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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jun 11, 2021 15:46:00 GMT
looking for opinions here (maybe a PVM, but I'm not sure).
Which is more important to you- your house + property, or the town you live in/near? Or are they equal?
DH and I are still talking about looking to move somewhere in preparation for retirement... We're looking for a house on at least a few acres of partially wooded property, within commuting distance of a major city for ease of getting jobs. This house and property will HOPEFULLY be the last home purchase we make, meaning that we want to settle down in it long-term for our retirement.
With the crazy housing market, we've already been talking to a realtor about what we're looking for- we have a few must-haves for the house, and we would like at least a few acres of partially-wooded property (so somewhat rural, outside of a town). I found a town I really like, but apparently it's pretty popular and houses near there may be out of our price range. BUT-- DH said that he told the realtor, "it doesn't matter *where* it is (meaning which town) as long as it has the specifics we want and it's within a decent commute time of the major city.
I'm kind of bothered by this, because to ME, the town is just as important, or at least a VERY close second, to the house. I mean, the house could be great, but if the town is absolutely crappy, we won't enjoy living there-- or at least *I* won't. One of the things that's important to me is that we find an area where we can 'plug in' to the community, and a town that has lots good restaurants, activities, festivals, etc. going on. I guess that's because I grew up in a very small town that had a dying downtown, and there is literally NOTHING to do there. (the main activity for teenagers when I grew up was driving laps in your car from one end of town to the other, and it hasn't really changed since then.) I don't want to spend my retirement living in/near a community like that, even if the house and property IS great.
So I'm looking for opinions from the Peas- am I totally off base in being bothered by this?? Which do you think is more important to you for your retirement, or do you think the house and the town are equally important??
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Post by iteach3rdgrade on Jun 11, 2021 16:00:11 GMT
I think they are equally important. The town in which I went to college and grad school is not one that I'd want to live in. I always hated it, but really don't have a good reason why. It didn't feel like home. My dream home there wouldn't make me happy. It'd be closer to my job, and I'd know a lot of people there but it doesn't feel like home.
I do not live in my dream home. It's our first home, but I LOVE the location in our area and it's 10 minutes from town. Every neighbor around us has 2 lots, we have a nice lake view, our lot is higher and our road isn't busy. I don't have a desire to leave this location and hopefully one day I can add what I want to this home.
A dream home would be enticing in a new area, but I'm not sure how longterm that happiness would be.
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Post by katlady on Jun 11, 2021 16:02:14 GMT
I guess I would say town. In retirement, I would want to be close to good medical care. I don’t want to have to drive an hour to get to a doctor. And I would like a town that had places I wanted to shop in and things to do. Now, if I found my absolute dream house in an area that was not one of my choices, I would think long and hard about it. I would probably end up saying no, but I would think about it.
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Post by ~summer~ on Jun 11, 2021 16:04:07 GMT
Both are important but for me the town and location (access to outdoor activities, natural beauty, walkable, good food etc) is most important.
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Post by gar on Jun 11, 2021 16:05:53 GMT
I'm not sure how I would divide up the percentage but both are certainly important. Where you live is about so much more than just the house, especially when you head towards retirement imo.
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lesley
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Post by lesley on Jun 11, 2021 16:07:37 GMT
You can always renovate/extend/ decorate the house, but you can’t do much about the town.
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seaexplore
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Post by seaexplore on Jun 11, 2021 16:08:18 GMT
I live in an awesome house in a "dead" town. We have 4 gas stations, 7 real estate offices, 3 mexican food joints, a starbucks, taco bell, burger king.... nothing anyone wants to go see or do. The closest anything is 45 minutes one way- we drive the kids to gymnastics there, costco, walmart, target, groceries, bowling, movies. I drive 35 minutes to work each way as well. I would LOVE to live in a town that is walking distance/walkable with sidewalks (none here). BUT with that comes additional cost. Like 5 times what it cost us to BUILD this one and we designed/built/did the majority of the work ourselves. So, alas, we are here in my dream house.  . At least another 17 years until I retire and the kids are in college. We're always looking for more land to build on but haven't found that yet. eta: medical is 45 minutes to an hour away but we do have some "clinics" in the local area- I MIGHT go there if I get bit by a rattlesnake. |
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Post by papersilly on Jun 11, 2021 16:10:58 GMT
Town/area/neighborhood. I can fix my house anytime, it's impossible to fix an entire area.
