It is very stressful to find the perfect home once you have sold yours. Equally as stressful to find the perfect home prior to selling yours and worry about two payments!

I misread your title, and wanted to invite you to my part of the world We have lots of horse ranches and dairy farms in the valley below, but most have 2 story homes on them. The single story might be one level because the land is flat down there.

I totally agree, I'm also looking to downsize into a ranch and they are few and far between. I haven't yet put my house on the market because it will probably sell quicker than I can find something I want to buy. I don't think I'd be able to rent, since I have yet to find a place that will take my 2 big dogs and 3 cats also .... I just keep looking and getting my house ready to sell!

Cheaper to build up than out I guess? I grew up in a ranch and always wanted to live in a colonial. Now that I have for the past 17 years, I can't wait to live in a one story house when my kids are grown!

Florida! That's about all you find here.

Jane

Its because of the rising cost of land. As land becomes more and more expensive, you have to squeeze homes into smaller and smaller lots. With smaller lots, you don't spread the house out like a ranch house. Instead, the only room left on those smaller lots is to build up.

I would follow this thread with interest had the OP given us a clue as to his location?

In our former city (Midwest), you couldn't trip without falling onto a ranch style house. Here, in our new city, ranches are few and far between as most of the growth occurred in the 1980's after the "age of the ranch" (50's and 60's). We're eyeing a time when we'll be able to sell our 2 story and would dearly love a sprawling, vintage ranch that we could update, but I just don't think it'll happen if we stay in this area.

You could move to La Quinta, CA, and live in a brand new house on a golf course ruled by a HOA. The entire Coachella Valley has building restrictions. NO two story homes allowed because people enjoy the mountain views. We exchanged all that glory to live in a two story home on a steep mountain hillside in another place with valley and Mountain views and NO HOA. These homes aren't the "ranch" style you desire, but they are single story.

La Quinta, hmmm. The winters are quite pleasant, it is the summers that will do you in. A ranch or whatever will also cost a pretty one out there. I actually used to live in the Coachella Valley (although the town I was in did allow 2 story homes). I was more than happy to trade that in for a different state and different climate. I imagine climate control on a 2-story in the Coachella Valley is more complicated too.

tishtoshnm, heat rises, so a two story in the desert would be tough. They build those houses out of "styrofoam" now. Not kidding. Golf balls would put dents in our walls when we were there, but the house was just gorgeous. 2 master suites, open concept living space/kitchen and a guest house. The called it a Casita. 2370 sq ft. Yep, they are pricey!

Wonder how one of those Styrofoam homes would hold up in tornado alley?

All the ranches are in WI. We have ownership of them. Nearly everyone lives in one and almost nothing else is built.

I am just kidding, but they are very popular here. I grew up in a ranch and went to Colonials when I married. We moved to a ranch a year ago and my spouse was unhappy about it, having always lived in a house with more than one story. It is all good now, but our neighborhood is still growing and we hope for more two stories to make the neighborhood look a little more diverse.

jrb451, I guess in Tornado Alley, a Styrofoam home would just sail off to OZ. :-) A brick home here would crumble in a mild earthquake. On topic, on my way home from the store yesterday I observed several ranch style homes built on 1/2 to 1 acre. As it is with older homes, some are well kept and others scream "Tear me down!"

Saltidawg, I'm the op and I live in the midwest. It's not that we don't have ranches here, but there is an abundance of split-levels. I know they build them because you get more square footage on a smaller lot, but it sure makes it hard when you are looking to downsize. It seems the ranches that are available here are very small (1,000 sq. ft. or less) and have one-car garages, a deal-killer for us. The search continues....

Pretty much everyone's family who still had ill-gotten land sold it all for either a little more luxurious retirement or because they otherwise would have been living in poverty.

man, capitalism right? But why don't you want the consumerism split-level with their version of the American dream?

I happen to love capitalism! So do the Chinese.

Without capitalism you wouldn't be living in a house, or driving a car, or even own a computer to type your post on. Heck, you wouldn't even have underpants.

We had the same problem, could not find a newer ranch for sale. We looked for 2 or 3 yrs. so, we built our own ranch:).

Are those styrofoam houses by any chance ICF - insulated concrete forms? Those are evidently terrific for insulation as well as torrential storms including hurricanes. Not so good for golf balls if the builder didn't clad the outside with something sturdy like stucco or clapboard though.

Friends tell me the one story houses in our area are scarce. Lots of senior citizens wanting only one story as they plan for the future. The baby boomers have arrived! But lots are small here, and so many houses are two story as a result. Competition for the few one stories is fierce.

I drove through town today and there were many ranch homes with 3 car garages, but they were not for sale. I think you need to ask your realtor to go back and find homes that were pulled and make an offer. Good luck to you.