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Are you in your forever house?

(93 Posts)
Foxglove77 Sat 13-Jun-26 11:32:51

We have been in our house for over 40 years. It's where we raised our children and grand daughter. Kept 3 beloved dogs, several cats and other pets. I can't imagine living anywhere else. However it's a 3 bed semi and with DH's mobility issues, a downstairs bathroom would be useful. If we won the lottery, would we downsize to a lovely bungalow? I'm not sure.

DeeAitch56 Mon 15-Jun-26 17:37:27

Yes
We downsized about 10 years ago not long before we retired, to a 3 bed semi-detached bungalow from a 4 bed detached house. Best thing we ever did, it has a bank of shops, vets, doctors within 3 minutes walk, we’re on a bus route to the hospital (10 minute journey) and several large supermarkets within a 5 minute drive plus my son lives just round the corner (close enough to be there for each other but not ‘on top’ of each other) we’re not gardeners so the courtyard garden is an added bonus

JMcD Mon 15-Jun-26 18:07:15

We are both in our 70s and had lived in a bungalow beside the sea for 38 years. 18 months ago we moved into a house inland - our daughters thought we were mad! It was the best move ever- new adventures with new friends in a much more social village. Don’t feel stuck by the past - a change puts the spring back in your step!!

Nannan2 Mon 15-Jun-26 18:55:23

Ive been struggling since heart op and not healing well plus other health problems, so was contacted recently with offer of house, shortly, with en-suite facilities, and it will be fantastic after struggle over last year, so i will at last i hope be in perfect home for me(cant get a 3bed bungalow so this is next best thing for us)soo excited.

SueEH Mon 15-Jun-26 19:10:35

No. I’ve been planning by final move for years but had very elderly parents. Mum died in 2021 and dad last October, so I’m giving myself a year to sort things out before making plans!
I do have a very long list of requirements for my forever home!

Grammaretto Mon 15-Jun-26 19:32:09

I think I am going to move. I've been in this huge house for 46 years.
DM bought it with us.

It's on the market! Does anyone want a 6 bed. 4 bath house, some huge rooms, a workshop and with an acre and a half of rain forest/garden?

I love it but I am ready to downsize. DH died 5½years ago so it's all up to me. My 4 DC are scattered the world over but try to be supportive.

Tomorrow someone is coming for a second viewing . Fingers crossed 🤞

I'm a very fussy buyer though and my next home must be walking distance from shops and bus stop as this is with a manageable garden and a spare room or 2.

FGT has done well.
I'm sorry 67notout that your health isn't good.

M0nica you are an inspiration as is Franbern.

Well done and good luck everyone for negotiating your way through the problem of our later years.

FranP Mon 15-Jun-26 21:35:52

I really do hope not! DH will not move, but I do keep on. It was lovely until they built a house behind with windows looking straight in with only 25ft between the 2.

It is just too far to walk to everything now, and a 4 bed is too big for the 2 of us. We do have a bungalow, but if you ae thinking of one:
- You quickly lose muscle tone in the back of your legs,
- your bedrooms are often in visible sight so you need to be very tidy (I am not)and they become part of your living space.
- If you are a night owl married to a lark or vice versa the sound will wake you
- few have 2 toilets - enough said

Twirl49 Mon 15-Jun-26 21:52:55

I moved to my bungalow it had quite a bit doing to it but now just about finished.
I liked the close when I moved her all little bungalows with occupants of a similar and outlook to me. But as each bungalow has come up for sale the youngsters are moving in seem to like late night parties, don’t care for their gardens or are running car repairs business on the drive
The glide has now dramatically changed for the worse

sazz1 Tue 16-Jun-26 00:26:16

We moved to the south coast 6 years ago and are happy here atm. If OH died before me I would definitely move back to be nearer family who all live 100 miles away. They all visit regularly. Most weeks we have someone staying over. But I wouldn't want to live here alone. We do have 3 brilliant hospitals within 12 miles and an excellent GP service only 10 minutes walk. But I think if I needed support I would need to be closer to sons and daughters.

pably15 Tue 16-Jun-26 00:54:38

we are in 3 bedroom house, have been for almost 50 years, there's only the two of us now, and I would be happy to move to a smaller house,but OH has alzheimers and moving is not a choice now. I like where we live and have good neighbours, and the family do a lot for us where gardening and decorating is concerned.

