Downsizing & Simplifying Discussion Thread

[jyoutz]

I’m following this thread with interest. We have a large family house with a finished basement on 20 acres. I’ve done all I can to remodel the house and replace the mechanical appliances, installed steel roofing and soffeting, new stucco, just about everything I can do to the structure. But I have a lot of outdoor work with mowing, and managing the orchard/garden, and barn/shop and animals. Our sons are grown and don’t live nearby, and my wife has a terminal illness. I love the place and the land, but I’m wondering if it makes sense to stay here alone when the time comes. I can afford it, but can I keep up with everything myself as I age?

 

[JasperFrank]

"I can afford it, but can I keep up with everything myself as I age?" The simple answer is "No." I've dealt with many distressed properties. And its always the same story. Prior owner got old, and delayed maintenance. So nothing in the house works any more, and needs to be replaced. It has lost its value. Sometimes I had to be the mean person that pointed this out. And people will go in to denial in their evaluations. So Properties sit for years and just get worsted.

 

[Runner]

I’m following this thread with interest. We have a large family house with a finished basement on 20 acres. I’ve done all I can to remodel the house and replace the mechanical appliances, installed steel roofing and soffeting, new stucco, just about everything I can do to the structure. But I have a lot of outdoor work with mowing, and managing the orchard/garden, and barn/shop and animals. Our sons are grown and don’t live nearby, and my wife has a terminal illness. I love the place and the land, but I’m wondering if it makes sense to stay here alone when the time comes. I can afford it, but can I keep up with everything myself as I age?

So sorry to hear about your wife. Can't imagine going through that.

I guess there are several ways to look at this, but you said you love the place. If so, it may be a solace to you to be able to work the orchard, garden, etc., in the coming days. If you like taking care of the place, then it sounds like it mainly comes down to your physical condition and how much time you have to spend on your projects.

I'm 65, retired and in decent shape, so for me, I can afford to pace myself and break projects down into smaller pieces and work on them a little at a time now. Whereas, when I was working, I had to try to get everything done evenings and weekends. I could barely keep the grass cut. Now, even though I'm older and slowing down some, I'm actually taking better care of the place because I have "all the time in the world" to work on it.

Edit: One more thing I will add - I have tried to get all the "brutally hard" tasks done while I was (and am) younger. Things like construction projects, building additions, decks, digging trenches, large tree removal, etc. Then, for the most part, I'm hoping that as I get older, most of my work will be mainly maintenance tasks and not the heavy stuff.

 

[scootr]

I’m following this thread with interest. We have a large family house with a finished basement on 20 acres. I’ve done all I can to remodel the house and replace the mechanical appliances, installed steel roofing and soffeting, new stucco, just about everything I can do to the structure. But I have a lot of outdoor work with mowing, and managing the orchard/garden, and barn/shop and animals. Our sons are grown and don’t live nearby, and my wife has a terminal illness. I love the place and the land, but I’m wondering if it makes sense to stay here alone when the time comes. I can afford it, but can I keep up with everything myself as I age?

If you love the house and land or just the land, and living there is what you love then stay by all means until they come to collect your body. Last thing you want is to move someplace where you only dream about living on the farm again. So what if the fields go farrow and the barn leans over you still wake up in the place you love to be. That's huge in my opinion. Don't make compromises you will regret in the last years of your life.
Maybe you could rent that finished basement out to somebody who cared for the land? An exchange of sorts

 

[paulsharvey]

So, I will add with mom; they kinda got a wake up call about 4 years ago, when she was having fits of shortness of breath, and her husband had cataract surgery, and she had shoulder surgery, all in a short maybe 6 months. They were really concerned about the narrow winding 2 track drive through the woods, and that EMS/Fire can refuse to go down a drive that doesn't have 16 ft clear space. Me, my son, my sister and her husband and oldest daughter cut a lot of trees to get that 16 ft clear drive lane; which has also great reduced the driveway getting blocked during storms.

