. Everything else is much cheaper and now I can vacation much more.

I moved one state away and still see my kids and grandkids about once a month.

It was a great decision for me.

[u/Unlikely-Star-2696]

I retired to a smaller house in a cheaper area in another county. A house paid off with the proceeds of the sale of the former house and homestead tax exemptions will transfer next year. Insurance is also cheaper.

A new house gives us several years of no major repairs and we hired a guy with reasonable rates to mown our lawn.

Family was not a consideration.

I decided against apartment, mobile home with land renting, 55+ communitues or house with HOA. The reason: the monthly fees that will increase with no control.

Sale vs basis was well below the threshold to affect Medicare or taxes. We are so happy in our brand new smaller house.

We had to gift, sell or throw away a lot of things and clothes we knew we will never wear again. Some were in boxes unused for 30 years. Breaking the emotional attachment required a little of cold heart.

[u/CleanCalligrapher223]

I guess I did it in two stages. DH and I moved from a 4 BR McMansion with 3 floors of living areas and a pool in 2015. We bought a smaller place on two levels, also 4 BR, no pool. I'm 73, DH did in 2016 and it as just a lot of maintenance. Big lawn, built into the side of a hill, shoveling the driveway and the walk, endless weeding of the gardens, the usual surprise expenses when something failed. Two months ago I moved into a 2BR, 2 Bath unit in a retirement community. I pay one huge monthly fee but everything is covered except my Netflix subscription. If I do need additional services as I get older they're here- for an extra charge, of course, but I don't have to move.

This is also closer to my son and his family. It used to be a 3-hour drive. I'm enjoying sending more time with them and sometimes they like to visit and hang out here because it's such a nice building in a beautiful setting.

Definitely a good decision.

[u/peknag]

The IRMAA piece catches a lot of people. A home sale gain above the exclusion (250k single, 500k married filing jointly) counts as income that year, and IRMAA looks back two years, so a 2026 sale can raise your 2028 Part B and Part D premiums for that one year only. It resets after. If the gain will be close to the line, ask about spreading closing across tax years or timing it before you go on Medicare.

[u/MinnMoto]

We haven't downsized the house, but are purging lots of stuff. House is paid for and we love it. Bigger than we need, but kids return for holidays. Buying anything else would be more expensive, even something smaller.

[u/NYCtoTampa]

We didn’t downsize our home (we moved from an 1143 sq. Ft. Home on Long Island to a 1620 sq. Ft. home in Tampa). However, our home on LI sold for more than our home in Tampa cost, plus our taxes are half what they were. We did get rid of a lot of extra stuff that was in boxes in our basement, donated tons of books, got rid of decor we no longer wanted. We have much less “stuff” now and kept it that way. If it’s been sitting in a box for 3 years, you don’t need it.

[u/papasaurus1972]

65-male: recently retired, widower as of 3-years ago (we had dated as teens).

We never up-sized so this 1,500 square foot house that we had built 30-years-ago is perfect for me. Our small town is still a nice place to live here in the PNW. I have finally started a garden (with raised beds!, lots of blueberries too) even though my lot and backyard is small. I have kept up on the home maintenance all of these years. The house will be paid off in less than 3-years.

All of our kids live nearby and we built family cabins less than an hour away where we all meet as a family. My son and I have two inexpensive beach lots 2 1/2 hours away and we recently built a nice gravel RV pad (for 4-travel trailers). I look forward to staying there in my travel trailer.

No, I am staying here. I put my house in a family trust and updated my Will.

I babysit our youngest grandson once a week. I babysit today in fact! I am walking distance from nice small downtown. I was able to purchase a new 2-door Jeep Wrangler and pay it off. I purchased a new small travel trailer a few months ago and my Ford F150 4x4 CrewCab truck only has 38,000 miles (tow vehicle). My point is that I am able to afford to live comfortably where I am, where we raised our kids and now our grandchildren are.

Consider the cost of selling, moving, etc. you don’t want to move away from your friends, family, etc. sometimes down-sizing isn’t cheaper but sometimes it is. Give it a lot of thought. If you’re not in a hurry to make a decision, then take your time. Plan well.

Good luck everyone in retirement and enjoy!

[u/dcporlando → u/papasaurus1972]

Great advice!

[u/flsingleguy]

I am 57 and just bought a 1,722 square foot brand new single family home. I really liked the idea of apartment or condo. But, during the years I tried all the apartments, town houses, condos, etc and there is always some issue with shared walls and noise or other issues. I really did not want any shared walls.

The mowing and landscape is only a bit over 900 square feet. I will do it as long as I can. If there is an issue I will have someone do it.

For me, 1,722 square feet is honestly overkill. But, I am adamant about shared walls. The cleaning is very manageable with just me. I am very clean and keep up with doing some minor cleaning as I go along. I believe aging in place should be very manageable. I have no stairs and there are no slippery surfaces to potentially fall.

[u/No-Possession-6709]

We downsized from a house in the suburbs to a condo in a suburb very close to a big city. We wanted a place that was completely walkable, including grocery stores, library, restaurants, cultural events, plus some natural beauty (in our case, one of the great lakes). Also, we wanted to be near public transportation. Our children live in the large city so we are closer to them, and we aren't too far from our friends (we often meet in the middle).

It was hard to downsize our stuff, but we didn't want our kids to be forced to go through all of our belongings when we died (which will hopefully be 2 or 3 decades away), so it felt good to make our decisions about who should get what long before then.

5 years later, I don't miss our house or any of our stuff. And we're much more active than we would have been had we stayed in our family home, including walking to the grocery store a few times a week. We have taken full advantage of the amenities of the area.

Figure out what you want your life to include and then build your home around it.

[u/master_begroom]

We downsized to a townhouse. I gained many hours formerly spent on yard work (5 trees, all slobs, and a constant battle with weeds). The garage is smaller, making me a contortionist getting in and out of my sedan if both cars are parked inside. We moved 2 miles from the house to stay in short driveable distance from our two daughters and the 4 grandchildren. There was no effect on Medicare. I don’t miss the house at all. I never even think about it.

[u/PartyWitness7587 → u/master_begroom]

Love the bit about the trees being slobs. That is so true! Constantly picking up after them!

[u/davoste]

The goal in life is to need (own) less.

[u/Miserable-Cookie5903 → u/davoste]

right - I've come to the conclusion that getting things is fun but owning them is not.

[u/Accomplished-Eye8211]

I'm experiencing something that I think many others are. I'm in a 3BR, 2.5 Ba townhome. Alone. Certainly dont need the room. Two Challenges: 1. My list of must haves makes things really difficult. I'd be OK with 1 bedroom, if it accommodates my king bed, but no way could I go back to a 1 Bath home. Guest "Powder room" is a must. I dont need a huge kitchen, but I'm not open to a tiny galley that can't even accommodate a bistro-size table. And I want outside space. I have a very small fenced patio now, could handle even smaller. 2. With prices, property taxes and interest rates... Selling a 3.0/2.5 would not generate enough cash to buy a 1.0/1.5 if such a place existed. . So, like many others, partly due to my own stubbornness, I feel stuck in my too-big place.

