Downsizing & Simplifying Discussion Thread

[bdhsfz6]

This topic has been discussed here both directly and indirectly in many posts over the years. Time marches on though and the economic climate has changed considerably, so I thought it time to revisit the subject. For me, it's a thread to vent my frustrations, share thoughts, and hopefully pick up some ideas.

Many rural landowners here, including my wife and I, are getting to the age where the homestead and acreage are getting difficult to maintain. In many cases, family has moved on leaving mom & pop in a large house on acreage they no longer need. Costs are rising and, without family support or help from friends, paying someone to do the mowing, plowing, grading, road maintenance, home repair, (the list is endless), is becoming less and less practical.

My wife and I are in our mid 70's, in reasonably good health and have no close family nearby. We live on 25 acres in a 3000 sq ft, 2 story house on a one and a half mile private road. Our closest neighbors are in the same situation and we have been pooling our resources to get the necessities done. Between the two families, we have enough equipment to take care of the heavy work, but you can't do everything with machines.

We love our property and the area where we live, so the thought of moving is distressing. One of the things we're considering is sub dividing the property and building a smaller house. The idea of selling the home we built together over the last 40 years to someone else, and driving past it every day, is very disheartening. Selling everything and moving on is a possibility but we do still have family & friends in adjacent counties.

I realize everyone is different, but I'm curious what others in this situation are planning. What are your thoughts?

 

[tradosaurus]

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.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Wow! That seems like a very tough decision to make, but an extremely necessary one. A decision that is best made while you still have the capabilities to get the most benefit for your future out of that decision. Too many older folks are forced into a decision by declining health or finances. I honestly don't have much to offer you to help your decision but I know some people here will chime in and share their thoughts on the topic. I will be following along because it is never too soon to prepare for the future. Best of luck!

 

[bdhsfz6]

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.

Yeah, there is always the possibility of a bad neighbor when subdividing. I think everyone has had to deal with one at some point.

Some of the acreage is wooded and we have planted trees in places. We've let a couple of the fields go fallow to reduce the mowing time. A neighbor across the valley used to hay it but he is long gone.

 

[ponytug]

@bdhsfz6 I think it is a very individual decision, and rarely easy in my experience. No property is zero maintenance.

One thing a few friends have done is to either make an apartment, or second home on the property, and swap some rent for property maintenance work. That's less permanent than subdividing to a bad neighbor, and allows one to evict the person if things don't work out. However, that may not work if your local area has a declining population, with little demand for housing.

I've seen folks move when they had fewer health issues, and the ability to make new friends in their chosen new location. That seems to generally work out better than those who move to a new place when they are too frail to do much, but I would not like to generalize that too much.

To have survived long enough to have the problem is a success in my book. Congratulations!

All the best,

Peter

 

[ruffdog]

Most of my close neighbors are older than us so I am seeing the difficulties they have. I help them with tree cutting, wood splitting, mowing, baling hay, equipment repair, etc but I must take care of my stuff too. YES, I have pondered the idea of living in town or a much smaller plot. Sure, I can handle all the work now but what if my health declines? I think it is definitely a choice of preparing for your life in later years.

 

[Gem99ultra]

This topic has been discussed here both directly and indirectly in many posts over the years. Time marches on though and the economic climate has changed considerably, so I thought it time to revisit the subject. For me, it's a thread to vent my frustrations, share thoughts, and hopefully pick up some ideas.

Many rural landowners here, including my wife and I, are getting to the age where the homestead and acreage are getting difficult to maintain. In many cases, family has moved on leaving mom & pop in a large house on acreage they no longer need. Costs are rising and, without family support or help from friends, paying someone to do the mowing, plowing, grading, road maintenance, home repair, (the list is endless), is becoming less and less practical.

My wife and I are in our mid 70's, in reasonably good health and have no close family nearby. We live on 25 acres in a 3000 sq ft, 2 story house on a one and a half mile private road. Our closest neighbors are in the same situation and we have been pooling our resources to get the necessities done. Between the two families, we have enough equipment to take care of the heavy work, but you can't do everything with machines.

We love our property and the area where we live, so the thought of moving is distressing. One of the things we're considering is sub dividing the property and building a smaller house. The idea of selling the home we built together over the last 40 years to someone else, and driving past it every day, is very disheartening. Selling everything and moving on is a possibility but we do still have family & friends in adjacent counties.

I realize everyone is different, but I'm curious what others in this situation are planning. What are your thoughts?

Same problem here except I only have 13 acres of trees to keep up with. Being in my mid-80's, keeping the fallen trees and branches cleaned up has become more than I can handle alone. And hired help around here is non-existent.
I'll be watching your thread, hoping for some good answers. Meanwhile, I'm just doing what I can and watching the work pile up.

