Thank you all for the compliments and inputs !
Bob Copeland wrote:
So, are you down sizing or relocating? My kids are all grown and gone.
I need to get our of my house and get a townhouse. I am either to old or
do not enjoy doing all the outside maintenance stuff.
We have been in the same house for 37 years, adding and improving as the family grew and the money permitted. When my father died, my mother had me design what we call a "duet house" - a semi-detatched pair of living units on a single property. She moved into one unit and let out the other for retirement income.
Less than a year after moving in, she met and married my stepfather who had an extended family. His pension brought in more income than the letting of the second unit so they decided to not renew the lease and kept it vacant for visiting children and grandchildren. (My mother went from one child to six children and from 3 grandchildren to 14!)
When my stepfather died, Mom stayed on and asked my eldest son and his family to move into the 'visitor unit' for company and added security. When she died, I inherited both and we are now moving in next door to my eldest son. He is a maintenance and small construction contractor so it really suits our needs too.
The profit on selling our first home is going into my wife's pensionable interest as she took a knock when she stopped teaching for 10 years to raise our three kids. I have merely taken a "commission" on selling the house (the realtor actually did nothing but paper work) and buying this yellow fellow for my efforts.