NuNu Mike'S Blogsite

Maybe it’s just me.  Have thoughts like these ever crossed your mind?

• Do they make a riding vacuum cleaner?
• I hate cleaning the gutters.  I’m scared of ladders.  What was I thinking?
• I hate mowing all this grass.
• If I move my closet to one of the bedrooms downstairs, I don’t need put another lightbulb in the closet upstairs.
• When was the last time I used that pool table?  or the dining room table?

If so, keep reading. I’ve listed some things to consider before downsizing your home.

Once the kids have left the nest, many folks my age (50-ish) begin to consider housing options, such as moving to “someplace new” or “downsizing” their current homes.  Downsizing to a smaller home can be beneficial for a variety of reasons, including less home to clean and maintain, more affordable utility bills and lower property taxes. The decision to downsize is rarely black and white, and both men and women alike often struggle with the decision.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the decision of whether or not to downsize to a smaller home include the sentimental attachment many homeowners, especially those with children, have to their homes.  The home might be too big for current needs, but it also was the same place where your son took his first steps, and where your daughter lost her first tooth.  Saying goodbye to a place that was home to so many memories isn’t easy.  But, there’s more than just sentimental value to consider when deciding whether or not to downsize your home after the kids have grown up and moved out.

• Personal financesYour financial situation merits significant consideration when deciding if the time is right to downsize your home.  If your retirement nest egg is not as substantial as you would like it to be, then it would seem as though downsizing to a smaller, more affordable home is a great opportunity for you to be start catching up on your retirement savings.  But that’s only true if your new home won’t incur any additional expenses that are already taken care of in your current home.  For example, your current home may be fully furnished, while a new, smaller home may require you to buy all new furniture because your existing item simply won’t fit.  The cost of such furnishings can be considerable.  If you plan to move into a condominium, you can expect to pay monthly homeowner/association fees, which can be substantial.  So while the condo itself might be smaller, the additional expenses associated with the property may end up making the smaller home more expensive and prevent you from saving more money for retirement.
• SpaceEverything costs. How much space do you really need?  Once the kids have moved out, couples may feel like all of that extra space is going to waste.  But, that can be a knee-jerk reaction, and upon more thorough examination of the space and your needs you may just find that you can put all of that extra square footage to good use after all.  If you have always wanted your own art studio, then now might be the perfect time to make dream into a reality.  Always wanted a room devoted to home theater?  Get to work on converting your basement from an all-purpose game room to your own private movie theater.  If, after considering the space in your home, you find the extra square footage really not appropriate for your future plans, or is just too much to upkeep, then you would no doubt like a cozier, more appropriate, home that’s less of a responsibility to maintain. 
• Real Estate MarketThere are seller’s markets and buyer’s markets. Ideally, you would like to sell your home in a seller’s market.  But, keep in mind that without proper planning, that might be the same market in which you hope to buy a new home.  The nature of the real estate market depends upon a host of factors, including geography and timing.  If the city or town where you currently live is in the midst of the seller’s market and you are planning on moving to a location where buyers have the upper hand, then now might be a great time to move. But, if you currently live in a buyer’s market and hope to move to a seller’s market, you may end up paying a steep price, even when downsizing to a smaller home.  Things may even themselves out if you want to downsize to a smaller home your current community, but do your homework nonetheless, researching the time of year when you’re most likely to get the most for your home and find the best deal on your next place.  Unless there are substantial mitigating factors, you have an advantage when downsizing. Don’t rush to move out of your current home and into your next one.  Take ample time to make the real estate market work for them.

Adapted slightly from original article printed in “PrimeTime” (an advertising supplement to the Daily Press and The Virginia Gazette) dated October, 2014.

Even though modern humans are exceptionally (and increasingly) mobile, some Americans have been in the same neighborhood (or hometown) for years… often, for decades; maybe even for generations.

For the ones that leave ‘the nest’ for one reason or another, and move into a new area… we don’t know our neighbors… or what the new neighborhood is really like.

Follow the link below for Newport News VA Real Estate Information …

• Neighborhood Scout

According to an article by Karyn McCormack posted by Reuters on 11/29/2010 entitled ‘How to research a neighborhood’, she says:

Collecting data about neighborhoods can help you decide which one matches your needs, and ultimately save a lot of time. In education, check the students per classroom relative to other schools in the state and the national average. If the class size is small, it could mean there are a lot of special needs students that require more teachers, Schiller says, and you might pay higher taxes to pay for them. If the class size is larger, the school may be underfunded, or doesn’t have a lot of special needs children.

