we live in a 3 bed semi. nice big gardens to 3 sides…i hate gardening.
kids are grown up. lad has not been at home since he was 17. daughter is nearly 19…never home hardly.
so we no longer need 3 bedrooms and a garden.
seen a few nice 2 bedroon terrace houses, in nice quiet area’s, all at a fair bit of cash cheaper than our house is valued at. if we were to sell our house and buy a 2 bedroom terrace, we would have enough cash to buy a nice camper van, which we now fancy.

good idea/bad idea? anyone downshifted?

Do it.

As long as you’re prepared to put up with neighbours 🙂

It’s also a chance to have a good clear out.

Where are you going to store the camper? Unless it’s a T5 size van then they are bigger than you think.

It depends on how settled your kids are. They are the boomerang generation after all (often through no fault of their own).

bit selfish squandering their inheritance on a bloody 🙂 van!

There’s nae pockets in a shroud!

Wouldn’t down size to a terrace – would still want off road parking and a proper garage/bike cave.

But we will downsize from our 4 bed detached as soon as we can to free up some cash. Hopefully!

Youngest only 9 though.

Neighbours get weird when a van appears in their road more so when a mobile home van appears taking a parking space.

Work in a lot of terraces, and while nice inside , the rear entrys are usually full of dead cats, burst bin bags, fridges and piles of crap, parking is always a problem at wekends or in the day depending on local workforce using the road to park.

A 2 bed flat in a purpose built block with off road parking, and a garage is much superior, just check out the service charge and if youre allowed vans on site.

Oh and i moved from a large semi detached house with large gardens to a small flat in a terraced street, now living in a private appartment block, off road parking, garage, outside tap, and am a director of the management committee.

Gardens done, windows cleaned, and internal and external areas all cleaned.

all the terrace hoses we are looking at are in a semi rural area. 2 are end terrace, with hard base parking at the side. they also back onto a local rugby union sports fields. think more cottage terrace than pit village terrace…… 😆

End terrace with parking space sounds ideal – plus you’ll have less garden to tend if you slab/pave/tarmac it for the camper to sit on.

they sound ok as oposed to inner city terraces

End terrace is really what you want, we have a mid and tbh although it’ll be fine for the next few years it’s not the home we plan on settling down in for life.

Rugby UNION?

Have a word with yourself man.

Good idea Tony ( especially campervan ) , go for it !

I live mid terrace, and plan never to move again. Walls are 2 ft thick, don’t hear a thing for the the neighbours, have rear access and off street parking. We have one child and live in a 2 bedroom house, quite unique amongst my peers, as they seem to think once you have a kid, you need a 4 bed detached house and a Chelsea tractor.

As such, I don’t have a big mortgage (it’ll be paid off by the time I’m 45) so can afford to live a little too.

Do it Tony,

so we no longer need 3 bedrooms and a garden.
seen a few nice 2 bedroon terrace houses, in nice quiet area’s, all at a fair bit of cash cheaper than our house is valued at. if we were to sell our house and buy a 2 bedroom terrace, we would have enough cash to buy a nice camper van, which we now fancy.

good idea/bad idea? anyone downshifted?

For what my opinion’s worth, I admire you for even thinking about it. I am always amazed by people who take up more space than they need. I can understand it if someone is very hospitality-oriented, or have grandchildren that come to stay, but for those who can, I think downsizing is admirable.

Conversely, keeping a more valuable property to pass on to your children rather than spunking it on toys is admirable…

I can’t think of a reason not to downsize.

The camper van is a good idea. But aside from that buying a smaller house doesn’t necessarily mean a cheaper one, if you did decide to keep the capital.

Go for it.

We live in an end terrace and love it.

Loads of parking, we have one off road parking space and have 2 vans and a car, we could park 5 campers (on road) without annoying anyone)

It’s all about picking the right street.

Taking homes from first time buyers shame one you….. 😆

I’d only consider what you are planning do it if the parking on the end is 100% yours, it doesn’t turn into communal overspill and you are happy getting the van there.
Also not all have decent thick walls so see what you can hear from the neighbours.