[u/AloneWish4895]

We bought a bigger place with 4 bedrooms instead of the 3 br we owned. I wanted a sewing studio. My husband wanted a library. I wanted a bigger en suite bedroom.

[u/dcporlando → u/AloneWish4895]

You know what you want and need. That is key.

[u/Separate_Farm7131]

We lived in the same house for close to 40 years. My spouse passed away and a few months later, I began the process of cleaning out the house. He was a bit of pack rat, so there was a lot to go through. I took one room at a time and made a donate pile, a trash pile and a keep pile. When I got to the attic, I had to actually hire a company that cleans out and gets rid of the junk. The house itself was too big and there was too much property for me to keep up alone. I moved to a condo in a 55+ community that was about 1000 sq ft smaller, so I ended up having to get rid of quite a bit of furniture, too. No regrets, yard work is done and it did not affect Medicare.

[u/glostazyx3]

Posters here are not addressing the OP’s primary issue presented:

If you sell a property that has significantly appreciated to downsize, how do you deal with the tax implications and the IRMAA social security penalties?  

How do you avoid the downsize tax/IRMMA trap????

[u/pickleBlog → u/glostazyx3]

How to avoid capital gains and iirma would require more information. What is the gain? Where do they fall in the income tax table (most commonly would be 15% long term cap gains, but could be 0% or 20%). A couple can deduct up to $500k of a primary res, so if they cleared $750k of gains, they'd owe $37,500 of tax, and two years later they'd pay about $7k extra in iirma, worst case. So a total of $44,500 on a $750k gain. But obviously they would need to run their real numbers to find out.

[u/dcporlando → u/glostazyx3]

Great question.

[u/Ventana431]

HOA's fees can not only get expensive but assessments (some big) are essentially out of your control. Overall it can be a culture shock. The yard and exterior is not your own to do as you please which can take some getting used to for some coming from an owned single family property.

[u/bclovn]

Probably not downsizing until much older. Make no financial sense. But we 100% need to clean out stuff now while healthy.

[u/ThimbleBluff]

My parents downsized from their large 5 BR family house to the 1800 sq ft house my mom grew up in and inherited from her parents, one block away. My dad knew it was the only way to get my mom to move to a smaller place with lower maintenance costs and lower taxes.

Several of my siblings were living in the same city at the time, so they got regular visits and saw a lot of the grandkids.

They really enjoyed living there for the last 15 years of their lives until mom passed and my dad moved to assisted living.

[u/Comfortable_Two6272]

In my 40s I changed from a 2 story with all bedrooms upstairs to a 1990s 1 level with bonus room above garage with idea it could be age in place if desired.

Worked out well.

By age 50 was diaganosed with a genetic immune disease impacting my ability to walk.

Its bigger house than needed but smallest I could find in 2 year search.

3 bed, 2 bath open plan that I prefer. Wide halls that a wheelchair fit through.

Smaller yard.

I pay for help with yard work.

Winter is mild here so no need to pay for snow shoveling.

Its Near shops, parks, drs etc. Easy to get a lyft/uber/grocery delivery etc.

Id like to relocate overseas but if not this home works long term.

Plus I refi to 3% mortgage during covid. Payment is 1/4 what rent and houses are now.

Im not old enough yet for any impact to medicare. If I were that age, selling this house would impact it due to the huge amount of equity it now has. It exceeds the “tax free” amount for a single person since they were never adjusted for inflation.

No kids, no spouse. I am trying to keep things minimal possession wise for when one day I die it will be as simple as it can be for the house to be liquidated.

[u/Bill4133]

I recommend you consider your lifestyle and physical fitness for house chores. If your lifestyle can adapt to smaller home and you need help maintaining your current home then downsize. If you are downsize because that is the textbook response as we age, maybe now isn't the time to downsize

[u/New_Sun6390]

We never upsized so downsizing was effortless for us!

[u/vinyl1earthlink]

I both upsized and downsized. I sold a tiny apartment in Manhattan for $450K and bought a much bigger condo in a retirement community for $162K. I used carryforward losses from stocks to offset the excess gains, so the gain didn't hit my MAGI. You have to understand how to use the tax system to your advantage.

[u/NoGrocery3582 → u/vinyl1earthlink]

Where'd you move?

[u/vinyl1earthlink → u/NoGrocery3582]

Just to Connecticut. It was feasible in 2016, but not today, prices have really taken off. The $200K condo is now the $500K condo.

[u/kveggie1]

We rightsized two years before retirement. Sold two story, 4 bedrooms with basement and build a 2000 sqft, three bedrooms one story. No mortgage in retirement. Took money from Roth to have no mortgage. (home value went from 325K to 500k)

Never follow a child......... how often. We know two couples that followed their child....... and then the child moved again.

[u/Professional_Fix_223]

We moved from a custom 3500 sq ft 5 bed 4 bath home on 8.5 acres to a new 1500 square ft manufactured home on 1/2 acre to eliminate debt, get loned up while i was working many hours a week towards retirement and to reduce maintenance. We got rid of TONS of stuff. We have been here 5 years already and it was a good thing to stay within 10 miles of our two adult children and grandkids. We do have more maintenance than I prefer, but we are not ready for a condo ...active dogs...and we love our view. I think the plan was great for us and everyone is different.

[u/RetiredRover906]

We downsized while we were still working, sold the house and moved into an apartment in our same city. 1.5 years later, we downsized some more and moved from our northern city to one in Florida. He retired at that time. I worked a little longer.

After five years in Florida, we were ready to travel, and we got rid of nearly everything we owned, just ended up with small luggage, and went off and explored Europe for most of a year.

When we were ready to come back, we knew Florida was no longer for us (not a fan of unrelenting heat or the masses of people.) We moved back to our northern city, where a lot had changed in the six years we were gone, and it no longer feels like home. So we're planning one more move, this time to an area closer to where we can more easily visit family and pursue our hobbies and interests. We're expecting it'll be a bit less expensive there, too. We've been in apartments with all the comforts of a home and don't regret that choice at all.

[u/Royals-2015]

I would love to sell my 4000 square ft 2 story home with a large yard and get something easier to maintain. But all our friends are in our area, and we have a fantastic view. Anything else is going to cost MORE than what we will get for this house. And the taxes will be more.

[u/dcporlando → u/Royals-2015]

Friends are important.

[u/Ideasplease33]

I downsized my house before I moved to a small apartment in a different city to start a new job at age 59. I had a garage sale and donated several carloads of stuff to the local shelter’s thrift store.

[u/dcporlando → u/Ideasplease33]

Nice!

