This past spring I wanted to sell the big old family house and cash out the equity (I bought it in the mid-1990’s) and downsize. Someone I know wanted to buy it, and we signed the contract in March and we closed in the beginning of June. I had targeted a townhouse community that I wanted to move to, but by the end of May, there were only a few places there that came on the market, but all had multiple offers and I lost out on each of them because I was still in my house (and I also blame my crappy realtor). I looked at rentals, but in my area they are expensive and none are short-term. Fortunately a friend offered me a bedroom in her home, so I moved in with my old cat and put my stuff in storage. A week later a townhouse I wanted came on the market but by this time I had ditched my realtor and I called the listing agent directly. There were four other offers on it that weekend, and my offer was accepted because I was able to close quickly -- I still needed a mortgage, but I was in good shape because I had a lot of cash on hand from the sale of my house, and we’re set to close at the end of July. If I had moved into a rental this might not have been possible, especially without a lot of expense, and I am lucky that I had someone that would take me in. It’s actually working out really well, but both of us are single and I think this arrangement would be more difficult for a couple or a family. And also, I won’t be in her house for more than a few months total -- I’m sure my welcome would be worn out over too much time. I think for the original poster that it is important to know ahead of selling what and where you ultimately want to buy. I looked around for more than a year before I decided to sell, so I knew the market and I had a plan (and a great friend!)

Thanks for asking. Update: My Dad bought his cute new townhouse to downsize into. Over the next 6 weeks, we helped my Dad completely purge and prepare his house (selling, donating, and moving things to his new house), handle some repairs, carpet cleaning, painting, etc to get it ready to go on the market. The house was outdated early 90's style, but in good repair bc he always fixed things as he went along. There was almost no deferred maintenance; but still a list of things we needed to do to get it ready. We didn't touch her room, but the entire rest of the house was emptying out quickly. The first week of this 6-week process, I printed out the eviction paperwork from the local justice court and brought it over to show the squatter. I explained what was going to happen, the judgement, the sheriff coming, etc. We kept on going with the purging, cleaning, etc. We all live locally, so all the siblings and spouses (8 adults) were stopping by all the time to help, and to reinforce the "move out" message to the squatter. SIL was an especially effective communicator, and squatter finally agreed to move out by Friday of the second week. And she did! We never had to file the eviction papers, but printing them out and showing her what was going to happen made her see that this train was on the move. I told my Dad to change the locks, but it turns out he had never given her a key, just a garage door opener, which he took back, so that was good. Along the way, we did find out some sketchy stuff about her; she has squatted and scammed others before. She tried, but was never able to find out my Dad's new address, my address, or any of my other siblings last names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, etc. She sure tried though! One day I brought a meal over for my Dad and she asked me to email the recipe to her. Another time, she offered to drop something by my sister's house, just give me your address. Those are just 2 examples of many where she tried to get personal info on us. It's pretty easy to get that kind of info online, but she doesn't have a computer, and doesn't seem sharp enough to do that kind of research. With the FIRST showing, my Dad got a full-price offer, and he just closed a couple of weeks ago. I have another thread about all this stupid stuff the realtor told him to do to the house (over $100K worth of updates; so dumb). With moving costs, repairs, cleaning, painting, hiring handy a person to help haul things to charity and dump, minor landscape spruce-up, etc he spent less than $7K vs $100K realtor wanted him to do to make her job easier! Anyway, it's finally over and my Dad is happily settled in his new place. He's on vacation right now, and we are having a big house-warming party for him when he gets back.