 

[oosik]

The wife and I left Alaska in 1982 and moved onto our 80 acres that year. We had our mile long gravel driveway built and constructed our cedar home that same year. Our house is by PanAbode. Construction is just like building a Lincoln log toy house. Only difference - the outside walls are double - with four inches of foil backed urethane insulation between the two walls. The walls have an R60 rating - the roof has an R80 rating.

I retired in '82 at the age of 40. Since that time - 42 years ago - my major project has been - doing whatever is required to make living here as easy/simple as possible.

From the outset - we owned the property, free and clear. Same with the house. So......a whole lot of our money went into the tractor and whatever implements might be necessary.

One thing turned out to be a miserable failure. Trying to get fruit trees to grow here. The damned pocket gophers. They just kept on eating the tree roots and killing the young trees. Too late - we learned about gopher mesh surrounds. Oh, well - we got all our fruit from a farming community - north of Spokane - Green Bluff.

I do all the required maintenance on everything out here. However - over the years I've given up on a couple. I no longer pump my septic tank and I no longer change oil on my pickup. I do the tractor maintenance - it's easy to crawl under.

It's just too easy to let the pro's do the septic tank and change the oil on the pickup. Besides - I find it rather difficult to crawl under the pickup.

So.....Brownie and I sit out here - watching the seasons change - going on adventure trips when we feel like it. Life can be good when you are prepared.

 

[scootr]

My wife's aunt has 30 acres she has lived on for 50+ yrs. Used to be a big horse ranch. Now she's in her late 80s with Parkinson's. Her mate died a few yrs ago.
She has a friend who moved in with her, a gal in her early 70s who does the cooking and cleaning and keeps a couple of horses.
And she found a single mom who started out weed eating the fence lines and now lives in the caretakers home. She runs the tractors and the errands. Takes Auntie to town when needed. She's a hard worker and she's available when needed. Seems to be working out.

 

[California]

re rural retirement:

Grandparents bought this apple orchard with a small simple farmhouse as their retirement home. Back then (1950) contracting the orchard to be operated by a neighbor who has a larger orchard, covered all costs plus a modest income. Grandpa was a mining engineer, I'm sure he had the equivalent of a spreadsheet with all the income/expense details forecast before he ever committed to buy the place.

Grandpa, and then Dad, planted and watered replacement apple trees as their only farming tasks with the contractor responsible for everything else. I do a little more, I bought a tractor to tow a watering trailer in place of Dad's 'miles' of garden hoses, then a 3-point backhoe for it to pull stumps, so replacement trees could be planted. I also maintain the nearly half mile easement in from the county road. As I get older I will likely hire more of the hands-on tasks.

Dad and now I, use the place as a simple second home. Before the recent California fires and huge insurance cost increase, the orchard contract more or less covered all costs.

Dad moved here for his final few years after his second wife died. He fixed up the guest cabin for a caregiver. Then rented to a nursing student who made dinner for him a few times a week, then took more care of him as he aged and she advanced in her education. He loved this simple place and enjoyed his final years here.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Hopefully, the decision to relocate is years away. For now, we are able to keep up with the necessary maintenance. It's just the little things, like painting trim, or other ladder related work that isn't getting done.

I'm an engineer by trade, so I've constructed a few things to make senior living a little easier around the place. I'm no longer comfortable using an extension ladder to access roof mounted equipment, so I made up a "landing" with safety hand rails and a removeable ladder section which stores on the deck when not in use:

When I designed and built the house in 1979, I thought it would be our "forever" home and that we would retire here. Unfortunately, I chose a 2 story design, not realizing that climbing stairs could someday be a problem. That hasn't happened yet, but carrying heavy items up and down is sometimes an issue. I did take this into consideration when I expanded the second story deck 10 years ago.

I converted a Genie Lift, that I had been using in the barns, into an elevator:

I built an enclosure under the deck to house it:

and a trap door in the deck for access:

I find projects like this enjoyable to design & build, especially when I can repurpose existing equipment. I have a few more in mind and hopefully, they will allow us to remain here a while longer.

 

[bdhsfz6]

@bdhsfz6 I think it is a very individual decision, and rarely easy in my experience. No property is zero maintenance.

One thing a few friends have done is to either make an apartment, or second home on the property, and swap some rent for property maintenance work. That's less permanent than subdividing to a bad neighbor, and allows one to evict the person if things don't work out. However, that may not work if your local area has a declining population, with little demand for housing.

This is an excellent idea.

I actually considered it 20 years ago when I built a garage near the house. I designed it so a second story could be added for an apartment. I had family members in mind for tenants but they have since moved on.

Renting to the general public around here isn't easy and it's hard to find good renters. My SIL rents an apartment and she has had a string of deadbeats.