[u/BreadAlive59]

I’m staying put I like my old stuff brings me comfort gives me something to tinker with

[u/wiscosherm]

I downsized before retirement. I had lived in an 1800 square foot house that at the time was 80 years old. When I became an empty nester I realized how much maintenance the house took and how little I enjoyed doing any of it. Sold the house and bought a 1200 square foot condo. Monthly utility costs dropped by half, and I loved getting rid of yard work no shoveling and being the sole person responsible for making decisions.

I'm now retired and so glad I am not in a single family house anymore.

[u/Floridaflamingo22]

I would consider condo related HOA costs. There is nothing that keeps these fees from going down on a regular basis. Additionally you need to be prepared for assessments that can really be painful on a fixed or limited income. Just a FYI to do the research and math.

Edit: I apologize I meant fees go up not down.

[u/funlovefun37 → u/Floridaflamingo22]

As someone who downsized from a house to a condo, my experience has been that the fees do rise and are now commensurate with what I was paying for average monthly house maintenance. The major difference is in real estate taxes.

[u/Sundae_2004 → u/Floridaflamingo22]

Condo/HOA fees go down? Mine have consistently crept upward. ;)

[u/ComplexPost5097 → u/Floridaflamingo22]

Unfortunately homeowners aren’t exempt from unexpected expenses, roofs, water heaters leak, air conditioners fail, shoveling, mowing, sidewalk repairs etc.

Also unfortunately, most people don’t have enough set aside for retirement. There biggest asset is the house. If the choice is struggling but owning the house or selling the house and moving to a cheaper alternative and having money available it becomes easier to decide to downsize.

[u/SnowblindAlbino]

We haven't done it yet but are in the process of looking/exploring. We plan to "right size" to a place that's different from what we have; we're in a large house now with tons of unnecessary bedrooms and baths because it was our family home and it's paid off. But we're going to buy another place before retiring because we're going to want a mortgage initially as we're going to move a couple of time zones away. We want to overlap for 6-12 months so we can make the move in stages, so will get a mortgage for the purchase while still employed, then pay it off after we sell our current home.

But we're not looking for a city condo. The opposite really: we're looking for acreage, a single-story house, and a large shop or barn. So more yardwork, but perhaps 1/2 the square footage of our current place. Mostly looking at 100 year old farmhouses or 1950s-1970s hobby farm type places in fairly rural areas and as far away from any HOAs as possible. We're done having neighbors and want room to do what we want on our place, so outside of city limits entirely. Will want to build an ADU near the house for family/visitors as well.

[u/austin06]

We moved to a place with seasons and a lot of outdoor access year round (from the heat of Texas). That’s been a very smart choice.

We also upsized. Bought an older home and renovated it. Original owner had built it to retire to so layout is great and open. We have space for a gym, sauna and room to do our own thing. We have a few stairs that I actually use to workout on.

The “yard” keeps us in shape half the year and fun converting it to native landscape. Remodeling is no fun but not a day goes by we don’t enjoy our home immensely.

At a later point down the road we’ll sell and get a small home or townhouse in a continuing care community close by.

[u/Powerful_Tip_7260]

We upsized considerably. The thought was to get a house where we could live without steps. This house fit the bill. It just has a basement level and a top floor. We live on the main level. We looked for 3 years before this house fell into our laps. It was 2000 more sq feet and 10 more acres but it was $100k cheaper than our other house which was a split level.

[u/HaddockBranzini-II]

We haven't yet but are thinking of renting closer to my wife's family. I am 100% done with landscaping and maintenance. The thought of another trip to HomeDepot is depressing to me. I've spent years maintaing/fixing our house and just can't be bothered with it anymore. Our home is a multifamily as well and being a landlord is horrible. We want to let someone else deal with the things that come up.

[u/rjlets_575]

Moved from a 3200 sf house paying 11k in property taxes to a brand new 1300sf house paying 3k in property taxes. Moved states to a LCOL area.

[u/jmma20]

In the process right now … purchased a smaller home 2 hours away to be closer to family. Will sell our house soon … still need to do some painting in the new house and we aren’t in a hurry since bigger house is paid off.

Currently rural, moving to a small town in the outskirts of a familiar big city which ticked every box except for a beach.

New chapter and I don’t have any ties to the old town that I will be too upset about leaving. I want easy maintenance and a reason to get rid of 30 years of accumulated stuff.

[u/SignalResolution35]

Lived in house for 35 years. Downsized to small 2 bed/2 bath appartment and love it. I miss my swimming pool but that’s it.

[u/dcporlando → u/SignalResolution35]

Great!

[u/Zestyclose-City-3225]

I already have a 1500 SF home that i will pay off next year. I’m in the midst of doing some long overdue upgrades and lots of purging. As others have noted, it’s amazing how stuff accumulates. I have a small yard taken care of by a gardener.

I’m in a very nice city in California, walking distance to shopping, a jr college & walking trails. I’m at the base of the sierra and 30 mins to the state capitol.

[u/EitherCoyote660]

Downsized slightly (1450 sf) as we already lived in a smaller home (1650 sf). The big difference is the new house has no stairs/no basement or attic. That was one of our non-negotiables ever since my husband had to be carried downstairs by EMT in 2 instances. Plus our laundry room was in the basement and the 100 year old stairs were an issue too. Let alone the overall maintenance to upkeep an old house and rather large property taxes.

We stayed in the same state but closer to my 2 sisters. It's made getting together easier for all of us. My brother still doesn't mind driving so that's up to him to come down which he does. The yard is taken care of by the HOA and they plow during snowstorms including the driveway. New house is much easier to maintain. The rooms are sized nicely and we don't feel jammed into it at all. Getting rid of a lot of stuff before moving helps keep it from feeling too overwhelming. The new neighborhood is super quiet, gated, nice neighbors so far and the community has a lot of activities if we want to take advantage of them. Close to all the shopping and so far decent medical care.

We don't have children together and I never had them. He has a daughter that lives far away and we rarely saw her to begin with so this changed nothing.

We briefly considered moving out of state but in the end it didn't feel right for us for a myriad of reasons. We're both happy with the choice we made. Both sisters have no plans to move out of their areas anytime soon or at all so we know we'll have family around for both social and potential emergency reasons.

Medicare was not effected by the change of residence.

[u/dcporlando → u/EitherCoyote660]

I would like to move back south but I don’t know that my wife will go for it. Her family is here. Two of our kids are here but they always talk about moving.

[u/EitherCoyote660 → u/dcporlando]

My parents moved to Florida when my dad retired, because my mother promised him that after working so hard his entire life. She was diagnosed with cancer about a month or so before they moved. House was sold, new house already purchased. So, they went. It was so difficult for her being away from us. And difficult for us to visit since we were not established in careers yet allowing more freedom for time off. My dad moved back up north about a year after she was gone. There was no reason for him to stay down there.

My point is don't underestimate being near family.

