Don’t downsize without first asking yourself these questions.
Before you downsize, it’s important to clarify why you want to downsize. Are you making a lifestyle change? Do you want to be closer (or farther away) from your family? After you’ve established that, there are several other questions you must ask yourself:
1. What size of a community are you most comfortable in? 55+ senior communities typically have anywhere from 35 homes to 3,500. Heritage Park, the community I live in, has 962 homes.
2. How close are you to your basic needs? I’m talking about restaurants, doctor’s offices, grocery stores, hospitals, churches, etc. In Heritage Park, for example, these kinds of things are located about three miles away.
3. What’s the traffic like? In most 55+ senior communities, traffic is slow—most of us older folks don’t like to move that fast. Not all 55+ senior communities are retirement communities, though. Some of us are still working.
4. What type of home are you looking for? You can opt for anything from a condo, to a townhouse, to a duplex with shared walls (aka duets), to a single-family home. If you’re downsizing, you’re obviously moving into a smaller how, but how small is ‘small’?
5. Who’ll take care of the landscaping? If you don’t like to do yard work, who’s going to mow the lawn, trim the hedges, etc.? In most cases, HOAs (homeowners associations) take care of this type of maintenance, but you need to figure out how much landscaping you’re comfortable maintaining.
6. What are the HOA fees like? I know a lot of people aren’t fans of HOAs, but in 55+ senior communities, they’re responsible for keeping the community looking gorgeous. Heritage Park is one of the most beautiful communities I’ve ever lived in because the HOA takes care of the common areas and everything else. It simply makes the community beautiful.
7. What’s your price range? This is a moving target nowadays, but for most communities, you’ll probably pay anywhere from $350,000 to $650,000. In some of the more upscale communities, you’ll probably pay more. If you move to a smaller area, you can probably get away with paying less. In any case, consider what your budget will be after selling your current home or renting it out.
8. What kind of activities are happening in your prospective community? In Heritage Park, we have 150 clubs. If there’s something you like, they probably have a club for it. There’s even a wine club with about 150 members. If you’re bored in Heritage Park, it’s your own fault! Many 55+ senior communities thrive on activity, and with most of the residents being retirees, there are plenty of activities happening throughout each day.
Sit down with your partner and start writing down your wants and needs. You may want one thing while they want another, so now’s a good time to discuss compromises and hard stops. If you need help, I have a specialized form you can fill out to assist with the process. If you’d like a copy of this form or have any questions at all about this topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you.