A bungalow has no stairs or upstairs loo. That’s what we’ll be downsizing to.

+ 1 for detached bungalow. Off road parking and no stairs to hinder progress on old knee’s.

As for what you do with any surplus money from the move, if it were me, a camper van would probably be on the list.

My brother and wife downsized from a 5 bed terrace, to a 3 bed semi (near Ton actually!). They are glad that they didn’t go smaller as they still have enough room to have kids, grandkids and friends stay over.

Yep, down to a 3 bed chalet bungalow and Motorhome.

Bungalow in a cul-de-sac within walking of all facilities in a small town. Motorhome as i always wanted to tour, even better is I now get sabbaticals from work.

I’d choose both carefully. I’ve guessed my future based on my parents, so eventually mobility will decrease and licence might have to go ….

Conversely, keeping a more valuable property to pass on to your children rather than spunking it on toys is admirable…

I’ll be really annoyed with my mam and dad if they die with loads of cash in the bank/house and don’t make the most of it while they’re alive.

Just buy the camper. Rent out your house and cruise around Europe (you need to retire first!)
Mate does this in the US. Winter in the warm bits, summer in cooler parts.

+ 1 for detached bungalow

from what I’ve seen that is unlikely to release any cash, don’t get much bungalow for your money, old people & their (k)needs 🙄

When we sold our last house (3 bed semi in a street with loads of 2 bed bungalows) the estate agents told us that they were selling for about the same.

I’ll be really annoyed with my mam and dad if they die with loads of cash in the bank/house and don’t make the most of it while they’re alive.

But (sensible head on) I am of a mind right now that I want to give my girls the best start I can help to provide. If I don’t *need* that fancy sports car/holiday/speedboat etc, it seems a fairer thing to do to pass what I can down.

Saying that, I have considered downsizing when my girls leave home and (possibly) go to Uni – then we would be mortgage free and able to support them in their studies.

But (sensible head on) I am of a mind right now that I want to give my girls the best start I can help to provide. If I don’t *need* that fancy sports car/holiday/speedboat etc, it seems a fairer thing to do to pass what I can down.

When are you planning on dying? When I was starting out my parents were in their 50s. As they approach 70 they are still doing mostly OK. Hopefully by the time they leave us anything we will ourselves be sorted, so anything is likely to go to our grand kids, if we have any.

I would not want my parents to hold back for my sake. In fact I wish they would buy the damn camper can they always talked about. They need a kick up the arse sometimes 🙂

I would have thought its better to bring up kids to be self sufficient rather than in need of a big inheritance to manage. Plus if you get dementia and end up spending the last 15 years in a home, your estate will end up being spent on care home fees.

I’ve read this, not as someone in a big property, but as the 2nd generation whos parents live in a big place.

I can say this being confident that my mother doesn’t frequent STW, but my parents (very healthy 65+ year-olds), live in a big, expensive house. 5 bed detached in a village in S.W. Devon. Whilst they don’t especially need the money, I would love to see them live somewhere smaller. I live in Asia, middle brother in Germany and youngest in London. We have big family summers together, but beyond that, the extra rooms gather dust.

They don’t need the garden or house space and should absolutely be spunking their savings on holidays, toys and anything they’ve ever fancied doing.

For my Mum, at least, it’s looking to the future and wanting space for 3 sons and 50 million grandchildren* to all stay for holidays that’s keeping them where they are, I think,

*they have 2 from me and I’ve passed on the baton to my brothers!

When I was starting out my parents were in their 50s. As they approach 70 they are still doing mostly OK.

My mam was 41 when I bought my first house 🙂

I live mid terrace, and plan never to move again. Walls are 2 ft thick, don’t hear a thing for the the neighbours, have rear access and off street parking. We have one child and live in a 2 bedroom house, quite unique amongst my peers, as they seem to think once you have a kid, you need a 4 bed detached house and a Chelsea tractor.

Lucky for you, we can hear our neighbours walking about and if they cough we know about it. Rear access via the end terrace (so a path for the bins) and no off street parking unless we delete the front garden.

I get what you’re saying though, it’s the same mentality of having kids and automatically buying a bingo bus. No idea why.