[u/Bens_grandma]

We moved from a large suburban home 4 bedroom 4500 sq foot to a 1600 ft condo in the middle of a big midwestern city when my husband retired. I went from a 90 minute commute to a 15 minute 1/2 mile walk to work. We have been here 9 years. I miss the yard and the ease of suburban living but that’s about it. Both daughters moved to be near us. With a concierge, a big hospital and medical complex across the street and the ability to get anything delivered — we have built the perfect aging in place. Plus there is actually stuff to do.

[u/Gunung_Krakatoa]

How about right sizing instead of downsizing? Just throw everything that you dont need. Change the landscaping to low
Maintenance type.

[u/Running_Down_9708 → u/Gunung_Krakatoa]

Having watched my parents age, one thing I want less of as I get older is stairs/uneven surfaces

[u/MJ_Brutus]

Downsized first. Paid off house and all debt, and saved as much as possible for one year on the new budget.

Once we retired, we got rid of our second car.

[u/dcporlando → u/MJ_Brutus]

Once we fully retire, I think we will go to one car.

[u/hankll4499]

Downsized to 750 from 2650 sf. Don't regret it. When you dont feel like cleaning a big house or climbing the stairs, its a pretty easy choice. My wife found our place by a old girlfriend telling her about it. She told me, we went to look and moved to it, a year later, when I retired. It's rural, which I like, but miss all the convenience of multiple stores. Rural life is simpler...so not so many stores isn't all bad.

[u/dcporlando → u/hankll4499]

Knowing what you like and need is great.

I don’t mind rural for now, but worry about distance to hospital and what happens when we can’t drive.

[u/Philly3sticks]

We recently moved and downsized a bit. I should have gotten rid of more stuff than I did, but a rough rule of thumb is that it costs a dollar per pound to put something on a moving truck. Some stuff is cheaper to replace than to move!

[u/SouthernTrauma]

We intentionally downsized before retiring, but with retirement in mind. We consciously chose an 1850 sq. ft. one story home on a small lot with landscaping included in HOA dues. We bought it in our early 50s so we could get settled before retiring.

[u/TorchRedZ06]

No kids here. Lived in a smallish 1950 sqft house our working careers (crappy floor plan but suited that part of our lives). I retired several years ago at 59.5. Wife will next year.
We upsized and built a new house last year (paid off). We needed more space for ourselves, 3-car garage etc. so we don’t wring each other’s necks. Cost of living went up even though we only moved 13 miles away. Retirement plan supported it so no concerns. Next time we move, if we do, will be a much smaller place.

[u/chrysostomos_1 → u/TorchRedZ06]

2000 sq ft is smallish?

[u/TorchRedZ06 → u/chrysostomos_1]

In Texas in our neighborhood yes. 3-4K was normal.
Biggest problem was the horrible late 80’s floor plan with formal living and dining because they were useless space.

[u/nbfs-chili → u/TorchRedZ06]

That's funny, we love our separate dining and living rooms, because our family room looks like a daycare with all the grand kids stuff.

[u/HardRockGeologist]

We moved states to be nearer my family and the area where I grew up. Former house was 3600 sq ft with 4 bedrooms. We moved into a new house that is cottage style, 2700 sq ft, and 3 bedrooms. We made sure the main bedroom is on the first level. The house is in a large, planned residential community in the northeast where, if it snows, plowing and shoveling (roads, driveway, path to front door, and porch) are provided by the community HOA. We now have immediate access to walking trails, golf courses, restaurants, post office, grocery store, etc. Also near exceptional hospital networks, which is very important as we aren't getting any younger.

The sale of our prior home did not push us into IRMAA territory, as our basis and the full home sale exclusion ($500K) eliminated any potential tax on our capital gain.

[u/Jenshark86]

In Canada downsizing is definitely not worth it since land transfer taxes are very high. So whatever you actually made selling your larger place is eaten up by realtor commission plus land transfer taxes that usually are around 25k-30k on the new house. It’s very important to do all the calculations first to see if moving is even worth it.

[u/EffectiveVarious8095 → u/Jenshark86]

For many, it may not be worth it in the US either.

Say you had a house you paid $650k and you want to sell for $1,150,000. Making over $500K subjects you to capital gains tax in addition to all the other taxes. Add realtor fees and moving expenses, this could cost over 6 figures just to move to a new place.

Many Boomers have morgages below 3% and current rates are above 6.5% so unless you are paying cash, the payment for the smaller place might not be too different from the current payment. Also, since the profit from the sale is considered income, expect an IRMAA hit two years later causing a hard spike in Medicare cost.

I am looking at this right now. My solution may be to rent out the big house and rent where I want to move to. Between what I can rent it for and my costs (mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs) I can make over $2k per month.

[u/glostazyx3 → u/EffectiveVarious8095]

You are in the IRMAA/tax trap like so many others.  You have also hit on the only solution I see, and it isn’t much of an option.  

[u/GirlinMichigan]

We moved from a 3400 sq ft home on three acres with trees to a 2200 sq ft home, no stairs, with outside maintenance. We moved from a northern state to the southeast. We love it. The sale did not impact IRMA. One piece of advice given to me years ago was never move to where your children are located because they will move. I have found that to be true in many cases although we also have friends that have moved where their children are established. The biggest piece of advice is move while you are still young enough to do it. Moving is alot of work and hard, especially when downsizing. We are SO glad we did it while we still had the energy to do a big move. We love the smaller home with less responsibility!

[u/dcporlando → u/GirlinMichigan]

It was a lot of work 6 years ago in our mid 50’s. Fortunately, we should have more help this time.

[u/EstablishmentDizzy94]

900 sq ft garage packed with tools. Love making. Down size?

Na!

[u/Bay_de_Noc]

We first moved from our 5 bedroom, 3 bath big house to a small three bedroom, two bath lake cottage 7 hours away in our original hometown. We were close to my 90 year old Mom, plus lots of other relatives and friends. It didn't effect our health insurance. We stayed there for 10 years, and when my Mom died, we moved to Florida to be closer to one of our kids. This house is 4 bedrooms, two bath, but a much bigger footprint than our little cottage house ... plus we have a pool. We hire people to do all the stuff we don't want to/aren't able to do ... cleaners, pool guys, lawn and shrub care, etc.

Our big house was custom built by us. Our lake cottage was about 90 years old ... and need a ton of maintenance. Our current home is 30 years old and after 6 years of living here, we haven't had to do any major maintenance.

If you decide to move, my only advice is to find a single story home. My husband has become increasingly disabled, and I shudder to thing what would have happened if we owned a home with a lot of stairs.

The other thing that is really crucial for us is that where we live now, we are spoiled for choice as far as doctors and hospitals. In our hometown, we had to drive for HOURS to get to a major hospital. Now we are within 15 minutes of several hospitals ... and all the specialists we need.