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Post by creativegirl on Jun 11, 2021 16:15:20 GMT
Hmm...I think it depends on how far the things you want are from you. In the area I live, there are lots of towns all near each other so one over there is not that important to me. I can always take a 20 min drive to get to whatever I want and that doesn't bother me. If you are looking to be partially rural, you're already going to be driving to everything anyway so if it means an extra 30 minutes to get to night life but you have the house you want, I would be fine with that. The town/city would be more important to me if I was living right in town.
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ellen
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Post by ellen on Jun 11, 2021 16:16:23 GMT
We've had this discussion in our house the past couple years. We would like to live in a different, bigger town close to where we currently live. We could easily sell our house. We live in a nice section of a town that is just ok. Two of our neighbors have told us that if we ever sell our house their adult kids would be interested in buying it. Now and then we look in this other town and our house is much nicer than anything we see listed. If we did find something comparable to what we have now the price would be a lot more than what we would be able to sell our house for. Ideally we would like to downsize, but there is rarely anything on the market that would make it seem like a good decision to sell our home. We have learned that our house is more important than the town. We spend our summers at our lake place and when we retire, we feel like we'll live there all spring and fall too. I think we're going to stick with the house in our current town. As we get older we might change our mind and sell our house to move somewhere far from where we currently live.
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Post by warrior1991 on Jun 11, 2021 16:18:09 GMT
This is an interesting question. I have been in my house for 14 years. I love my house. It is old and has it's "issues" but I love it. I recently added a second bathroom instead of moving. Now it is perfect. Well, you know what I mean. It works great now for my mom and I. She (age 72) has her bedroom and her own bathroom now on the main floor and I have my own bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. We can share the craft room and other common rooms. The town we live in is "okay". I love my next door neighbors. Don't know any other people in my neighborhood, but they are friendly if we see them when out walking. I'm not an outdoor person so part of that is my fault.  The city admin person is a major jerk so stuff in town doesn't get down because of her, so that is why the town is only "okay". There is no sense of community spirit but we do get along. If that makes sense. But I don't mind living here because I love my house. Now the town where I work (about 10 miles away) is awesome. Everyone there gets along and we all know each other and everyone is friendly. We all help each other out and we support each other. If I didn't love my house so much, I would consider moving to this town. The town I live in is about 2500 people. The town I work in is 800 people. |
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keithurbanlovinpea
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Post by keithurbanlovinpea on Jun 11, 2021 16:19:26 GMT
You can always renovate/extend/ decorate the house, but you can’t do much about the town.  |
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Post by jenjie on Jun 11, 2021 16:28:26 GMT
Hmm...I think it depends on how far the things you want are from you. In the area I live, there are lots of towns all near each other so one over there is not that important to me. I can always take a 20 min drive to get to whatever I want and that doesn't bother me. If you are looking to be partially rural, you're already going to be driving to everything anyway so if it means an extra 30 minutes to get to night life but you have the house you want, I would be fine with that. The town/city would be more important to me if I was living right in town. This. We are not really “active” per se in our town. Church is 20 mins one way, school is 20 mins another way. And subsequently our friends are in those vicinities. So we have a drive no matter where. At the same time, we are a few blocks from a gas station, supermarket and urgent care, yet at the same time we are on a back road/neighborhood. So we aren’t dealing with the busyness of it on our street. We are 10 minutes from the hospital, Walmart, 15 mins from target and 20 minutes from the mall. We are also 5-15 mins from our pick of farms where we can get fresh corn. And inside of an hour we can be either downtown Philadelphia or the south Jersey beaches. |
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Post by silverlining on Jun 11, 2021 16:43:04 GMT
The town is more important for me. My dh and I both want to be active in our community in retirement and meet people in various activities. And, we get along better when we have fun activities to do, both separate and together. For us, being together in a lovely house with nothing to do around us and no easy way to get together with others would not work.
