Our house - Should we stay or should we go?

In My Humble Opinion
1

We live in what is, in some ways, my dream house. It’s a 2 story brick house built in 1874. In other words, it’s 152 years old, about a 100 years older than I will be in June. It’s beautiful with a ‘grand staircase’, 10 ft ceilings, a kitchen and back house area that was clearly built as the servant’s quarters. It even has a slope up (first floor) and a step up (second floor) to get to the rest of the house. Also, there’s a very steep set of servant’s stairs in the back of the house going into the kitchen.
The first floor has a living room, dining room, (formerly a) library which is now a bedroom, a small bathroom, and the kitchen. There is also a sleeping porch which was converted into the laundry room directly off the kitchen.

Upstairs there’s the master bedroom, a small sitting area outside of it which is is in front of a window. There’s effectively one bedroom with stairs leading to the full size attic in the room. There’s a large common area between the two bedrooms. Then in the back of the house is the bathroom with a claw foot tub. There’s a closet that was built in at some point. There’s also a room that is currently used as storage but could be a small bedroom.

About 8 years ago we replaced the slate roof with a metal one. Overall, what’s not to love, right?

Well. First of all, the 20+ windows in the house are all original except for 1 or 2. The brick has started to deteriorate a little bit, but would probably be ok if it was just painted. However, the corbels have been removed and the wood around the roof definitely needs some work. Also, there are some holes in the foundation which would allow rodents in and some water.

We’ve gotten estimates for some repairs. All new windows would be $60,000. Waterproofing the basement which currently has mostly dirt floors would be $30,000.

But, the other issue is that I need one knee replaced and most likely will need the other replaced as well. The catch is that I need to lose a certain amount of weight before the doctor will do the surgery. I’m about 2/3 of the way there. In the meantime, we’ve added a twin size bed under the stairs and if I’m hurting too much, I sleep on the first floor. I forgot to add that a local program was kind enough to build us a ramp for free to get into the house. So we’ve got that going for us.

So, the question is, do we keep this house and spend at least some money to keep it safe and sound or do we go out and try to find a newer house that only has one floor?

We all love it here, but then again, we’d all like the ease of living on one floor if possible. We’d also like to have a house that had more than two storage closets.

I guess I’m looking for opinions on what you would do, what I should do, and what I haven’t considered before making a decision this big. Thanks.

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We had a recent thread which you might find useful:

3

I cannot say what you should do as regards this.

You should know president Trump just enacted an Executive Order to stop Wall Street (read investors) from buying property.

We are not here to debate whether that is good or bad but it will almost certainly depress prices pretty fast. Kinda the point. This may be important when making your decision.

4

I suspect that you’re going to want to access your whole house as you get older which means a single floor. It’s just practical.

5

My parents lived for over 40 years in a terraced house in London (England) with two floors. They liked the area (suburban) and got on with their neighbours.
However my Dad got several health issues in his seventies - in particular he really struggled climbing stairs.
My sister and I offered to find them a bungalow (which would be closer to both of us.)

It took them a month to decide, but they did sell and move.
They were very happy in their new home for the rest of their lives.

6

I empathize with @Sticks_and_Scones . Our house isn’t as old (98 years), and while we’ve replaced about half of the windows, the other half need to be done, as well as several other “deferred maintenance” issues.

The big issue for us, we’ve realized, is that we, too, have a house full of stairs. It’s a Chicago-style bungalow, which means that the “ground floor” is a half-flight up from street level. Our bedroom and the main bathroom are up on the second floor, and the laundry equipment is in the basement. We’ve been in this house for 30 years, and we love it, but we’ve been watching our elderly parents dealing with stairs in recent years (my parents, and my wife’s mother, both live in two-story houses); my wife’s knees and ankles are not in good shape any more, and stairs are increasingly difficult for her.

So, last year, we decided that we need to make the move into a single-level house – not immediately, but sooner rather than later. We want to make sure that we can make the move before it becomes a necessity.

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In our young 50s we moved from a 2-story into a split level. Shortly after, I shattered my ankle. I had never appreciated the benefit of having bed/bath/kitchen all on one level. Stair mobility is one thing most of us will face eventually. You more likely than some due to your weight and knee issues.

I suggest you do a careful analysis of costs of repair vs expected sales proceeds. If you will not likely get back the repair costs, or if the stopgap measures will allow further deterioration, I’d seriously consider making the move now. Appreciate the time you had in your wonderful house, and pass it on to someone else to write the next chapter.

8

Yes, I’ve been thinking about this exactly. I’m fb friends with our real estate agent. Maybe she can help me and/or direct me in the right direction.

9

My house is much newer (15 years ago old) and was designed for raising a family. When we drew up the plans we made it so we could possibly live there in our old age when we may have mobility issues. Worst case scenario, the 1/2 bath on the main floor we could add a shower and the formal dining room could be turned into a bedroom.

But, what about the basement and the 2nd story? Get the staircase “chair lifts”? As time goes on we are leaning towards instead of remodeling it, leaving it as a family house and downsizing to a single story “zero entry” house designed with accessibly in mind.

As much as you like your current house I would plan for the future and get something that fits your future needs.

10

I thought this thread was gonna be Crosby, Stills and Nash versus The Clash.

11

My mom and stepdad (87/92) are managing in their two story house surprisingly well. They have a big room downstairs with an attached bathroom and that can be made into the new bedroom. That’s an option if it’s possible.

12

Aside from all of the comments about mobility issues - which are vitally important - you need to accept that staying in this home means that you are feeding a money pit. And their appetites are ferocious! You’ve identified some of the issues - there are many more yet to be discovered.

13

We’ve discussed that, but we’d have to win a lottery first. And if we got that kind of money, we’d probably just repair the current two-storey house and add an elevator.