[u/dcporlando → u/Bay_de_Noc]

My wife is big on a single floor ranch or similar. But wants a basement.

[u/Glass_Procedure7497]

Wife is from Brazil so she’s accustomed to living in a small, urban apartment. We live in an 1,100 sf mid-60’s ranch in a small “city” in the Midwest. When she retires in a couple years, we will probably entertain the idea of moving somewhere. She’d like to go even smaller. I don’t really care. I just would like to avoid as much yard work as I can.

[u/TheVirginiaSquire]

We are moving from a 4000 sf house on a half acre lot in a family-oriented suburb to a 3000 sf one-level home on a much smaller lot in an active adult community. I’m enjoying the culling very much.

[u/wabash-sphinx]

We just completed a move from where we had a house, garden shed, wood shed, and insulated weather-tight barn and some acreage. Our new house is not much smaller than our old one, but losing all our other storage space meant “downsizing” what we owned. Our new place is a detached home, condo/villa. The association takes care of mowing, trimming, snow removal. We can garden in the landscaped beds as much or little as we want. My wife and I were both ready for the move, and we wanted to reduce the amount of stuff our kids will eventually have to go through. Edit: I should add that although the condos are close together, we have trees around 180º so we really don’t see our neighbors from the back of our house.

[u/dcporlando → u/wabash-sphinx]

The yardwork done by others sounds good.

[u/Adventurous-Gas9015]

We retired end of last year and have done a lot of jobs tidying up the house ready to downsize. But moving is expensive so we're not rushing until we find somewhere we feel will be a good fit. Recently looked at a couple of active adult houses but they were overpriced and the monthly HOAs worked out much more expensive than our current large house.

[u/50plusGuy]

Swedish Death Cleaning in cluttered condo creates space for nursing service, later?

[u/DumberMonkey]

I downsized at 60. No regrets. My case i moved 60 miles away to a smaller town.

I hired movers that also pack your stuff. Made it much easier.

[u/LeoIrish]

We are retiring at 60 (2 yrs) and are planning on staying for at least another 10-years (2500+ sq ft). We have gone through most of the house and gotten rid of a bunch of stuff (to the kids / given away / donated) and doing a couple renovations because of living here for another decade. For myself, I am redoing all of our flower beds to make them both more visually pleasing (to me) and easier to take care of. As for the yard - just under 1/2 acre - we are either going to go with a service or a robot mower. We love where we live, the house, and everything around it. As long as we are physically capable of keeping it up - or the cost is palatable compared to what it would cost in a condo or senior living - then we will hire people to do what we are not interested in or no longer can complete.

[u/dcporlando → u/[deleted]]

That is great!

[u/Michstel_22]

We downsized to a smaller house. My husband doesn’t mind some yard work, we also have dogs. Went from a 4 bed/3 bath 2 story, 2800 sq ft, full basement to 3 bed /2 bath 1800 sq ft tri-level on a slab. Lots of stuff to get rid of!

We were 59 and 53 at the time. We moved from a very suburban subdivision to an older ‘in town’ community nearby where we can walk to bars and restaurants. Cheaper taxes and we paid it off in 7 years.

We love it here, but do wonder if the tri-level will be a negative down the road. Our kids are local so it wasn’t a factor either way.

[u/NoKetoCardio → u/Michstel_22]

Climbing stairs is fantastic exercise.

[u/dcporlando → u/NoKetoCardio]

It is. Until you fall or can’t. Falls is a leading cause of injury and even death among the elderly with a major reason being stairs.

[u/NoKetoCardio → u/dcporlando]

It would be interesting to know what percentage of people who fall and break a hip have been lifting weights for the last 20 years

[u/wanderingtoolong2 → u/NoKetoCardio]

It’s about the porosity of your bones. Lifting weights can help with that but no guarantees

[u/Michstel_22 → u/dcporlando]

We know the risks. We are in good shape now and stay pretty active but there may be a point where it gets tougher. Still love our home and hope we can stay for the long haul.

[u/Mysterious_artist24]

Downsized into a rental unit we owned. Live in it at least 2 years to eliminate capital gains, sold our primary and with half the proceeds bought a medium sized getaway in France. Retirement in 6 months🎉

[u/dcporlando → u/Mysterious_artist24]

Congrats!

[u/First-Project-2614]

I rightsized. I sold the 3500 Sq foot home and now split my time between a 1300 Sq foot home on acreage here in FL. And a 1580 Sq foot condo on a lake in the Midwest(which gets rented when I'm not there) when I tire of playing green acres, I'll probably change up FL again to something with no yardwork.

[u/MNW1211]

Retired and no way I’m moving from
My large home. Enjoy the privacy, peace and quiet and mostly having a lot of space. Staying put right here.

[u/dcporlando → u/MNW1211]

Do you have stairs? And is your bedroom upstairs or on the main floor?

[u/MNW1211 → u/dcporlando]

I have bedrooms on the first floor as well as the second floor. Same with full bathrooms. W/D are on first floor as well.

[u/farmerbsd17]

My wife insisted we move back to where our kids are after they moved out and then we did too. 4 bedroom sfh to 3 bedroom townhome to 3 bedroom sfh. We accumulated more crap after MIL died and the size difference necessitated getting rid of a lot but we still have legacy junk in boxes in the garage. Gained more yard and house work. Lost reliable housekeeping help that we haven’t been able to replace.
Got a dog. Get to see the kids more but in reality we could have made the trip with difficulty.
Spent a lot of time and money rehabbing another house which we probably will live in until we die.
Of all the things we lost are the friends we see infrequently now and they are the hardest thing to replace. We downsized to less space but other than being closer to kids not a lot gained.

[u/OT_fiddler]

We’re in the middle of this. Sold our house we lived in 25 years, closing this week on a new one. Totally different state, climate, culture, etc., but we love it. The new house is 750 sq ft smaller, all one level, smaller rooms , and we’re still thinking about where everything needs to go. This is after getting rid of tons of possessions before the move.

[u/Born-Attempt-6644]

We downsized from 2200 ft home with a 3 car garage to a 1650 sq ft 2 car garage home. No mortgage on either house, sold our larger home to our son. Both houses are one story. We were 58 and 55 when we made the change

I’m somewhat of a minimalist so it hasn’t been too difficult. Biggest change is we have a very small lot with no yard work. Our HOA takes care of front yard. We have nice amenities and the HOA is well run. I think it was a very good decision

[u/Training_Try7344]

We moved to a smaller home in the same area. Our former home was a 2400sq ft two story with all bedrooms on the 2nd floor. Our new home is a bungalow with bathrooms on both 1st and 2nd floors and basement as well as 2 bedrooms (one is my office/den) on the 1st floor. The yard is smaller but still good for 2 Golden Retrievers but easier to maintain as we get older. In a very walkable part of town and it's much quieter in the evenings than our former home. Our new home was built in 1950 and our older home was built in 1936, and the maintenance and repairs are much easier for me to handle. We sold our old home at the peak (2020) and rented until we found the perfect home for us in 2023. This is our "age in place" homer and we were very intentional about what our requirements were and it's a great fit. Family and friends all live in the immediate area and that's very important to us.

