[Aarti]

Are there any folks here who are retiring in a condo and lived in their starter townhouse/ condo from beginning to end?

Context: We purchased a 2b2b condo when we were engaged and it is sufficient for us and our only child.

We plan to retire here (unless I am missing something some blind spots)

[Sue]

33 years in a 3 BD, 1 bath ranch house in a small town, with laundry in the mostly finished basement.

The banker laughed when we signed the loan papers and made a comment about everything on one floor and just two steps to get outside, for our retirement years.

Paid it off early on low incomes, raised two kids, and retired now.

No McMansion needed for us.

[Jyothi]

It’s great if you can make your starter home your forever home.
If you only have one child, you may not need more space now or need to downsize later

But Some things to think about –
Is it a good place to age in place? Think about how many changes (if any) you would need to make to make it comfortable for when you may have mobility issues.

Ex. Our first home had a lot of stairs which may not be great at a certain age.

Also, does the community offer what you might need as a retiree vs as a young family.

Ex. You may care about a great school district but that may not be crucial for you as retiree – so could you move to an area with lower property taxes if schools are not a consideration anymore.

If your child moves across the country, would you want to be closer to them – especially if they have kids.

[Max]

Bought a 3b 2b 1300 sf home at 24 years old a month before we got married.

Lived there 27 years. Sold it in 2021 and used it to pay cash for our forever home.

Retired in 2024 at age 55

[Pooja]

Yes. Looks like we’re going to skip the big house part. Purchased a townhouse. 2 kids.

Just enough for us and don’t want to have more work to do.

[Kathy]

I am in a similar situation as you – I have a 2bed/2.5ba condo townhome that I have lived in for 19 years now. First and only home I have had. I loooove my neighborhood and my location.

The only reason I have had thoughts about eventually moving are my condo fees, living in a home with stairs, and having to rely on neighbors to keep our building safe.

I don’t know how your monthly condo fees are, but mine have risen almost every year in the last 19 years.

Even if my mortgage is eventually paid off, there will likely always been higher and unpredictable condo fees every year.

My home also has an upstairs and downstairs which I am still young enough to handle without problems, but I do think about when I am older if I would want to live someplace with stairs to navigate.

My last big concern is that I have never loved the fact that I have 2 neighbors who live above me and to each side of my unit, and I am at their mercy to keep their own homes safe.

For example, if anyone accidentally set their unit on fire by an unattended candle, that would affect all of us.

If my neighbors above me accidentally left their bathtub running or had an overflowing toilet that didn’t stop or a washing machine overflowing, all of that could ruin my unit.

KNOCK ON WOOD so far I haven’t had any issues in 19 years but I have thought about eventually moving out of my condo into a townhome or small SFH..

I would likely still have neighbors to each side of me but at least that would eliminate the risk of having neighbors above me.

Also, I don’t know how often HOA fees are increased for townhomes or SFHs but I would hope they wouldn’t be increased as much as condo fees (plus monthly HOA fees are significantly lower than monthly condo fees which is nice for the pocketbook).

[Adam]

We bought our first home (3 bed/2.5
bath 2,300 SF) after getting engaged in early 2011 at bottom of market in Michigan.

Now have two boys and we never upgraded house.

We did buy a little 1,000 sf lakefront cottage 4 years ago so plan is to sell our primary and rebuild our cottage into our dream retirement home once kids are out of high school (9 more years).

[Laurie]

The only moves we’ve made were to different parts of the country. So as long as you stay in the same area, this sounds like a great plan.

[Brenda]

From the other side….we moved around a lot. We upsized and downsized, moved neighborhoods and states.

Buying and selling a home is extremely expensive and the biggest bleed in our finances during our years.

If you can stay in one place, you’ll be far, far ahead of those that don’t.

[Rebecca]

our co-op apartment building has a NORC–a naturally-occurring retirement community.

It provides activities like lectures, exercise classes, and trips as well as wrap around services to keep folks in their homes.

We are thrilled that this will be available as we age.

Elevator building is key, and one floor living. We have 1000 sq feet and it is plent

[Author]

Posts