Your agent could be wasting time if you're not getting on the same page as a couple and communicating clearly with her. I'm sorry your dh is talking with the agent without considering your needs.
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Post by myshelly on Jun 11, 2021 16:45:56 GMT
I’d say they’re equal.
Obviously you need to love your house, but no matter how much I love a house, I’m not living there unless the location is close to all the things I want to be close to.
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Post by Patter on Jun 11, 2021 16:47:06 GMT
Both equally important to us. We LOVE our town and we LOVE our home. We don't want to leave either thus hubby made a huge career change until he retires. We are in city limits but on an acre and a very wooded lot (like over 100 trees) and overlooking the lake. Heaven!
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jun 11, 2021 16:48:31 GMT
I live in an awesome house in a "dead" town. We have 4 gas stations, 7 real estate offices, 3 mexican food joints, a starbucks, taco bell, burger king.... nothing anyone wants to go see or do.yeah, this is what I'm picturing, too. I went back to visit my mom for a couple weeks last summer, after her knee surgery. There's 1500 people, two gas stations, three or four bars, 4-6 churches, and the only restaurants are either IN the bar or the Subway sandwich / pizza from the FastStop gas station. I do NOT want to end up someplace like that for the next 25+ years. And the towns 30+ minutes away only have the typical Walmart, etc. But there is a town about 45 minutes away that's a major area tourist destination with LOTS of history-- a historic downtown on a riverfront, antique shops, other clothing / 'touristy' shops, lots of restaurants, a winery, independent bookstore, art galleries, art festivals and farmer's markets, etc. (also lots of tourists in the summer on weekends, but still... they leave on Sunday afternoon, lol.) If I had my choice between living very near my hometown or the historic town, I'd take the historic town, hands down, even if the house wasn't perfect. I guess that's the fantasy / idyllic existence I want. I'd at least like a shot of finding it. Your agent could be wasting time if you're not getting on the same page as a couple and communicating clearly with her. I'm sorry your dh is talking with the agent without considering your needs. My DH didn't really do it on purpose; I guess I didn't communicate my feelings about the community being a 'need' for me, just as much as a few acres of land for privacy is to him. I also wouldn't mind a longer commute for work, because I know that commute won't be forever; we'll be staying in that house / community for longer than I'll be commuting to/from work. ETA: one of the reasons for the disconnect is that my DH has never really *thought* seriously before about 'what do I want to do when I retire, and where do I want to do it?' He doesn't do a lot of 'looking ahead' in general, because he's fatalistic enough to think he might not live that long, I guess. But I WANT to look forward to that time, and I want to ENJOY it when we DO get there. |
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Post by janamke on Jun 11, 2021 16:51:02 GMT
Town, but more importantly your neighborhood. We bought a very small 3 bedroom house when we had to relocate intending for it to be temporary. 1100 square feet. 2 adults, 3 kids, assorted pets. 14 years later we are still here. No plans to move. We’ve made this house work. My neighbors are like family.
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SweetieBsMom
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Jun 11, 2021 17:02:52 GMT
I think it's a hard call. I live in a small town, we have one street light (we're getting a second, it's very exciting  ) and the only 'fast' food we have is 1 McDonalds. I'm about 45 minutes outside Boston (world class medical care) but there's a regional hospital 15 minutes away. I'm renovating my house, when I moved in I said I was one and done. Is it my 'dream' house, no, but it's mine and paid for. Currently our town is struggling b/c there's a large older population. So every time a vote comes up, for funds needed for the town (that would increase property taxes), it's a HUGE battle that divides the town. The older population, on a fixed income, will vote down most things that increase property taxes (which is totally understandable). We just had a vote in May that would increase taxes, which passed. How did it pass? There were 3 things bundled together (new town hall, new senior center, update the sports fields). If it hadn't been bundled w/ the new senior center, it would have never passed. So before I moved into a town, I'd do some poking around. Go on the town FB page and check it out. As people mentioned, you can always make adjustments to a home, you can't make adjustments to a town. |
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Post by lisae on Jun 11, 2021 17:05:52 GMT
If I were in your position, I would feel the same way. In fact, we did consider finding a place to move when we were no longer needed here, which is now. As of now we are staying put for at least a few more years because I never found that town that suited our requirements. We also had a geographic requirement because DH wanted to move at least somewhat closer to his children, definitely not further away. And then there is money. You can't sell a house in rural NC and buy anything decent for the proceeds just anywhere. I could have added a bit more for another house but there are many parts of the country where I would probably have to triple or more the amount we got out of our place to have something livable.
