Retirement downsizing
Moira is a widow and when her youngest child left home she decided to sell the empty nest, downsize and take an early retirement.
"When you've reached that stage where you realize there's little point to remaining living in an empty nest, and you're eager to start a new life in a home that's exclusively yours," says Moira, "there are huge hurdles to overcome."
"Selling a home is a high stress activity - as is finding and moving to a new home," says Moira, "and just as you think you are past caring about the old home you may feel, as I did, totally overwhelmed by all the stress of selling and buying and moving and just want to stay put."
"It is a natural reaction," says Moira, "and it’s generated by fear of change."
Moira went through the process of putting her empty nest up for sale - and then staying put - three times over five years!
"Sometimes," says Moira, "that's what you need to do in order to make sure that you are really doing the right thing at the right time. When the time is ripe, when you are really ready to make the change - whether or not the real estate market is booming - it will all happen."
“I would like to say it will happen easily and effortlessly, but selling, buying and moving are, after all, highly stressful events and you really need to be prepared for it.”
“After three false starts I finally decided to ease the stress by doing things in stages,” explains Moira. “First, I sold the empty nest and rented an apartment, expecting to take as long as it took to find and buy a new permanent home.”
"The risk I took, of course, was that interest rates or home prices generally might change dramatically during the time I was renting," says Moira, "and I might not have found a new place I liked and I would have to rent for years, if not forever."
"I determined to take that risk - sell first and buy later," says Moira, "and it worked out very well for me, even though it necessitated the stress and extra expense of a double move. I found a perfect new house within two months of selling."
Some widows and empty nesters have a very clear picture of the type of home they want to move to. An apartment is a very popular choice - no more lawns to mow, no more external painting and no more fences to replace.
Others may visualize a smaller house, closer to shops and facilities. And then there are some really adventurous types who want a complete sea change - a move to the country if they're from the city, or vice versa, or a move interstate or overseas.
Moira chose to stay within her old community and found a small house closer to the town centre than she was already.
"I’m a very privacy conscious person and I couldn’t bear the thought of neighbors living under, over or on the other side of a wall from me," explains Moira, "and I didn't like the idea of communal upkeep either. Now, more than ever before in my life, I prize my space and privacy and my right to do whatever I please in my own home. I also needed a small patch of garden to potter around in. An apartment just didn’t suit me."
"I am reasonably financially secure after downsizing,” says Moira, “and with a bit of luck I have plenty to tide me over until I'm ready to join my husband in heaven.”
Read more of Moira's story:
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