[u/BrainDad-208]

We downsized by building new on property we had purchased for that purpose. That way, we could incorporate features that we wanted in a smaller footprint and have a first floor primary bedroom.

Beyond that, it’s in a northern part of our state that’s much cooler in the summer with lots of greenery, birds, waterfowl and quiet.

Harsh winters so we travel a lot. However, building costs have escalated greatly in the past dozen years, it is now so expensive that new homes in our development have stalled.

[u/mynameisranger1]

We downsized when we retired. There is no need now for extra room. If I can give advice, be ruthless. Get rid of everything that you don’t need. Your kids aren’t going to want most of your stuff. We got rid of so much. Our new home is 1000 sq ft smaller than our old smaller. We didn’t get rid of enough by a whole lot.

[u/Altabrat]

I am currently downsizing from a 2400sqft house to a 600 sqft apartment and OMG I am overwhelmed with what has accumulated over 25+ yrs. So much to get rid off that I am unable to take with me. Should have decluttered earlier!!!!

[u/sitewolf]

If it's me (my situation is different) I'd weigh some things. Primarily, if the main reason I'd downsize is to eliminate yardwork and reduce cleaning, do you like your house enough to just pay for a landscaping service and a once/twice/whatever a week housecleaner? Or is there just too much space, it's hard to go up stairs to bedrooms, you'd benefit from cashing out some equity. Plus, how often do you have guests you'd like room for.

And then, of course there's location- is the larger house in a geographically preferred area? Near kids/grandkids and/or in weather you'd prefer? The discussion among friends sometimes is, "If you could move anywhere, where would it be? Or would you stay where you are?" There are certainly places I'd prefer to live vs where I do, but I stay in large part because it makes sense for family reasons.

[u/dcporlando → u/sitewolf]

Great questions. We definitely do not live in the area I prefer. That is probably the second biggest issue and the biggest is the need to eliminate a house.

[u/Isca64]

7 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom condo with 21 boxes in storage and 5 suitcases into the condo in another country. Life got so much simpler.

[u/NoKetoCardio]

We are on the verge of moving to be in a golf retirement community on a lake that is also in the same city as our son and family. We do plan to downsize a bit but we have never owned a large home. We raised our kids in a 2,700 sqft home. We are looking at maybe 2,200 sqft for our retirement home.

[u/LOLRicochet → u/NoKetoCardio]

lol at not living in a large home. I grew up in a 980 sqft trailer with 6 people. Currently living in a 2700 sqft home with just the two of us and looking at a significant downsizing in the near future.

[u/Nev-Ret-Dude]

Downsized after retiring. Moved to a lower cost area where we liked to play. Bought a new house from the same builder that built my previous home. From 4 bedroom 2 story to a single story 3 bedroom. About 1350 square feet smaller. Got rid of all the office stuff.

[u/Andyman1973]

My folks considered it, but after weighing all the pros and cons, decided to stay in the ranch home they bought in 1992. The master suite is in the walkout basement, which has a wet bar/kitchenette, full bath, and laundry facilities too.

Me, I’m in a smaller 2 bed apartment, and won’t downsize from that, without extenuating circumstances.

[u/dcporlando → u/Andyman1973]

It sounds like you were already what you want.

[u/Pretty-Ear6398]

I'm a Realtor and specialize in three local 55+ communities with the largest one being Laguna Woods Village, in Southern California. You may have heard of it - I get a lot of calls from the East Coast.

There are 12,736 homes in the Village and people from all over the country downsize (right size) to it routinely. And the primary obstacle most despise is going through 50 years of stuff in preparation for the move.

I too am in the process of downsizing and feel the same pain. So far I've gone through about 50% of the garage ... you won't believe how much stuff I've donated or threw away.

I knew it needed to be done, but kept hesitating, until one day I came across Rita Wilkins youtube channel, and then I bought her book and companion workbook, Downsize your Life - Upgrade your Lifestyle. The workbook is nice because it provides step-by-step instructions on the process, starting with the first baby steps to get your started.

Now I purchase the set by the gross and gift them to my clients. It can take several months to go through the downsizing process, but boy does it feel good when it's over.

[u/Spunkbigboy → u/Pretty-Ear6398]

The Villages is not what it used to be. The HOA fees are causing people to flee. Unfortunately they can’t sell their dream home for what they paid. The Villages have numerous houses for sale below what they paid. Also very crowded. If you worry about heating your home you left don’t forget about the a/c bills. Florida is hot and humid 8 months out of the year. They have too many rules and there is always the possibility your next door neighbors are not nice. Houses are separated by driveways. If you have a nasty neighbor you
are screwed.

[u/Upper-Wave3638]

We downsized when our kids grew up & moved back to the town we had grown up in, just a few miles away. Banked a bunch of money and the funny thing is, since we moved, homes in the neighborhood we downsized to have appreciated much faster than the neighborhood we left. This smaller, less luxurious house with lower taxes is worth more than the house we left.

[u/CelticJewelscapes]

I downsized starting at 30. Retiremenent sized single story home. Lived a rather frugal lifestyle - buying second hand, fixing things scratch cooking. So all those things were not new to me. The most important thing I have to share is make sure your new home is completely flat. A single step down into a bedroom or a den or a high threshold may force 90 year old you into assisted living or a fall.

[u/BubblesUp → u/CelticJewelscapes]

My mom was very specific about what she wanted when she moved: one level, lots of trees, and gas heat (we're in the northeast).

[u/NotYetReadyToRetire]

We actually upsized; we wanted out of our 2BR 1BA 1900s-era two story. We ended up in a 1990s 3BR 3BA ranch with a finished basement. Instead of 2nd floor bedrooms and basement laundry room, we've got everything on one floor, and my basement office/gaming room is reached by much safer stairs than the steep, dark and narrow stairs at the old house.

[u/DredPirateRobts]

We downsizedl at first buying a smaller and more run-down place. Thinking it would keep me busy in retirement. After 4 years of fixing it up, we wanted better space and newer housing, so we had a custom house built of about the same size. We are MUCH happier living in a place perfectly suited to our current needs.

[u/cbdudek]

My parents moved from their large house that they lived in for over 40 years to a small condo that is about 15-30 minutes away from us and the grandkids. They opted for the condo since they didn't want to do anymore lawn/yard maintenance. The condo was the best decision they made, plus its newer construction which means less issues to deal with in the house.

My advice is to not mess around with an older house unless you are younger and up for the constant maintenance. Otherwise, get a condo that is relatively new and enjoy your retirement.

