Seniors...Is now the time for you to go Condo? Don't Wait Until too Late in Life to Make This Important Decision.

This is often a difficult decision for most however not for my Mom & Dad many, many years ago!  When my parents were in their early 60's they suddenly decided (much to my surprise) that living in a Tri Level home was too much work for them.  They no longer wanted to mow the lawn, shovel the drive way, pull weeds, paint the house, go up and down stairs and keep up with all the maintenance home ownership involved. 

I couldn't believe my ears! How could they do it??  How could they sell OUR HOME?!!...just think of all the memories our family had shared while us kids were growing up there.  This was our home and it was quite beyond me to imagine anyone else living there.  Mom then told me quite simply, "home" is not a house, it is whatever place you choose to live in with the one(s) you love and it will be whatever you make of it." ...I'll never forget it.

Now in looking back, I see this actually turned out to be one of the best decisions my parents ever made.  They were moving at a time when they were still physically able to do so and had young adult children around who were able to help them.  I'm not going to kid you...this was an awful lot of work!  They had so many things they had accumulated over the past 30+yrs and not only did they need to get rid of a lot of it, they also had to decide what to keep to furnish their condo and what things they just couldn't part with.  They understood that in making this move they no longer had tons of room for storage and what they were able to hold onto was limited because of this. 

Fast forward 12+ years....mom and dad had many happy years in their condo and very much enjoyed the easier pace of life it had provided and there had been no regrets in their decision to down size. The condo they had lived in was very nice but not extravagant, it was what they called "very affordable living" which in turn allowed them the financial freedom to be able to winter in Florida and this they truly LOVED!!

Then suddenly it was time to look into retirement homes for mom...no longer able to live on her own and lonely since dad passed away in 2005, I had found a lovely place for her and it was once again time for mom to move.  This time the move, although not emotionally easy, was made much less stressful and difficult due to the fact that my parents had already downsized all those years earlier when they had moved out of "the big house".  Because of this there was already a plan set in place as to what were the important things to mom and what needed to go with her, what things needed to stay in the family, what things could some of us use and what would we be donating.  This was when I realized what a wonderful and insightful decision my parents had made all those years ago and how much easier our task now at hand really was.

Since becoming a Realtor I have assisted Seniors in the sale of their homes, if it is a home they have lived in for the past 30+ years the work involved can be incredibly overwhelming, not only to the person(s) living there but also for the family and friends who will be helping them.  It can entail weeks and weeks of work just to go through everything and make the decisions regarding what to keep, what to give away etc...this task most often will now fall to the children for many Seniors find it all too overwhelming and can have a very hard time coping. 

So, to my Parents who had the great foresight to plan ahead and sell the home which was too big and too much work for them....I now say THANK YOU!!!  You were RIGHT and I was so WRONG, yup I can admit it.  :-) This decision was one of the best you ever made, it made everything so much easier on everyone involved.  And now I understand, you were not just thinking of yourselves...you were thinking of us your children and we love you for that!

I can easily now say that when my kids are grown and have moved out of our home, we will be downsizing...for my Home is NOT a House, it is whatever place I choose to live in with the one(s) I love and it will be whatever I make of it.