It is a possibility though if the right person comes along.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, I've mentioned this before, and I saw it in a YouTube video, discussing the cost to keep up property. Anyways, guys point was, draw multiple circles or zones; zone A would be the home itself and maybe the 1/4 acre yard and the immediate driveway/access. Stuff that you touch/use every day; zone B would be weekly, so the area close to the house not not the immediate lawn yard, and accept that it doesn't need mowed/trimmed; Zone C, might every well be 20 acres, and just kinda let it sit. No need to keep up fences, bush hog, ect. It's OK to just let that go wild.


To some degree, this also applies to the home it's self; it's OK if the outside doesn't get painted, the 2nd story windows down get washed, ect.

 

[ronjhall]

Living into your 80’s has its limit. I have equipment to make most maintenance items easy. Have a single level home is a big plus. No stairs inside or outside house to get in and out of home. I have tools that make yard and home maintenance easy. Last winter I purchased a second tractor so I do not need to be changing attachments all the time. MMM can stay on one tractor all summer. My property size is only 4 acres. But I help neighbors with their projects. I can cut down on the amount of grass to cut around house to about 1 acre.
I plan to spend many more years here. I live in 4 of the 8 rooms in the house. Cuts down on house cleaning.
One piece of advice my mother gave me when I retired. Was get out and do traveling and other activities while you are young and healthy. You will not want to do that stuff when you get older. She lived 96 years.
My plan is to make at least that old. Top of the list is to stay active.

 

[paulsharvey]

Mom is like 71 and her husband is turning like 77 I think. They have like 2500 sq ft house, and there is a 2nd story part above the garage, kinda a mother-in-law suite, on about 24 acres remaining of the original 56 acres. They sold the half of it, spend a bit of money (a good bit) on getting the 1000 ft drive fixed. They were also talking at one point about selling everything but 5 acres and having a new home built, or possibly selling the whole thing and moving. They have kinda gotten to the point they hire out repainting, roof repairs, and gone to small, light Lithium batteries for the boat trolling motor. I have long thought they would be well served to get something like a small BX, but mom is kinda scared of tractors (my dad was killed in a tractor roll over years ago), so they make do with a small John Deer riding mower, and a small trailer to moving batteries, mulch, trash around. They went to a Stihl battery saw, and weed eater, but they have kinda taken the approach that that kinda stuff can normally wait till someone visits to help. The saw is mostly if they can't get out od the drive

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evening,

Many rural landowners here, including my wife and I, are getting to the age where the homestead and acreage are getting difficult to maintain

Both my wife and I are realizing all of those items you have mentioned! We have 2 homes, one in Ct on and acre with an inground pool and two story colonial. The Vermont home is on 10 acres, also a second floor but there is a downstairs bedroom there ! I do all my own maintenance, mowing and repairs at both properties!

My wife suggested at some point we could hire some one for mowing and bush hogging the Vt property. I’m
73 and I can certainly feel in my body that I can’t work the way I used to.

We have done some things like putting siding on the Ct home etc to make maintenance a bit easier ! We will continue doing what we are doing until we need additional help.

But yes, we have given all of this a lot of thought already!

I really like some of your innovations around your homestead !

 

[2manyrocks]

If there are some areas of maintenance that you can simply let go, then let go of them when they are too much to continue.

There's no assurance that whoever you sell to will do any better at maintaining. Could be worse and they might do things they enjoy on their property that bug you once you sell to them like ride 4 wheelers all the time.

Evaluate the home you presently have to see whether there are improvements that could be made that would allow you to age in place without having to sell your home and go through the hassle of building something newer and smaller.

 

[paulsharvey]

"Evaluate the home you presently have to see whether there are improvements that could be made that would allow you to age in place without having to sell your home and go through the hassle of building something newer and smaller."

Nobody wants to say it, but the decline is often fast, what might work for 3 years won't be adequate in 5 years. Some people are good in mid-late 80s, others can't be independent in early to mid 60s, and it's hard to know. I would avoid any major expenses, and just adjust what you can to the better. I would also come up with a sale plan for when either of you can't stay on the property in the future.

 

[ultrarunner]

Many times I see the family of someone infirmed go through the steps and add or remodel to accommodate and sometimes the person expires before the project is complete.

 

[JasperFrank]

Even in my late thirties, with an eye to the future, I designed my house to be ADA compliant back in the mid-'90's. It wasn't much more expensive than a normal house. The bath railings and things are not installed but there is structure in the walls for these and most entrances, are low step, and easily convertible to wheel chair use.
As wife and I are getting in to our mid-'60s, the subject of selling and moving in to an efficiency Apt/Condo in town, comes up often. We have different aspirations of what retirement means. I can't give up the freedom, privacy and sense of self worth.