darralisa - I think your home is beautiful! And what a great price! Something like that in my area (a golf course community in TN) would go for close to a million! If I were in your area, I would certainly be interested. Yes, having the Master on the 2nd level is not that appealing to the older generation. My husband thinks the Master should be on the main floor. I differ. We have several friends our age (60's) and up into their late 70's who have their Master on the second floor. They say the stairs keep them young and fit. As long as one is able and careful, climbing stairs should not be a problem. Some of our friends have elevator plans, or have them installed for the "just in case", while others have a guest bedroom/bath on the main floor that can be used when the time comes. You would never know there was an elevator unless they pointed it out. It is a closed-in sheet-rocked area with a door that looks like it goes to anything (closet, bedroom, bathroom, etc.) I would definitely show a plan where an elevator could go, and get some pricing. Do nothing more! Agreeing with some others that the fireplace wall could use some attention. Lighten and brighten! Since you are not having to sell, I would also take your home off the market. Do nothing but a little clean-up and eliminate a few decor items. Nothing drastic! This is YOUR home and you should be surrounded by things that you love. ;) I am not wild about the idea of relisting during the holidays, though. Read below for another idea. My husband and I are in a similar situation. We are wanting to move 30 minutes away and build a house in the neighborhood where my husband grew up. It would also be closer to our daughter, her husband and our grandchildren. :) However, we do not have to move. Nor would we necessarily have to sell before building. We had told a few friends and neighbors that we might be moving sometime in the near future. After 13 years in our "new" home, we are no where ready to list a house!!! But low and behold,...a neighbor, that is also a realtor, called us out of the blue and asked if we would be interested in selling. We told her that we had thought about it, but the house was not sale ready. She said not to worry that it would be a one time showing for some clients that were looking for a house in our area. She thought the layout and square footage would be perfect for this family. The neighbor/realtor said not to do a thing to clean-up, change decor, etc. I did clean out our Master closet, but that's about all. Two weeks ago her clients looked at our house two days in a row. The realtor thought they were about to make an offer. They were not planning on having to sell their home. Then the market dropped last week and they decided to talk to their banker/adviser. He advised that they sell their home first. :( Since we are in no hurry, and will not accept a contingency offer, what will be, will be. But that's alright... we are not ready to move just yet. If nothing else, we will probably put our house on a quiet market in the spring. In the meantime, our neighbor/realtor asked for more one time showings should the right client come along. This method is much less stressful than having to have our home show ready at all times. The realtor will call ahead and give a few days heads up. We can go about our normal activities and not worry about whether the house is clean should realtor want to show a home that same day. Also, we will not be having people coming through that are not already qualified buyers for the appraisal price, those that are nosy, or those that the house would not be suitable for. Another plus... the commission to realtor is less if she is the only one involved!

It will be very hard to predict what will happen in 50 years. It is possible that the 2 nearby cities will grow and the area the house is in will become more valuable as the city spreads out and more people are looking for property in that area. Of course if there is nothing nearby now, it could stay that way or get worse over the course of that time. It is a gamble. For me I live 15 minutes from a small town, and get some groceries there, however I work 45 minutes from my home and a large city, and usually get most of my groceries there because prices and variety are better. Driving 45 minutes twice a day for me doesn't seem like too long, however people who live 5 minutes from work would hate it. I guess you have to ask yourself, are you ok with driving 30 minutes when you need groceries. Normally in the US, if you can pay it off in 5 years that is incredible, most people take 30 years. And typically houses/land increase in value over time. There are times when the value goes down, but that doesn't happen very often unless you are in the "bad" part of a very large city or truly in the middle of nowhere. For me living away from the big city is wonderful. Yes it costs more, so you have to figure that in too. Sounds like there is a city 10 mins away, how far do you go now for groceries? 10 min is not very far. Stairs.. well you can remodel make them easier to climb, or later on if your parents need it you could add on a room on the first floor for a bedroom for them. You can add a ramp from the outside to the first floor, and ALL stairs should have handrails available! Here it is a requirement if there are more than just a couple of steps. There are usually options when you own your place. Most of the time if you can afford the house, and get it paid off that quickly, then yes it will still be of value, probably more value when you need to sell it especially if you fix it up and make it even nicer. However there are no promises in real-estate. If you like it, get it and enjoy your time there, when it's time to sell it cross your fingers.