One big help, I'm only maybe 20 minutes away, and I know they hate to ask me, but if something urgent/heavy comes up, I can go lend a hand. My sister and her husband are maybe 2 hrs away, but they are up there probably 1/month, and they are suburban/urban, and I think sisters husband likes a day of feeling like a real man cutting up trees, as he's a video game project manager, and stuck in a cube all day every day

 

[bdhsfz6]

One of the issues with getting old in the country is, us rural folks are a capable, independent lot.

After building the house from scratch and maintaining the land for almost 50 years, it really galls me to have to ask for help, let alone pay someone.

 

[Torvy]

I live on 45 acres. My wife and I are almost 60.
Most of our property is trees so very little maintenance except for dragging out a fallen tree here or there.
USDA has a program to help timber owners thin their property (~$400/acre) so we are trying for this program.
I wouldn't think of sub dividing our land just because of the chance of getting a bad neighbor.
Could you plant trees on most of your land? Your state may have a program to help pay for most if not all the labor.

FYI, thinning your acreage around here shouldn't cost you anything out of pocket. There are foresters who contract to do thinning. You get a % of the money they get selling your timber. The total will vary based on what kind and quality you have.

Talk to your nearest TAMU extension office. Even though A&M operates it, the foresters are mostly from SFA. They will put a plan together for you...no charge.

 

[scootr]

One of the issues with getting old in the country is, us rural folks are a capable, independent lot.

After building the house from scratch and maintaining the land for almost 50 years, it really galls me to have to ask for help, let alone pay someone.

I understand, having built hundreds of homes, a school, a bank, military housing and installments. Fixed my own cars and trucks, graded and maintained my own roads and lands. But dependence upon others for our needs is something we all have to come to terms with as we get old. Start small get someone to mow the lawn or clean the house. Enjoy the freedom it produces. I recently employed some boys to put laminate flooring in the house, Something I would never have even considered 15 yrs ago. But it was fine and I'm enjoying the floors without crippling myself.

 

[Torvy]

One of the issues with getting old in the country is, us rural folks are a capable, independent lot.

After building the house from scratch and maintaining the land for almost 50 years, it really galls me to have to ask for help, let alone pay someone.

If no family members are interested in the property, I would seek out farm kids who would like their own place someday. They do the work and earn equity to eventually own the place. Check with FFA, or an AG college nearby.

Option 2 would be just to find someone to work the land. They pay you to use your land and you can use some of the extra money to get some help around the house.

Option 3, sell the place outright to someone looking to farm. Move into town near family/support.

We went the opposite way. Stuck in the city for work, we moved out for retirement. Built the house with that in mind. Only thing 'upstairs' is a small attic for some extra storage. We planned it with aging in mind. We do what we can and do the work more slowly than in the past. The adjustment is tough as I tend to like to get things done quickly.

 

[2manyrocks]

I think it is important to stay active within one’s own capacities. Getting on steep roofs in the heat maybe not a good plan. Doing what I can safely at the pace that suits me seems to be the best for me.

 

[ultrarunner]

Counting on family can be a mixed bag especially if Daughter in Laws in the mix.

Working around medical and friends that work in extended living and similar many elderly are shunted to care homes and some become wards of the state after their assets are depleted even being they have successful children, etc...

Two of my friends with lots of experience can predict who will make the transition and 99% of the time it's those that make their own decisions as opposed to family placing them...

None in my family have left their homes... but almost all never retired... working into their 80's still farming or small business owners...

 

[jyoutz]

"I can afford it, but can I keep up with everything myself as I age?" The simple answer is "No." I've dealt with many distressed properties. And its always the same story. Prior owner got old, and delayed maintenance. So nothing in the house works any more, and needs to be replaced. It has lost its value. Sometimes I had to be the mean person that pointed this out. And people will go in to denial in their evaluations. So Properties sit for years and just get worsted.

That is one thing I will not do is let the place deteriorate. I will pay people to help if necessary, but my place is my largest investment and I will not allow it to go to ruins.

 

[jyoutz]

If you love the house and land or just the land, and living there is what you love then stay by all means until they come to collect your body. Last thing you want is to move someplace where you only dream about living on the farm again. So what if the fields go farrow and the barn leans over you still wake up in the place you love to be. That's huge in my opinion. Don't make compromises you will regret in the last years of your life.
Maybe you could rent that finished basement out to somebody who cared for the land? An exchange of sorts

Thank you. Good ideas.