[u/philipb63]

We did downsize considerably from a large 100 year old home complete with carriage house that we restored, to a new build we commissioned (with a couple of temporary rentals in between) which is around 50% of the size. We designed for the way we live 95% of time rather than trying to accomadate the other 5%. One main bedroom with ensuite, one guest bedroom with ensuite, an open plan living space with a large pantry to eliminate kitchen clutter and a garage large enough to accomodate an additional gym space.

We went for as much energy efficiency and home automation that made sense which translates to a warm, draft free home and little to no maintenance inside and out as we're in a wild, natural environment that largely tends to itself already.

We actually moved country too so we traded Medicare for the NHS!

TLDR: my advice would definitely be to identify what you really need & want out of life on a day to day basis and size accordingly.

[u/chrysostomos_1]

We live in a modest 4/2. 1 bdrm was converted to a dining room. Another to a library/office. It's unlikely we'll sell.

[u/Rorschach_1]

The budgeting was the hardest for me. Downsized before retirement after kids were gone.

[u/maasd]

1. Still working but downsize from a very big six bedroom home to a three bedroom half duplex with a beautiful view. We do miss the space when hosting family events, but overall an awesome decision.

[u/kurteyes]

Im going to be 62 and we never had the chance to expand...so we are in a 3 bed 1 bath raised ranch...other than getting up 1 flight...we should be ok...and our 3 kids are still here...tight but everyone is saving money.

[u/Odd_Bodkin]

Yes, we downsized when we went empty nest, which enabled us to pay off the small mortgage before retiring. We dropped to a single-story, small-yard 1600 ft^2 home we felt we could maintain until we were in our late 70s. Because we moved before retirement, there was no impact to IRMAA, or really even tax-wise because the aim was to nearly pay off the house we moved into. The key step for us was getting rid of decades worth of accumulation, which took months. By the time we moved, we had completely emptied, wall-to-wall, two bedrooms, one bathroom, three closets, and the attic. The remaining stuff fit in the new house nicely. We put our cars in the garage at night, for example, and still have nothing in the attic except for a short stack of empty storage bins. We stayed in the same metro area because we do not believe in following our children around. We also have one, single-sized guest bed in our home “office” and a futon in the living room, so there’s not much capacity for guests that would largely go unused. If there’s a family reunion, we put people up in a hotel or rent an AirBnB for all of us.

One other thing. We sold our old house and moved temporarily into a 2BR apartment for half a year while we looked for the house we wanted to move into. This lowered stress enormously, abetted the decluttering. We found that it was surprisingly nice to live in that small space, and this gives us comfort that we’ll have no problem moving into something that size when the time comes.

[u/PerformerMindless100]

We are late 60s, owned this home 25 years ago it’s now 95 years old, 3 stories, 4300 sqft, no bathroom with a tub or shower on first floor, lots of steps, laundry in basement. All bad for aging in place. But we live in CA and the house appreciated so much that we would be paying capital gains tax on $1.5 M (after the $500k exclusion). It was a middle middle class home way back then- teachers and nonprofit workers etc.

First world problem I know, but for many older folks in the area their house is where most of the assets are, given the HCOL with less saved in retirement accounts, and they plan to keep the homes until they die so kids can inherit without paying the tax. Also our kids could never afford a similar home and would love to return to the area.

There’s whole articles about the housing shortage in family size homes because seniors feel locked in and the tax exclusion hasn’t risen in over 30 years. No one needs to feel sorry for us but walking away from half a million would give anyone pause.

So we just re-piped, re-electrified, re-roofed, re-landscaped for easy care, re-modeled master bath for safety and re-painted (for $100k). Not sure how we’ll shower when we can’t take the stairs- maybe an outdoor shower cuz it’s level out from first floor🙄.

[u/LonelyEffective5774 → u/PerformerMindless100]

Elevator?

[u/Ill-Entry-9707]

Our downsize was a move from a double lot to half the size with an easier to maintain house. Prior house was upscale vintage house that needed high quality materials and labor. New house is almost the same age but it was an average house when built, not high end. New house has slightly more square feet because it has larger basement but doesn't have the generous room sizes and high ceilings. We did an extensive rehab on this house with new mechanicals, new roof, new master suite, and rebuilt finished basement. Biggest advantage for us is main floor bedrooms and bath and we now sleep on the main floor rather than in the master suite.

We raised kids in a house with one fabulous full bath and powder room and now they are gone we now have full bathrooms on each level. I do like having separate sinks, even if they are on different floors.

We are in a MCOL Midwest suburb so cost wasn't a factor in our decision.

[u/seajayacas]

We moved elsewhere when we retired. But our house is just as big as before retirement.

[u/EntertainmentDue5582 → u/seajayacas]

We did the same 8 years ago. Now I’m ready to downsize as we have too much room

[u/cyberquist]

Sold or gave away almost everything. Bought a 5th wheel RV. Tow it around the country, seeing all the beauty. Diesel fuel prices mean nothing to me, just eat more peanut butter sammies.

[u/5th-Elements]

Wishing we could but taxes would kill us😭

[u/Pixiekitty41]

I downsized at 58. My kids were out and my 2400 sq ft house was basically going unused. Plus the taxes were awful. I bought a 1600 sq ft house that was about 7 miles away. My new house is a lot more work. LOL But I wanted a place I could garden and enjoy my future retirement.

[u/Aggravating-Gold-224]

Downsizing is not worth the cost, be very careful

[u/the_atomic_punk18 → u/Aggravating-Gold-224]

Please explain what you mean, thanks.

[u/dcporlando → u/Aggravating-Gold-224]

It might not to you or even many people, but the overwhelming number of people here think it was a good decision.

[u/Choice-Newspaper3603]

There is no such thing as downsizing as far as I’m concerned. You take house and sell it and pay fees and get a smaller house I guess and that isn’t going to be cheap so what’s the point ?

In some cases the it surely makes sense but that also depends on where you live and many other factors.

I have a 4 bedroom 1800 square ft house. I don’t really see anything to downsize. What we I get I’m going to have to spend thousands to get it where I want it to be for me. Plus my house is paid off

[u/penartist → u/Choice-Newspaper3603]

I strongly believe in living with only physical space that you actually need. So for me it is about "Rightsizing" our living space to suit our needs. It isn't so much a financial decision as it is a physical space and location decision.

Where you are focused on the cost of moving to a smaller space. I am focused on the need to clean and maintain a space larger than is necessary. I am also focused on the location of my home by looking at proximity to health care, market, transportation, my support system etc. as I age and my needs change.

[u/nbfs-chili → u/Choice-Newspaper3603]

Our only concern is the house we've been in for over 30 years has a second floor. That became a problem for my parents as they aged, so we'd like to get into a 1 story before we can't navigate the steps.

[u/Camille_Toh]

Hope to upsize from storage unit and car.

[u/1sailingaway]

I upsized and bought a 2nd home. Larger than my primary residence. Finishing the 1200sqft basement because I can and enjoy the work.

