Wow, many things to think of n I think for sure we will not downsize on the house itself. Just move to be closer to family n better commnity. Here is very isolated with few stores n restaurants. To see Specialty is 1-1/2 hr drive, which dh has heart problems. To have better shopping experience, you have to drive an hr. We live out of town so we are responsible for plowing n maintaining the road. We love our house but location is wrong. We pray to see where our next step in life takes us. Thanks for all your feedbacks.

I love happy stories like yours! And I love hearing how disciplined you were to build your new house over time and to endure some hardships (living in a travel trailer) while you did it. I have no plans to move anywhere but I still dream of doing something like this....on a lake, surrounded by trees.....:).

Yours is a great success story. Glad you are so happy after achieving that particular dream!

I bought this house in 1986...it is in a rural area, and our neighbors were elderly all around us..so nice quiet neighborhood...within just a few years all of my neighbors either moved, went into nursing homes, or passed away. The neighborhood changed radically..young families, small businesses, farms got chopped up for housing complexes..traffic increased, crime increased...you can never tell..the way a neighborhood is now may be radically different 10 years later!
Having said that, I"ve been happy here for almost 30 years, but the winters are getting harder every year. I have been thinking of moving...my plan would be to sell the house and everything in it except my personal things..then put them in storage and go to the state I have chosen and rent a room in someone's home to use as a home base until I got to know the area... and through several seasons before I buy again. I think a room would be fine for me..I could work on 1 quilt at a time (LOL)..to keep me busy, and I would have a roof over my head until I decided. Also..local people will often times tell you things a realtor won't..
Oddly enough..the thought of moving and selling doesn't cause me any second thoughts or anxiety..it is time. I am looking forward to the next step..I have faith that if I take my time and enjoy each step of the process, it will all go well, and I'll find a home that I can grow old in!

I'm no help about moving, we have lived in this place for 43 years and never planning to move. This neighborhood has changed several times and is about to change again. It has gotten better with each change. Kids growing up and moving out helps too.

Good luck on your move.

I can tell you uncluttering and making your house look bigger and less crowded will sure help it sell faster.

We did that once! Never again, we bought another house then put ours on the market! We were very lucky and sold it right away, but it was stressful having two houses even though our old one was paid for and local. Just very stressful. My dh and I agreed never ever again, we will rent first. Good luck with whatever you decide.

If your dh has heart problems there are four very important things to consider about your move. What heart specialists. what size hospital and what ambulance service will be available to you with the location of the house you select to buy? Will you be able to afford to live in that home if you are a widow? We all have to plan for the future with the best advice that we can get. I hope he lives to be 100 and is rich and you can buy whatever you want, but most of us won't have that happen.

I wanted to move south and went on a real estate adventure for 2 wks in the south. I went home, looked over all literature, (I had contacted several realtors in the cities i went to. I then made a decision on a new build, they accepted a good faith deposit. I did any repairs needed to ready it for the market and it sold in 2 months. I did reduce my price some to accept an as is offer and was glad i did that.I then had to find an apartment near where the new place was being built and had stored most everything in boxes in the 2nd brdm. Everything was packed and ready to move again to the final destination. I took my sectional and recliner but next time, would sell it or donate as I ended up w/ new. Good luck on your search and move.

You sound like me! I'm in the house in which we raised 3 sons (all grown), and now I don't know how we did it, since I feel crowded! Decluttering was my primary goal when I retired but I've not been as successful as I'd hoped. I'd love a bigger house I could just move all my "keepers" into and stop struggling to rid myself of them!

If you really don't have to move; We would not recommend it. Currently; if you like where you are-stay. My DH wanted to move back to his home place and we did and IT WAS NOT WHAT IT USE TO BE....he was very diasppointed and nothing like it use to be. The old saying -you can't go back--is true. Things change so much. When we moved we had no choice in a house but had to take what we could find and it was not big enough for us. But we make do when we have to. He has been very graceous to build or rebuild the house and me a quilting room plus an area for a longarm. Please, think about 70 times before doing it. Cost and expense now is not like it use to be.

We always insist on tasting the water (we usually buy a house with a well). Flush all toilets and run water at the same time (checks out water pressure). I have made a habit of asking the realtor is there is anything about this propery that he has not disclosed...such as, any complaints of ghosts, any murder or suicide (one house had had a suicide "but it's all cleaned up now" and I just could not handle that), drug dealers in the neghborhood, landfills nearby). Found one property that had a landfill close, we were told not to worry about it. Later discovered that the covered landfill (it was all grassy and looked like a park)that had been intended for soccer fields was so contaminated that they could not let children play on it. And our water supply would have been from that area. Needless to say, we did not buy the house.