Well the bungalow turned out not to be our forever home much as we love it. But having spinal stenosis restricts how much help I can do in and around the house, especially the garden. And the garden was also hard for Pam to maintain.
We realised that the time had finally come to make the move towards independent living within an over 55 retirement complex. And fortunately there is a lovely one near us (and nearer to Joy as well as being close to a bus route). So we made enquiries at the start of the year and were very impressed with what we saw – but, and it was quite a big but, we had to have a sale in process on our bungalow before we could start a purchase process in the complex.
Late January we put our bungalow on the market – probably not the best time of year to attempt to sell a house. We had several viewings (including one waste of space who if they had paid attention to the listing details, would have recognised that we didn’t have space for three cars!). Late March we were getting concerned that we wouldn’t be able to sell in any reasonable timeframe and would miss out on opportunities in the Retirement Complex which arise few and far between (almost literally dead men’s shoes!).
So we went off on our Sky Princess cruise from Southampton in late March. Didn’t enjoy the cruise very much and felt we’d be coming home still no further forward. But toward the end of the cruise, our estate agent (realtor to North American friends) advised us of a viewing on the morning we would disembark and drive home – in theory arriving just as the viewing would be in process – so we slowed down our return home – lazy coffee stop en route.
The feedback was positive – and then that afternoon we were advised that the couple who had seen the bungalow that morning wanted to come back for a second viewing the following day – of course, we obliged – and by close of play that day (31st March) we had agreed a sale. YAY!
But now the waiting for somewhere in the Retirement Village to become available – tense moments for us because we knew we needed to not lose the buyer due to extended timeframes. We let the Retirement Village know we had a sale in process. They told us we would be number two on the waiting list, but number one was being shown a property so we might jump up to top of the list. Tense time for us still as we kept fingers crossed that something would become available.
Late April as we were driving home from a morning out, we got the call that we could view an apartment and a bungalow on the complex, but it would be a couple of weeks before they could show us round – however if we decided on one then the purchase process could start.
Well, actually we viewed yesterday (5th May) and even though we had seen a couple of apartments before, we were actually “wowed” when we walked into the apartment – the bungalow was lovely, but the apartment exceeded our expectations – its on the corner of the building so the lounge has dual aspect full length sliding windows making it very light and airy. Its a two bedroom apartment and bedroom one has fitted wardrobe. The kitchen has fridge / freezer, dishwasher and washing machine. We loved it!
And yes, that means we have agreed to purchase and the process now begins. It is a significant downsize and we will lose furniture especially – but we are being very pragmatic about it and know that we are absolutely doing the right thing and will still maintain a great quality of life in what surely now becomes our forever home.
I have already put quite a lot of furniture for sale on local facebook groups and we will hope that moves quickly. Meanwhile, we now wait to see how long the purchase process will take.
Another step in the Paterson journey through life!
Cheers
A.
Our Vintage Years - Venting and Voyaging 
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