Bart,
Glad to hear y'all are getting to do what you want with your housing situation but might I ask the following: what will y'all do with all that extra room as you get older? I'm asking this because we are currently considering what to do when we retire and our (current) 2350 sq ft home with 4 BR, 2 bath is a lot more house than we will need 99+% of the time.
In other words, will you make use of the entirety of the house most of the time?
I certainly get the extra space is nice when family comes by but how did y'all address the downsides to this extra space (heating / cooling / upkeep)? Did your remodel help address this (perhaps putting in zones to heat and/or cool the extra space as needed)?
We're at a similar decision point that you describe and are working through this decision too. In our case, just about ANY move is going to increase our monthly living costs (even if we downsize) because the COL in Arkansas is among the cheapest in the country.
In our case, leaving our huge property and driveway situation out of the equation, with a 2600 square foot house we essentially could almost just live downstairs if we had to and be fine. We spend most of our time down there anyway. And only one short step out the doors all around the house, including from the garage.
But we have no big family. We have one son and he is not married - no grandchildren.
Even though we have friends and family in NY, we never see them. Maybe a few once per year. So we will move near our son and to a state and area we really like. If anyone wants to visit us they can get a hotel. Our table can seat 6. (well- really 10 but in the new house there will be no room to open it up). And in our new house living room- 4 people as we will not be able to fit the other chair in there like we have now.
The new house will have 4 rooms plus 2 bathrooms and a basement and garage.
The front porch can fit maybe 4 people.
The lot is like a postage stamp. But people - whoever they may be-can sit around in the back. Then again, we only have 2 camping chairs that we use to sit outside now even here at the big house. We have downsized a lot already! LOL!
There's a clubhouse if we need room for a bigger gathering, but we won't ever need it.
I can tell you living right now still in our bigger house and having divested ourselves of a lot of stuff already, we don't miss any of it, though we loved a lot of the things. Giving them away was and is still a bit hard, but once it is out the door all is well. Very freeing.
PS Moving we are not saving any money either in terms of the home cost and moving expenses (and rental costs that will be incurred until the new home is built). The new home will not be anywhere near as beautiful as our current home and I intend to try to hold the line on upgrades at this stage of life. Yet it will cost probably as much as we will net from the sale of our current home of 32 years (IF we are even lucky with that! If not we will have to make up the difference with some savings)- crazy, especially when you consider the size of the new house and lot! AND- with the new house we will not even own the lot the house is on (compared with the 10.5 acres we own now!)!!!!
PS- Right after we signed, the builder raised the prices on all the models. For us it would have been $7000 more! Phew! We just made it!
But once settled in, the costs should be less even with the HOA fees (currently $150 per month). Taxes are $4300 compared with our almost $10,000 now. No plowing bill as the snowblower will handle the tiny driveway.
Propane heat instead of oil- but only an 1100 square foot home. We will have a water bill now instead of a well. Electric rates are higher in NH. Sewer instead of current septic. No fireplace so will not be buying wood.
New home has no trees to worry about with falling and emerald ash borers and all that. Sealing the smaller driveway will be less expensive than it is for our 700 foot one. No more maintaining a deck or bridge. No mowing for my husband anymore as the HOA does it. Trash pick up is also included in the HOA fee. Here it is $37 per month. Plus, we get use of a pool in summer. No pool at our current home.
This all said, in the winter especially it is nice having space to walk around in and separate from the spouse occasionally. It will be a big adjustment in the smaller home. But down the line as we get older- in our late 70's and 80's- I think we will find this was a good decision. All one level. Easier to clean. Simple. Hopefully we will both be here together still, but if one passes, the home is still suitable.