Hoping for some help with this…
We currently live in a lovely bungalow, unfortunately we are 200 miles away from our son and grandchildren. My husband hasn’t been diagnosed yet but we are pretty sure that is coming.
We want to move nearer our son so there will be some support when needed, but the cost of a bungalow where our son lives is much more than what we get for ours.
Therefore we have the dilemma of either staying put and having no support or moving back to a house. Retirement places aren’t suitable because we have 2 springer spaniels, so a flat is out the question and most of them have communal gardens, we need a private garden.
Obviously there are adaptations we could make in a house like a stair lift which would help.
Are there many people who live in houses as opposed to bungalows or flats? Would we be making a mistake doing this?
I appreciate my husband could still be in the early stages of Parkinson’s but would just appreciate some thoughts of others.
Thanks
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Good morning troubledwife … In a previous post you said “Moving nearer our son makes sense to me and I would love to live back to that part of the country, I don’t think I have ever really settled here though.”
Your husband is my age [70] & you are 10 years younger. You both seem to be healthy other than your husband has a slight tremor in his left hand that may or may not be Parkinson’s, I think the potential illness is a red herring, it is not really relevant.
You own your current home but have no ties to the area & you would rather live in the area where you lived before & be closer to the son you get on with as you said above.
Clearly, Parkinson’s or not, you want to move so I would advise going to look at some properties in areas that you [both] like.
If you decide on a house you could maybe have the master bedroom & a bathroom downstairs. Or you might find an ideal bungalow. You won’t know unless you look.
Did you have plans as to where your next property wound be? Was there somewhere you were going to retire to? Being 10 years younger than your husband the odds are [way in the future] that you will be on your own at some stage, where do you think you would like that to be?
I moved from a big house with a lot of land to a 1 bed ground floor flat a few years ago & it is a big job both emotionally & physically.
You need to limit the number of moves you have to make. None of us can see into the future & know how the cards will land.
Best wishes
Steve2
I definitely want to move, probably Gloucestershire which is where our son lives, I’m from Somerset originally.
We were down in Gloucestershire at the weekend and I felt that I could easily live there…the problem we currently have is I’m waiting for a shoulder replacement, I’m on the waiting list here but I’d have to start from scratch if we moved now…it’s a very painful injury where I broke my humerus in 3 places last summer…it needs doing asap…that’s the only think currently stopping us…
There are some bungalows in our price range but nothing like what we have now, we’ve spent the time during covid getting it done as we wanted, new kitchen, new shower room…
I’m getting some agents around this week to give us a valuation so we will get some idea of what prices we can go up to.
I’ve been fine all weekend as had the boys to distract me, now we are home I’m back to worrying about things totally out of our control and which all my sorting will change absolutely nothing…it’s just me, a born worrier…
Had we not had the dogs we’d have been looking at over 55 places, that’s an option a few years down the line when they are no longer around (don’t even like to think about that)
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Why don’t you look at Over 55’s properties that allow dogs?
I did a google Over 55’s pet friendly properties in Gloucestershire & the above came up.
I’d start by talking to them & go from there …
Surely you can keep your operation place in the queue where ever you are living.
Best wishes
Steve2
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It is at times like this that I am glad I’m not an estate agent LOL.
Why not draw up a list of Property must haves & give this list to a couple of estate agents & let them do the work as well as doing your own research.
It will be fun .
Steve2
Will probably do something like that once we are ready to make the move…need my op first though as otherwise we are bound to see something we like which will have sold before we have sold ours…
When we moved to Lincolnshire from Somerset we didn’t do any viewings until we had sold our house, we then booked a weekend up here with a list of 16 properties to see, thankfully we found our bungalow on the second day…in hindsight we should have stayed in Somerset then we wouldn’t be in this position now but hey ho, best laid plans and all that 
Mccarthy and Stone do bungalows
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They do but they are usually out of our price range 
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I understand your dilemma. Moving closer to family for support is important, especially as health concerns arise. I faced a similar situation when we decided to move closer to our children.
We found that selling our house quickly and efficiently was crucial. We used a company that specializes in making the process straightforward and stress-free. This really helped to make selling your house easy. They gave us a fair offer, handled all the paperwork, and we got the cash quickly, which was a huge relief.
Moving to a house instead of a bungalow might seem daunting, but many people live comfortably in houses with the right adaptations. Installing a stair lift and making other necessary changes can make a house just as accessible as a bungalow. It’s also great that you’re considering the needs of your springer spaniels; a private garden is definitely a big plus.
we also couldn’t have an apartment unless it was ground floor with a private garden