Abcdefg Tue 16-Jun-26 07:32:38

No choice. I live in a council house. Could never afford to move. BUT at the moment have some lovely neighbours and my freedom pass so can get into London easily.

Macaydia Tue 16-Jun-26 08:13:36

67notout

I thought I was. My husband died suddenly six years ago and I thought I would stay here. Perfect size house, really close to a gorgeous beach in Sussex, lovely village good transport, great neighbours and lovely family in the same village. Great! Roll forward six years, I am 78 this year and have an untreatable terminal illness and much as I love where I live I can’t manage the house without paid help. I have adapted the house to cope with the disease but then other bits of the body packed up too. So although in my head I am only 50 and full of can do, it’s time to be realistic maybe. Or if I only have say a year or two left should I stay here in this lovely house full of memories and the sea air? I can’t talk to the family as they each have different views or don’t want to talk about it, Right now I am propped up in my lovely garden knowing this is my last summer of physically being able to tend it, so that’s another paid help. I am good at clearing stuff out and donating or selling so there’s no clutter. Although my son in law has been caught looking at my books and shaking his head 😂
. As teenage parents we worked hard like our parents did but never dreamt we would ever live somewhere like this so that’s kind of what’s stopping me.

I feel the same. I'm sorry for your loss. This was our forever house but when I lost my husband it has become too much for me to manage in my older years. I am trying. When we were together, I always told him that I don't care where I live as long as he is by my side. That still rings true. So now, I don't care. He is no longer by my side.

TheWeirdoAgain60 Tue 16-Jun-26 09:18:41

I moved here to Whitby in January of this year from a 1-bed flat to a 2-bed. Both of them not the ground floor but the next one up.

I'm permanently single and live alone, no husbands/partners/kids, so I use the smaller as a bedroom but the bigger as an office.

I've only been here 6 months and have decided it's going to be my forever home! I'm 61, so at my age, I don't want to move somewhere else again, as I've had multiple moves since I was a baby.

Even if for any reason I leave this flat, I'll forever be in my beloved Whitby!

GrannyGravy13 Tue 16-Jun-26 09:53:17

The only reason I/we will move from our home of 38 years is if we see a barn conversion in this area. This house is big for the two of us, but we always seem to have a GC or two staying over.

Unfortunately despite looking on and off for the last 20 years these type of homes always seem to be in the middle of nowhere.

Not a realistic moving option, best to be near public transport and shops if we end up with neither of us driving.

keepcalmandcavachon Tue 16-Jun-26 10:09:46

Whitby sounds lovely TheWeirdoAgain60, I bet you see a lot of goths roaming the cliffs!
I've found that as I get older its less about forever home (as you can do up or adapt lots of homes) but more about forever location which is the crucial difference for me.

Grandma70s Tue 16-Jun-26 10:21:28

I’m in a nice retirement flat now, after forty years in a large old four-bedroom house with a big garden. It was a lovely house but I couldn’t cope with it any more, and was paying out a fortune to gardeners, cleaners, window cleaners, roofers…, and so on. There isn’t room here for all my stuff, obviously, so much of it is now in my son’s house, including many of my books, which I do miss.

I suppose this flat is my forever home now, but it doesn’t feel like it in the way the old house did.

watermeadow Tue 16-Jun-26 11:45:38

Yes, mine is forever because I can’t afford the service charges on retirement flats, which would be much more suitable to my needs.

Shel1951 Tue 16-Jun-26 12:23:26

I totally hope so after having to do unforseen remedial works, though totally worth it I love the area and neighbours are lovely plus the house suits us perfectly with my husbands disability