So I guess my answer today is my house and land because I have it and we are comfortable here. Our town doesn't offer any cultural activities but it does offer extended family, a nice climate, low taxes and lovely countryside. Living in this community all my life, I also know who to call for repairs and upgrades to our property. We are not too far from beach or mountains. So my town itself wouldn't fit your requirements or mine if I were looking to move.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jun 11, 2021 17:13:19 GMT
Hands down the town is the most important factor. A house can be remodeled or built to suit our style. However, you cannot change the makeup of a town - the people, the amenities, the medical care. While a town can grow and change, that change (if it happens) is typically slow. Being in our mid-60's we simply don't have the time to wait for that to happen! We are currently considering a retirement location (staying in place is winning at the moment) and main considerations for us are size, medical facilities, an Episcopal church, proximity to an international airport (under 1 hr), a good mix of newcomers in with the natives, types of restaurants and shopping available.
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Post by busy on Jun 11, 2021 17:17:18 GMT
For me, general location - town/city for sure, but more than that (proximity to hiking, water/ocean, mountains, as well as more typical considerations like medical care, grocery shopping, cultural activities, educational options, other recreational activities, etc).
I could live a very happy life in an area I loved with a house that was just meh.
I could not live a very happy life in an area I did not enjoy but with my dream house/property.
The quality of my life comes from a hell of a lot more than the patch of ground and four walls I live in.
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anniebeth24
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Post by anniebeth24 on Jun 11, 2021 17:23:55 GMT
If you're going to be in a brand new area, I'd aim to find a house that's "pretty good" or even rent for a bit. If/when you decide that you love the area, you can take your time finding a perfect house.
Not that moving twice is ideal, but it's one path to consider. Exciting time!
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scorpeao
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Post by scorpeao on Jun 11, 2021 17:26:28 GMT
When I'm looking to settle down in retirement my focus will be on towns with a major hospital within 30 mins.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jun 11, 2021 17:28:33 GMT
I think this answer really comes down to how YOU interact with your community/surrounding. I know some older people who really spend 90% of their time at home and are more than happy with an occasional pizza or bucket of chicken as their restaurant option. I am absolutely not interested in living in an area that does not have the amenities I enjoy - particularly good independent restaurants - that's just a non-starter for me so town is probably more important than the house.
