Should my parents move?

Here are some facts:
1. Both are in their late 60s
2. Live in a house (no mortgage)
3. Since they are older they get discounts on electricity, gas and real estate tax (I think they pay half of whats normal).

But since they are older they have issues maintaining the house such as shoveling the snow ....well I think thats the main maintenance thing that needs to be done since they have a guy who cuts the grass.

I suggested they move into a coop or condo and my dad said its not worth it.

He said that he will lose all his benefits - the discount on the electricity/gas/property tax. Plus he will go from a house with privacy to a small apartment (compared to a house) with people sharing walls with him.

Lets make up some numbers:
Even if they sell the house for $900,000.
They buy a coop for $500,000 that leaves 400k in the bank.
(we live in a 1 bedroom coop in the city, we pay about 1,400 a month in fees).
If they get something similar and pay lets say 20k a year.
In 20 years that 400k is gone.

What he says makes a lot of sense in terms of $$ but moving makes sense in terms of convience.

What do you all think?

Should my parents move?

If the snow removal is the only thing that is a problem - why not hire a service? my parents are in similar situation and they refuse to move. I fought it for a second but ya know what - they lived in that house for 30 years. Its their home. and I think the thought of putting up on the market and selling, buying something else... it was so overwhelming for them. They are comfortable their - mentally and financally so I finally just said "why push it"?

Message edited 1/16/2018 3:13:06 PM.

Should my parents move?

I don't think it is worth it to them unless they can't afford the utilities and taxes on the property. If the only maintenance issue is the snow then they can hire a service to take care of that for them.

Should my parents move?

What other two posters said. If they have a lawn company, 99% of them offer snow removal contracts also.

Re: Should my parents move?

Hire a snow removal service, find a good handyman for any small repairs that need to be done. I agree with your father.

A co-op doesn't have property tax, that is included in the maintenance and a portion of that is deductible on personal taxes, as is any mortgage interest that the co-op would pay. STAR rebates are available, and if they are old enough, Enhanced STAR.
Electricity and gas are sometimes included in monthly maintenance.
But, co-ops are not for profit, meaning that unexpected expenses can hurt finances, and that costs would be distributed among the shareholders in the form of an assessment, or even a maintenance increase.

DH and I are seriously thinking of giving up our co-op and buying a house. I am sick of shared walls, of not being able to do what I want, when I want in fear of making too much noise.
I want a yard again, and a bbq grill.
I am on the board, so I know a whole lot of what goes on, and frankly, I'm fed up with all the ******** that goes on.

Should my parents move?

my parents are going through this now. my mom is 63 and dad is 65...he has a bad heart, hip and back. yet hes so stubborn and will still shovel and do things he shouldn't. my mom wanted to move to a condo and downsize and get rid of responsibility. my dad is also a hoarder and had a hard time coming to terms that he won't have a basement or garage to hoard his stuff. my mom ended up winning...they are closing next week on a condo. it's a duplex with a small backyard and an attic. i think it will be good for them...especially my dad. he has no friends so hopefully he will join some clubs and meet people.

Should my parents move?

i don't think they should move. They can easily hire someone to shovel for them, and if they have a bedroom on the first floor, they really don't need to move. A coop/condo will cost them alot in maintenance fees and things that probably will amount to more than what they pay on their house right now

Should my parents move?

It doesn't sound like they want to move. It sounds like they need some help. Get snow removal, go over there and stay on top of some of the maintenance issues, pushing them to get a handyman in when needed.

Essentially you can get the "maintenance free" part of the condo pretty easily, all it takes is money and a little coordination.

Re: Should my parents move?

He doesn't want to move, so they shouldn't move.

Hire someone to shovel the snow a few times a year.

Re: Should my parents move?

They should hire a snow service. My parents hired a plow service.

Re: Should my parents move?

Should my parents move?

My parents are pushing their 80's and still own their own home. My mother in law is almost 70 and in her home. Both situations are mortgage free. They both have people that help things (repairs, snow removal etc). It doesnt sound like your parents want to move so I would leave it alone. They are still fairly young so maybe in like 5-10 years they would be ready for the change.

Re: Should my parents move?

I grew up in a co-op and have my own house now. No way in hell would I ever go back to a co-op. I hated hearing my upstairs neighbors. They also used to cook weird things and my sister and I would come home and be gagging. She used to say it’s coming through the vents.

My parents couldn’t afford a house (my mom was a SAH mom and my dad was a firefighter). We lived in a teeny tiny apartment (my bed was the couch in the living room-it was a sofa bed). When my sister was born, after a year they bought a 3 bedroom co-op. I was so happy to have my own room. My mom grew up in a house and always wanted a house. She would’ve never ever chosen the co-op if they could have afforded the house.

Plus the co-op did not allow dogs (so we only had cats). My sister always wanted a dog growing up. First thing she did when she moved out was adopt a dog.

Should my parents move?

Thanks for all the replies.

They live in Bayside in a ranch house so the lot is: 50x100, driveway fits 1 car on it only - so not a lot of property.

When we had that big storm a few weeks ago I went to their house the previous night so I could shovel.

When I was shoveling that night, I cleaned off the car and did the front walk way, the only part that was left was the sidewalk in front of the house (which is about 30 feet).
2 guys driving by offered to do it for $80!! I just laughed.

My parents do have a gardener (typical ones that do the work in the Bayside/Little Neck/Douglaston area) - but my dad called him to see if he would shovel - he didnt pick up! lol

I want to get them a snow blower, but theres no place to put it. Those of you familiar with the Bayside ranch houses will understand, the garage BARELY fits 1 car. The driveway only fits 1 car and thats it.

So theres no place to put the snow blower.

Re: Should my parents move?

Should my parents move?

IF you live near Bayside, you might know this...

WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO EAST HAMPTON BLVD!!!

It used to be such a good street, wide open and easy to drive (and yes people tend to speed on it since its so easy to drive) - but now its horrible!!!

Its very narrow and dangerous (in my opinion) to drive. When you're going north on it you'll see a bunch of cars in the middle of the street (since thats a valid parking spot now) - what the heck!

Plus the Cloverdale and Northern (where Burger King is) - again the street is narrower than it was. You used to be able to fit 2 lanes going towards Northern at the light. But now with the new parking lane you can only fit 1 car.

Horrible!
Are there even that many bikers?

Re: Should my parents move?

Should my parents move?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the bike lane/new street layout is horrible.

Speaking of Northern/Cross Island...have they changed the right turn?
It used to be that going East bound on Northern - to get on the Cross Island going towards the Throgs Neck bridge - it used to be very very tough to make the left turn onto the highway.

Because they allowed the people going West to turn on Red.
So basically West bound can always enter the highway, but going East bound you can only enter on the green turn signal - but when you have the green turn signal you still have to stop because a lot of people were turning right on red - wtf!

That was stupid...since the west bound people can turn onto the highway when the light is green, so no need to have right on red.
During busy times only 1 or 2 cars were able to enter the highway since the cars doing right on red weren't even stopping lol

Message edited 1/23/2018 2:08:57 PM.