“A home is the most expensive purchase for most Americans and fraught with so much risk, so it’s really in a person’s best interest to broaden their search to neighborhoods first before looking at home listings,” says Andrew Schiller, founder and CEO of Rhode Island-based Location, Inc., which runs www.NeighborhoodScout.com, a provider of vital data about neighborhoods.

“The risk you have when buying a house is not whether it needs a new roof,” Schiller explains. “The risk is where the house is located.”

Along with checking the school system, crime rates, and home resale values, make sure the neighborhood matches your lifestyle and stage in life. For example, if you’re a devoted outdoors runner, you’ll want a spacious park with a path nearby. If you’re expecting a baby, you might want a larger home with a fenced yard; a family-friendly community that hosts events, recreation, and activities for kids; and highly-regarded schools that you can afford. “There is no one best place for everybody,” Schiller says. “It depends on where you are in your life.”

For crime, look at the number of crimes per 1,000 residents and how that ranks in the area, as well as the chance that you’ll be a victim of crime during one year (Neighborhood Scout Reports provides these stats). “Any neighborhood can have a robbery or murder,” says Schiller. “You want to know if it happens every year.”

Here are a few sites to get more information:

• Neighborhood Scout: provides nearly 300 data points covering lifestyle (including demographics of neighbors and walkability), house values and appreciation rates, education (class size, how taxes are spent, and public school test scores) and crime.
• Homefair: Homefair offers free city profile reports, which contain information about demographics, incomes, education, climate and crime (data is from Onboard Informatics, which crunches data for many publications’ various “Best Places to Live” lists.)
• Realtor.com: put forth by The National Association of Realtors, this site provides home listings and home values.
• Google Maps: gives a view of street and homes that may interest you. Move the map around to view the surrounding areas.

Once you’ve narrowed your search, drive around the neighborhood and ask up to three people on the street if they enjoy living there, Schiller says. You also need to visit that neighborhood at different times of the day to see how quiet it is, he says. Also inquire about where they grocery shop, and how far it is. Then go to the grocery store and determine if it meets your needs and standards, recommends Schiller. You can also visit local shops and restaurants to get a lay of the land.

While it may take some effort to sort through the stats, you’ll sleep better in your new home when you’re sure you picked the right neighborhood.

Where we choose to live the latter-quarter of our lives is important in every way. Being satisfied with the people and choices that surround us means we will be happier and live longer. Very few people I know want to just live longer. They want to LIVE longer. And the key to all of the above is to actually choose our life.

For most of our pasts, our choices have been limited or directed by jobs, family responsibilities, or other obligations. In retirement, for the first time, we can make choices for ourselves. Planning requires that we anticipate needs. We must plan for the person we don’t know — the person we will be 10 years from now. We can be exansive in our imagination and intentional in our dreaming.

Deciding where we will live is the most important decision we can make. Where we live is not just the house or apartment in which we sleep and eat. It incorporates a neighborhood, a city, a State, and the resources that go with these larger environments.

When we choose where to live, we should look at place, people, finances, resources, and lifestyle…

• Place: What geographical touch-points are important to you? Do you want to be near an airport — if not for your travel, for the ease of those coming to visit you? Is proximity to a university important? Do you want fishing opportunities? The ocean? Mountains? What weather is compatible with your anticipated lifestyle?




• People: Do you want to be near specific people? Are those people likely to remain in-place for the next 10 years? Do you plan to see relatives or grandchildren with regularity? Do you have friends — individual or groups — that would be difficult to leave, or whom you want to live near?
  Finances: What have you put aside for the support of your later years? Shockingly, 14 percent of people 65 and older have no retirement savings. None. More than one-third over 55 have not saved more than $10,000. Are you currently living within your means? What adjustments can you make to what you spend and what you save? What will it take to make you reasonably comfortable for the remainder of your life?




• Resources: What do you need or want in terms of support for your health — either in body or mind? A good library? A place to worship, contemplate, or meditate? A place to exercise? Medical follow-up for a current condition?




• Lifestyle: Do you want to be busy with activities involving other people or do you like to spend most of your time alone? How important is cooking? Do you hope that pets will always be part of your life? Do you want to be in a book, dinner, bridge, or Bible study group? Do you want to be around people who are more or less like you with respect to income, ethnic background, religion, education? Or do you crave diversity in your acquaintances? What activities do you love?

Choosing between a continuing care facility and a retirement village, choosing to stay at home, upgrade your home, or move to one that is more suitable to your needs; these choices can be exciting, and can lead to important conversations with family and friends.


Choose your life. Don’t let life choose you.

Adapted slightly from original article by: Starr Mayer’s column “Senior Living” as seen in the Daily Press, Aug 23, 2014. Mayer writes for and about seniors. She lives in Glouchester County and welcomes responses at starrmayer.sm@gmail.com