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Violette Vixen
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Post by Violette Vixen on Jun 11, 2021 17:29:16 GMT
looking for opinions here (maybe a PVM, but I'm not sure). Which is more important to you- your house + property, or the town you live in/near? Or are they equal? DH and I are still talking about looking to move somewhere in preparation for retirement... We're looking for a house on at least a few acres of partially wooded property, within commuting distance of a major city for ease of getting jobs. This house and property will HOPEFULLY be the last home purchase we make, meaning that we want to settle down in it long-term for our retirement. With the crazy housing market, we've already been talking to a realtor about what we're looking for- we have a few must-haves for the house, and we would like at least a few acres of partially-wooded property (so somewhat rural, outside of a town). I found a town I really like, but apparently it's pretty popular and houses near there may be out of our price range. BUT-- DH said that he told the realtor, "it doesn't matter *where* it is (meaning which town) as long as it has the specifics we want and it's within a decent commute time of the major city. I'm kind of bothered by this, because to ME, the town is just as important, or at least a VERY close second, to the house. I mean, the house could be great, but if the town is absolutely crappy, we won't enjoy living there-- or at least *I* won't. One of the things that's important to me is that we find an area where we can 'plug in' to the community, and a town that has lots good restaurants, activities, festivals, etc. going on. I guess that's because I grew up in a very small town that had a dying downtown, and there is literally NOTHING to do there. (the main activity for teenagers when I grew up was driving laps in your car from one end of town to the other, and it hasn't really changed since then.) I don't want to spend my retirement living in/near a community like that, even if the house and property IS great. So I'm looking for opinions from the Peas- am I totally off base in being bothered by this?? Which do you think is more important to you for your retirement, or do you think the house and the town are equally important?? I get where you are coming from, there needs to be "support". We bought a house in December, and we lucked out. The area is pretty good compared to the mess that was Brooklyn! We were so intent on getting out of NYC we never checked the surrounding areas, we just drove around a bit... |
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lizacreates
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Post by lizacreates on Jun 11, 2021 17:32:53 GMT
If it’s important to you that there are nearby places to suit your wants, then I’d say both the house and town should be considered equally. For a retired couple to be in a town that has nothing to offer for outdoor activities/entertainment would be a big no for me, but I’m a big city kind of gal. If the activities you and your husband want to do are not that far by car, then I would think that’s a reasonable compromise.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jun 11, 2021 17:39:35 GMT
I think this answer really comes down to how YOU interact with your community/surrounding. I know some older people who really spend 90% of their time at home and are more than happy with an occasional pizza or bucket of chicken as their restaurant option. very true... and right now, I'd say that's how we are. But I don't want to be like that-- especially after I retire and have all the time in the world to do whatever I want (within reason, of course), lol. My DH is like that, though- he says he'd be happy not leaving the house, but I think that's social anxiety on his part... he's good with going places and doing things when we go together. I also *think* I want to do more outdoorsy stuff like hiking, canoeing, fishing, etc. so access to water without having to drive 2 hours would be nice, too. I'm not like that here in AZ, but truthfully, a lot of it for me is the freakin' HOT climate, and that it takes so long to go anywhere to do any of that stuff. He also isn't *handy* so he doesn't want to do any (or much) remodeling, so would rather not have a real fixer-upper even if it WOULD save us money. (I don't either- at least not inside... outside is a different story for me, lol) Part of the problem IS that we're looking to move to a different area of the country, and while we know generally what the climate will be like (it's in Missouri, which I would call the southern MidWest, and we both grew up in the Midwest), we haven't visited there yet. We really need to do that before she even starts looking seriously for houses for us, I think, so we have an idea of what towns / areas we like and which ones we DON'T like. Especially with as quick as this real estate market is moving. We just need to arrange to visit the area sometime fairly soon. Thank you to everyone for giving me your opinions; I really appreciate it!! |
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Post by PEAcan pie on Jun 11, 2021 17:56:52 GMT
Town first and foremost...then find a home that we like or can change to fit our needs.
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pilcas
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Post by pilcas on Jun 11, 2021 18:11:33 GMT
My first impulse was to say home is more important but upon further thought my answer is no. A friend is selling her gorgeous home with resort like swimming pool for less $$$ than I would be able to sell my definitely not equal home. But while I live in a residential area of a big city she is in a nice community but not near much of interest. I like being able to walk places as opposed to always have to take the car. And as I do get older I appreciate having most of my doctors in the neighborhood.
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. At least another 17 years until I retire and the kids are in college. We're always looking for more land to build on but haven't found that yet.
The city admin person is a major jerk so stuff in town doesn't get down because of her, so that is why the town is only "okay". There is no sense of community spirit but we do get along. If that makes sense. But I don't mind living here because I love my house.
) and the only 'fast' food we have is 1 McDonalds. I'm about 45 minutes outside Boston (world class medical care) but there's a regional hospital 15 minutes away. I'm renovating my house, when I moved in I said I was one and done. Is it my 'dream' house, no, but it's mine and paid for. 
