Time for a change?
“It got to be too much to maintain the house on my own, and to cook and carry things.”
“When my wife and I lived on our own, we were cocooning a great deal. We no longer had the outreach and social interactions that had made life so stimulating.”
More on exploring your options
However, the fact that you’re considering other options suggests you may be starting to wonder whether your current home will still be the right choice moving forward. There are many angles to consider, but it comes down to three basic choices.
1. Should you stay put for now?
Your current house may be where your kids grew up, the place they still think of as home. Or it’s where you’ve welcomed friends and family for countless get-togethers over the years. Or it’s the dream home you moved into later in life, planning and decorating down to the last detail. Whatever story brought you to your present home, you chose it for good reasons, are used to being there and likely don’t find it easy to think about making a change.
But the fact that you’re considering other options suggests you may be wondering whether your current home will still be the right choice later. Like most questions about the future, it’s complicated. It might help to split that one big question into a few simpler ones:
What do you value most about living in your current home?
- Location—proximity to friends or family, neighbors you’ve known for years, places you like to shop, your club or place of worship, your doctors and other services, a whole community you love having nearby.
- Living spaces—rooms for entertaining and relaxing, guest bedrooms, your big kitchen, workshop or hobby area, not to mention the yard, garden and patio.
- Independence—you’re used to living life in your own space and on your own terms.
Has your home started to present challenges that weren’t an issue before?
- Getting around—dealing with stairs, the basement laundry room, awkward cupboards and closets, just making your way through more living space than you really need … plus walking out to the driveway or street, traveling to other places by car or public transport.
- Chores—housekeeping, taking out the trash, window cleaning, gardening, lawn-cutting and yard work.
- Maintenance—painting, roofing and structural repairs, air conditioning and appliances, the driveway, the pool (if you have one).
How feasible is it to start making changes that address these challenges?
- Logistically—are the services you now require readily available from reliable providers?
- Financially—do you have the resources, and is this where you want to invest them?
- Emotionally—are you comfortable with having outside service people take over responsibility for things you’ve always done your own way, to your own standards?
If you do make changes, will they really meet all of your needs? And for how long?
These are the toughest questions of all. Perhaps you’re unsure about staying in your home because you don’t feel quite the same being there. Maybe you miss someone who’s no longer with you, or sense that your community is changing, becoming less familiar or even less safe. And if there are things around the house you don’t feel as comfortable doing anymore, how will it be in the years ahead, when you may find you’re even less able to manage all the responsibilities of looking after a home?