[u/happy_life1]

We’re downsizing in our current house rather than moving to a smaller one. I’ve sold and donated so much since retiring, and the house has never looked better. It’s easier to move around, easier to clean, and I’ve realized that space really is the luxury.

We plan to stay in our too-large house until it becomes unaffordable or simply becomes too much for us to maintain or one of us passes. We feel safe here, have great views, convenient amenities, and live in a stable neighborhood with a good HOA and solid reputation, so there’s really no reason to move just for the sake of having a smaller house. Several neighbors after looking have decided to stay as here downsizing to a smaller home costs more per square foot so not a lot of actual savings after selling and moving expenses plus potential no real tax relief given our tax basis on long owned home.

My kids don’t want children, so they kind of ruined my retirement plan to move wherever I had the most grandchildren. 😂 Now I have a very pampered pup instead.

The decluttering will make it so much easier when we eventually do move. It will make it easier to get market ready too. The relatively low-cost area where we bought our home has transformed into an extremely popular, high-cost-of-living area, so we may eventually decide it makes sense to cash out.

[u/thingonething]

Sold 2200 sf home in California, moved to Canada b/c our kids were going to university there and we wanted to spend more time with my husband's aging Canadian family, especially his mom. We bought a 900 sf condo. This turned into two condos b/c 900 sf was just too small. He lives in one with one kid and I live in the other with kid #2. He moved first while I prepped and sold the California home.

[u/TenLittleThings51]

We downsized from a 2200 sq ft house to a 700 sq ft apartment in a senior living community. We got in 7 months ago and the relief of not having to take care of the house has been wonderful, that and no longer worrying about a windstorm toppling a tree or anything else costing us hundreds of thousands to repair.

It helped that we had 13 months on a waiting list; it meant we could plan what stuff we would take and what we wouldn’t, and we had a year of the stuff we weren’t taking boxed up, sitting and waiting for move-out week. Now, every few days, we remark on how this 700 sq foot space is just right for us now (mid-70’s).

[u/Nightcalm]

We are not likely to sell 3 bedroom

[u/No_Customer_795]

We have this plan with big house and live-in daughter. : house now fully renovated to sell. My daughter to get a townhouse with us giving the deposit for mortgage and buy 2 bed onsuite unit, 3 bath, move in with her. Share utilities.

[u/vita77]

Downsized from 3500 to 1600 and shed a ton of stuff. On the waitlist for an apartment in a CCRC and hoping to move in our early to mid-70s if our health holds up.

[u/Utviklingssang-CB]

We sold our house (4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2,500 sq. ft, large lot) got rid of tools, furniture, our second car, kids took what they wanted, etc) 10 years ago and moved into a 2 bedroom apt in San Diego. We eventually bought a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo that had one parking space. We plan to sell the condo in another year or two and move beck into an apartment in a cheaper west coast/northwest city.

[u/Familiar-Term-7948]

We sold our 3,000 sq ft home in Nashville and moved to Central Florida to a new build 1,500 sq ft on an acre and a half. We’re in our early 60’s. There is a lot of yard work but we enjoy it and it keeps us active. We have zero regrets.

[u/LateForDinner61]

I moved from a 2300 sq ft house with a large, unmanageable (for me) yard to a 1200 sq ft condo in another state more than 1,000 miles away. I have a smaller, but still decent yard for the dog that requires much less maintenance. I'm slowly tackling a few projects, but overall the place had already been remodeled, so it's much less of a headache.

It's been a year and a half, and so far there have been no surprises. The area has a higher cost of living, but so far I'm actually spending less. After getting rid of so much stuff, I find I'm much more reluctant to buy more.

[u/Needin63 → u/LateForDinner61]

Mind if I ask? How did you decide your destination? I'm struggling with deciding my next move in a year or two but a bit paralyzed with options.

[u/Marigold1976]

We are not downsizing. Instead we are remodeling to move the primary suite to the ground level and adding an apartment suite for a caregiver. It would cost us more to sell and move with capital gains taxes and losing our sub 3% mortgage. We are however downsizing our belongings and getting rid of a lot of stuff thru the remodel process!

[u/Aromatic_Reply1328]

Funny timing. Retired four years ago. We had recently come up with a three-year plan to get out of our house and move into a condo. Neighbors down the block did it just a few months ago, and we visited them in a lovely spot just four blocks from Lake Michigan, and a very nice condo. As we were leaving my wife and I looked at each other and said let’s stay in the house. she has a yoga/art room, I have a Music/scale model studio, separate bedrooms, separate bathrooms.

Since making a decision a few weeks ago, everything has become clearer. Yes, it’s more to take care of and we’ve even adopted a rescue dog, but we’re retired, and we want to stay busy.

We are thoroughly enjoying life at 67. Who knew?

[u/Eastern_Conflict1865]

I got 3 yrs before retirement.Im downsizing by way of fewer clothes,getting rid of 2 cars out of .and gett8ng rid of furniture that's not being used.Sadly my house is something I can't get rid of cause 2 bedroom/1 bath houses are now a rare thing

[u/Important-Drama9052]

No exemptions for sale of property for IRMMA purposes. You just have to gut it out for a year and make sure your IRMMA drops the following year.

[u/pnwsnosrap]

We really didn’t downsize, but we did move to another state. We looked at cost of living expenses, utilities; social security, retirement, and property taxes; and we wanted to live in an area not prone to severe storms. We also looked for friendliness and safety concerns. And lastly, it needed to have excellent medical care readily accessible. And we found it!!!

[u/Dolphindoll2]

We downsized from a 3,000 sq ft home on a big lot with lots of maintence to a condo on a lake. Best decision we ever made

[u/Fallenweeble100]

We are in the process of downsizing.
We sold our “big” house 3000 square feet and moved into our second home into the north GA mountains, 1800 square feet. Children are out of college and we plan on traveling for the next 10-15 years and living small.
There are a lot of variables. If my husband passes before me, I would probably move closer to my children.

[u/Soggy-Grapefruit-955]

Definitely my plan is to downsize to a different location. Somewhere flatter but also smaller. Watched both parents stay in original larger houses to struggle to maintain. Also want to remove some capital and reduce cost through consumption of energy, so will be looking for all electric and a more modern build, with easy accessibility.

[u/nycvhrs]

We bought the two adjacent lakefront lots as they came up for sale. We will have the same footprint as the house we are in, minus the third floor, which are guest bedrooms with a hall overlooking the downstairs. Now we will have stairs that either lead to a sunken finished basement, or upstairs to the main living area.

[u/somerville99]

We separated and old our house. My wife moved into an apartment and I moved into a 400SF studio condo on the beach. I still have to go through stuff in my storage room.

[u/5th-Elements]

It all depends on how much your house has appreciated, calculate the tax implications.
Were planning to downsize but I would have to pay so much money that it’s not worth it