Planning ahead doesn’t necessarily mean downsizing. Sometimes it means finding ways to make the home you love work better for the years ahead.
Have you ever stopped to think about where you’d like to be ten years from now?
Not necessarily what city or neighborhood, but what you’d like your everyday life to look like. Will you still enjoy maintaining your home and yard? Will the layout be comfortable and practical? Will you be close to the people, activities, and services that matter to you?
These are questions I’ve been thinking about more often lately, both personally and in my work as a real estate broker.
Here in the San Fernando Valley, Simi Valley, and Conejo Valley, we’re fortunate to have many single-story homes. That makes it possible for homeowners to remain in familiar surroundings for decades. But even a home without stairs may not always be the best fit as our needs and priorities change. The question isn’t necessarily whether it’s time to downsize, but whether our current home will continue to support the lifestyle we want.
When the Home You Love Becomes More Difficult to Navigate
Our family’s experience with Nana taught me quite a bit about this.
Nana’s three-story home had been in our family for more than 50 years. It was where generations gathered for Sunday dinners and family celebrations, and it held an enormous amount of history.
But as Nana grew older, navigating the stairs became increasingly difficult. Eventually, we converted a downstairs room into a bedroom because she could no longer manage them.
Unfortunately, that floor had only a quarter bath. We installed a stairlift, which helped for a while with assistance from her caregivers, but it wasn’t a long-term solution.
We were trying to adapt a home that had served our family beautifully for decades to circumstances it hadn’t been designed to accommodate.
That experience made me appreciate how important it is to consider a home’s layout before accessibility becomes an immediate concern.
I’ve also written about our family’s experience preparing and selling that longtime family home in Selling Nana’s House: What I Learned About Selling an Inherited Family Home.
Sometimes a Few Changes Are All You Need
Of course, not every situation requires a move.
A woman I know recently installed a walk-in shower in her single-story home. For her, making the bathroom easier to use may be an important step toward remaining comfortably in the house she loves.
Other homeowners might consider improving lighting, removing tripping hazards, adding grab bars, or making entrances easier to navigate.
These changes don’t necessarily require a major renovation. Sometimes relatively modest improvements can make a meaningful difference in everyday comfort and convenience.
And if the house is otherwise a good fit, staying may be the most appealing option.
What If the House Is Fine, but the Maintenance Isn’t?
I have a neighbor who takes wonderful care of his property. He’s meticulous about his landscaping, but lately he’s admitted that he’s getting tired of mowing, trimming, edging, and dealing with all those pine needles!
He could hire someone to do the work, but he’s accustomed to doing it himself. He also enjoys the privacy of a single-family home and isn’t particularly interested in moving into a condominium or taking on another mortgage.
I suspect quite a few homeowners can relate.
After spending decades taking pride in maintaining a home, it isn’t always easy to start paying someone else to do the work. And moving into a smaller property doesn’t automatically mean lower expenses or a better lifestyle.
Perhaps hiring a gardener is the simplest answer. Perhaps a smaller home with less landscaping would eventually be appealing. Or perhaps staying exactly where he is remains the best choice.
Sometimes the question isn’t whether we can still take care of our homes. It’s whether we want to keep spending our time and energy doing it.
The Financial Side of Staying or Downsizing
For longtime Southern California homeowners, finances can make this decision especially complicated.
Someone who purchased a home decades ago may have a relatively small mortgage balance, or no mortgage at all. Moving to a smaller property doesn’t necessarily mean spending less, particularly when you consider today’s home prices, transaction expenses, and potential HOA fees.
Property taxes are another important consideration.
California’s Proposition 19 may allow eligible homeowners age 55 or older to transfer their existing property tax base to a replacement primary residence, subject to specific requirements. That can make moving more financially practical for some homeowners, although the details need to be evaluated carefully.
And there’s another side to the calculation: the ongoing cost of staying.
Insurance, utilities, landscaping, repairs, and larger maintenance projects can add up over time. Sometimes paying for help makes more sense than moving. Other times, a home that requires less maintenance may offer benefits that go well beyond dollars and cents.
The important thing is to look at the complete picture rather than assuming that either staying or downsizing will automatically save money.
Don’t Miss Your Window of Opportunity
Some years ago, a former classmate shared a story about her parents that I’ve never forgotten. As they grew older, the thought of sorting through a lifetime of belongings, preparing their home, and moving somewhere else became increasingly overwhelming—not just for her parents, but for their adult children, too.
Her parents ultimately remained in their home for the rest of their lives. My former classmate described their situation with a phrase that has stayed with me ever since: “They missed their window of opportunity.”
That doesn’t mean her parents necessarily should have moved, or that everyone needs to relocate as they get older. But there may come a point when the physical and emotional demands of making a major change become much more difficult, both for the homeowners and for the family members trying to help.
And those responsibilities don’t disappear when a parent passes away. Adult children, often in their own 50s or 60s, may suddenly find themselves responsible for sorting through decades of belongings, maintaining a property, coordinating repairs, and preparing a family home for sale. Whether they’re helping aging parents or serving as executors or successor trustees, it can be an enormous undertaking.
Planning ahead doesn’t necessarily mean moving. It means giving yourself and your family more time, more flexibility, and more choices.
Five Questions Worth Asking Yourself
If you’re wondering whether your current home will continue to suit your needs, here are a few questions to consider:
- Will the layout continue to work for me? Think about stairs, bathrooms, entrances, and whether the rooms you use every day are easy to access.
- How much time and energy do I want to spend on maintenance? A beautiful yard can be a pleasure, but it can also become a considerable responsibility.
- Am I close to the people and services I may want nearby? Friends, family, healthcare, shopping, and social activities can become increasingly important.
- What would it cost to stay versus move? Consider maintenance, improvements, property taxes, HOA fees, and the actual cost of purchasing another home.
- If I decided to move in a few years, would I feel prepared? Even beginning to organize belongings and learn about alternatives can make a future transition easier.
You don’t need to have all the answers today. The value is in starting the conversation.
Your Next Chapter Doesn’t Have to Begin With a Move
One thing I’ve learned from helping families with inherited homes, trust sales, and senior transitions is that there isn’t a single right answer for everyone.
Some people are happiest remaining in their longtime homes and making a few practical improvements. Others discover that downsizing to a smaller, more manageable property gives them more freedom to enjoy the things they love. And some simply want to understand their options before deciding whether to make any changes.
And some simply want to understand their options before deciding whether to make any changes.
We’ve spent a lifetime taking care of our homes. At some point, it’s worth asking whether our homes are still taking care of us.
If you’re thinking about what the next five or ten years might look like, I’m happy to help you evaluate your housing options here in the San Fernando Valley, Simi Valley, Conejo Valley, and surrounding communities.
Whether you decide to stay, make improvements, or move, my goal is to help you make a decision you feel comfortable with.
The best time to explore your options is while you still have plenty of them.
Janey Bishop
Independent Real Estate Broker
Serving the San Fernando Valley, Simi Valley and Conejo Valley
DRE 01838769
(818) 570-1144
[email protected]
Janey Bishop | Independent Real Estate Broker | DRE #01838769
