Hubby and I have owned our home for eight years now. We’ve frequently talked about moving, and always further out in the boonies. We love rural areas and don’t mind driving to “necessities”. But, the older I get (I am a “few” years older than Hubby), the less likely it is to happen. As we age, being closer to doctors and taxis becomes much more crucial.
Our house is pretty big though – way too much space for just two people. We do have a cleaning service, and that will continue as I am not more inclined to clean as I age than I was 10 or 15 years ago. Hubby has never had a cleanliness inclination that I have witnessed.
Our house is also two stories, without a first floor master, so I worry about the stairs as we age. Hubby always said we could put in an elevator though. Believe me, Hubby putting in an elevator would have zero to do with our aging and everything to do with his not wanting to climb stairs! We have two places an elevator could easily be installed, so it is a consideration as long as the cost isn’t crazy… either that, or we could do the chair-thing like the guy in Up! I think a one story may be in our future though, but am not certain.
With all the renovations we have done this year, I am in no hurry to move. Our street is very quiet, and I mean very quiet! We don’t see 10 cars per day, there are just a few children on our street, and everyone minds their own business. Perfect neighborhood! 😉
While we never know what the future holds, I would say the odds are 50-50 this is our “forever” house. In any event we have no plans to move anytime soon.
How Long Have You Lived In Your Current Home? Is It Your “Forever” House?
Skirnir Hamilton says
Hard to say for us… I mean, we thought out last home would be our forever house, but job situation changed and my husband wasn’t happy at his job and the job he found was in another state. So we moved. I joke we will move out of here when my son carries us to a nursing home, as moving is such a hassle. But honestly, hard to say. We are barely getting to know our new state, and the new job, etc. Hard to ever know what the future holds.
I suspect you may do what my husband’s parents did… sell there home and move to a one floor good size condo when you get to where stairs are a big pain, etc. No more yard work, no more stairs, etc. But not until one is ready for such from a health and age perspective.
Ann says
Oh believe me, Skirnir, the idea of a condo – especially downtown, is fantastic to me! The thing I like best about our Florida situation is that it is a condo! No anything except interior upkeep and writing an association check. So while we have a very long way to go until traditional retirement years, the idea of a condo already is pleasing to me.
Ann
Skirnir Hamilton says
Our new home is a condo, but we have a small bit of lawn space that we can plant stuff. I have mixed feelings about it, but do like the place. Wish I had more room for a garden, but then we were never the best at putting in a garden and keeping it up. The CSA is helping in that respect though. I do need to plant some f lowers though. Leaving all of our flowers at the old home, means I need to plant something and watch it grow. Something we choose, plant, etc. I am hoping that will make this place seem more like home.
Ann says
Is it more like a traditional town-home set up, Skirnir? We have ZERO personal green-space in Florida, and that is ok with me.
Ann
Janel says
We are currently building our “forever” home on 7 acres with a pond and creek that was my grandparents. We are very happy with the location, farms surround us are only “neighbor” is my grandparents living in their house and 1 acre about 500 feet from our house. Yet we are 5 minutes from groceries and other stores/restaurants and its a good school district. We are building a rancher with a basement that will be big enough for us and our two boys but not too big that once they move out I will hate cleaning it! So people think we are crazy to think like we do when we are only 28 & 34 but to us it makes sense to think ahead. After this I don’t want to have to move again!!! (Long moving story but basically we bought 2 acres last summer, sold our house and planned to build out there and two weeks before we began my grandparents offered to sell us their 7 acres, which we have loved for 10 years!) So we’ve been scrambling to make everything work) but we did it and I hope it does become our forever home! OK I wrote a book sorry 🙂
Ann says
Sounds lovely, Janel.
Ann
Marie says
I like to think this is my forever house, but it is a rental. We’ve been here 19 years and are on our second set of landlords.
Ann says
You must be the world’s best tenants, Marie! And, you must have really made that house a home.
Ann
Shell says
We live literally in the woods in the Ozarks. We have 70 acres and our house is 1/4 mile into the woods. We have had this place for 18 years and our house for 16. I would actually love to build a new house (hubby is a contractor) but I don’t see that happening. I told hubby this was our forever house when we moved in it and he just laughed at me. Considering the size of our bank account, this is our forever home. We live about 15 min from a very small town and about 20 min from one about 10,000. That is the largest town for 100 miles. This place would be perfect if we were 20 min outside of Springfield, Mo, which is the town 100 miles away. I do love it here but my kids don’t live near by and nether do any of or family. I guess this is our forever home unless hubby passes away before I do. I cannot care for this place alone so in that case I would likely move near one of my kids or one of my sisters. Our last house was a huge two story with lots of stairs in the city, with barely any yard. This place is a smaller ranch style with lots of “yard” lol . I call it our little house in the big woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder is from this area).I have actually missed the exercise of the stairs daily but ranch is nice for aging. I can always get outside for exercise.
Ann says
Hubby would be thrilled with your set-up, Shell! 70 acres he could hunt on would make him so very happy! He could start a garden (that I would have to finish), and one story would be a dream. The lack of people near-by would just be a giant bonus in his opinion.