 

[jyoutz]

So sorry to hear about your wife. Can't imagine going through that.

I guess there are several ways to look at this, but you said you love the place. If so, it may be a solace to you to be able to work the orchard, garden, etc., in the coming days. If you like taking care of the place, then it sounds like it mainly comes down to your physical condition and how much time you have to spend on your projects.

I'm 65, retired and in decent shape, so for me, I can afford to pace myself and break projects down into smaller pieces and work on them a little at a time now. Whereas, when I was working, I had to try to get everything done evenings and weekends. I could barely keep the grass cut. Now, even though I'm older and slowing down some, I'm actually taking better care of the place because I have "all the time in the world" to work on it.

Those are good points. I’ve been delaying retirement due to my wife’s situation. I need to stay active and around people for my own sanity.

 

[oosik]

Well - because of the way I have things set up here - @ 82 I can still get everything done. I'm just not as fast as I once was.

Also - I no longer need to do those things that were "dangerous". Example - I no longer fall my ancient Ponderosa pines for firewood. Now it's electric heat. I no longer have any reason to use my fancy tall ladders. Man - I'm certainly glad for that. Everything that was "tall" has been relocated to ground level service or is serviced by professionals.

 

[scootr]

I have a friend who is 83, lives down the road on a few acres. He just bought his first hydrostatic tractor with a QA bucket. HE loves it and stays busy mowing, grading, and doing projects in his wood and metal shops. He's not leaving anytime soon. He has too much stuff to move

 

[jyoutz]

I have a friend who is 83, lives down the road on a few acres. He just bought his first hydrostatic tractor with a QA bucket. HE loves it and stays busy mowing, grading, and doing projects in his wood and metal shop. He's not leaving anytime soon. He has too much stuff to move

I can sympathize. If I ever move, I’d have to have an estate sale.

 

[tradosaurus]

FYI, thinning your acreage around here shouldn't cost you anything out of pocket. There are foresters who contract to do thinning. You get a % of the money they get selling your timber. The total will vary based on what kind and quality you have.

Talk to your nearest TAMU extension office. Even though A&M operates it, the foresters are mostly from SFA. They will put a plan together for you...no charge.

Already done 6 yrs ago when we bought the place.
The problem with thinning a small amount of acreage (<100 acres) is that it's not worth it for a forester to come in and thin for the most part.
And we have hired a timber representative (at the encouragement of the Texas A&M forestry) and he said in his experience doing this (climate smart program) you need to entice a forester to thin small amounts).
The timber representative takes care of all the paperwork as well finding a forester for 10% of the timber sale.

 

[scootr]

I can sympathize. If I ever move, I’d have to have an estate sale.

My friend said one day he was going to leave me all his shop stuff and containers of parts etc... I quickly replied that if he did that he would have to leave me the house and property too because I dam sure couldn't move all this to my place. that ended that discussion.

 

[California]

I have a friend who is 83, lives down the road on a few acres. He just bought his first hydrostatic tractor with a QA bucket. HE loves it and stays busy mowing, grading, and doing projects in his wood and metal shops. He's not leaving anytime soon. He has too much stuff to move

That could be me! When younger I worked with Dad occasionally maintaining this old farmhouse he used as a summer home. I learned enough that after college I spent a couple of years as a journeyman carpenter. Back then I never visited here much because it upset wicked stepmother.

Then inheriting the place at age 56, I could finally start playing Gentleman Farmer. I bought a tractor to do the tasks that the apple orchard contractor never got around to, such as backhoeing out stumps. Bought a welder, then another. Fabricated 3-point loader forks from scrap as my first welding project. (here's a recent welding project)

Life is good. 20+ years later I'm in at least as good health as I was back then. Now I'm repeating to my kids what Dad told me - "after I'm gone knock down this hopeless old house and start over, it's not worth continuing to repair everything". (recent photo). Meanwhile I'm occupied with continual projects like caulking above window frames where the rain comes in, as well as the farm tasks like grading the easement. And of course playing with welding projects.

I hope to keep going here like Dad did, his final day was here.