Ann
Shell says
Yes it was my hubby’s dream, that is why we moved here. It is so beautiful and I do like the peace and quiet. The hunting is very good for deer, turkey, squirrel etc. We have lots of wildlife. We have one of those game cameras to catch their photos. The older I get the more I like that we have no one closer then a 1/4 mile. They work for us and are our close friends too.
Shell says
Oops I forgot to tell you Ann, your hubby would like the prices here too. They are higher now of course, but we only paid $40,000 for the first 60acres with a house and outbuildings. The Ozarks are beautiful and low cost of living here.
Ann says
That is a very good price Shell. Hubby just closed on his hunting land (longest closing EVER!) and paid $1K an acre. He got a screaming deal though because the area where he bought is farmland across from Lake Ontario and normally sells for $2K – $2.5K an acre. It had title and town “issues” though, and he was willing to wait it out. He has the patience of Job when it comes to real estate.
Ann
Candie says
I built my current house 14 years ago in what I hoped was what I wanted for the rest of my life. First, I decided to redo the floors, paint inside and out, new cedar fence and deck, hardwood floors and now I decided to move a wall. I guess I wasn’t satisfied. I live between Dallas and Fort Worth Texas and I have discovered I dislike (my mom told me to never use the word hate) Texas. Right now it is 100 degrees and the humidity is so bad there are warning because you can’t breathe. Like you I have traveled most of the United States and I would love to live in Oregon or Washington, but my tiny little family is all in Texas. I feel terrible about wanting to move. I live on a dead end street with very quiet neighbors, so I am happy here but not happy in Texas.
I would love a condo in a downtown area where everything is in walking distance and Portland Oregon offers that kind of living, I just don’t have $800,000 to move there and find a place. I am not a rural person, if there isn’t a grocery store within a mile I panic.
Candie
Ann says
I am very lucky to like where I live in New York State. Believe me, I was less than thrilled with the idea of living in metro-NYC when it seemed that was the way things were going before we got married. Family is important, Candie. All of my immediate family lives within an hour of me. That will change when Sonny-boy gets going in his career. With my luck, it will be in the metro-NYC area. 😛
I hope you get your chance to move to the Pacific Northwest, Candie. A rainforest isn’t for everyone, but it is just so darned green there!
Ann
Barb says
We’ve lived in our house here in WNY for 45 years and plan on staying here for quite a bit yet, at least until the stairs become an issue. Then it will either be a ranch home here or a move to Ohio to be near our daughter. The house is in a great location, even though it is on a busy highway, but the advantage to that is that we get plowed early on in the winter. We have made changes inside and out so it suits our life style.
Ann says
Getting plowed as soon as it snows is a big perk, Barb!
Ann
KimH says
I pray that this is NOT my forever home.. however it is M’honey’s forever home.. sigh.
I dont guess Im going anywhere as long as he’s alive unless we come into some $$ but this place is small and pretty horrid in my opinion.. We’ve made it as nice as it can be for the most part and as we age, we’ll only need to be able to get into the basement but we’ll see what happens. My step-son may live here forever so who knows.. sigh..
Im a country girl and was born & raised on a lot of wide open spaces and thats what I aim to get back to someday.. I might be too old and beat up to do a lot of what I’d like to do on some acreages, but you never know.. Theres more than one way to skin a cat. 😉
KimH says
And, I’ve lived here for 15 years.. M’honey has lived here for 25 years.
In my first marriage that lasted 10 years, I moved 8 times.. thats including the move when I left him! 😛
Ann says
Wow! 25 years for him and 15 for you? And he has no intention of moving. Yup, making the best of it is a good idea, Kim.
Ann
Patti says
Hmmm………… We have been in what I thought was going to be “temporary” housing for 25 years. The first 5 years of marriage we moved 4 times. I just figured that was just the way it was going to be & when we found current home, I thought, “yea, I can live here for a year or 2.” Ha! Little did I know.
Have done some major upgrades in the home over the last 2-3 years though & it is lovely. It is also a 1/2 acre, in town, close to everything, well established, older neighborhood & it’s a nice size bungalow, with some great features. Seemed a bit small when the girls were growing up, but now serves our needs just great. We do have stairs though & I have mixed feelings on those as we age.
Hubby keeps dragging me to condos to look at. I must like old buildings/housing however. Instead of taking me to new condos, which I consistently turn my nose up at, he recently took me to one that was built in the 70’s & had been fully updated, but kept the cool, old features. I really liked it!! View of the mountains, opens up to a wonderful park & is close to downtown, but not in the middle of it, huge patio also with a view. And it is big enough for his full size grand piano with plenty of soundproofing so he can rock the night away. We’ll see. Our issue now is this where we want to spend the next 25 years?? Decisions, decisions.
Ann says
I love old houses, Patti. My idea of happiness would be living in a 1700s farmhouse (on the scale of Monticello 😉 ) that has a caretaker… I might love old, but I am realistic too! 😛
Ann