Quote:
Originally Posted by angel222
I'm considering downsizing from my 3 bedroom designer home to a 2 bedroom courtyard villa or perhaps even a patio villa. Does anyone have any experience doing this? Wondering if this is an easy transition -- where to store furniture after selling one house until you find the next seems really hard, fitting into a already existing neighborhood seems difficult according to some posts here, and paying two closing costs are just a few of the questions going through my mind. Comments by anyone who has anything to share on this would be really appreciated. I'm sure there's alot of things I haven't even thought of yet. I've been told the square footage difference is difficult to get used to also but the costs would be easier on my budget....
Thanks for any comments you can share....
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Four things:
Keep in mind that most of the closing costs are paid by the seller, so you would not be paying full closing costs on both what you sell and what you buy.
If you go with a CYV, you can
really bring down your maintenance costs by eliminating all the grass (if the previous owner has not already done this). No mowing, no feeding, no debugging, no watering of the former grass areas, no replacing areas of sod as the creatures inevitably manage to break through and chew some up.
CYVs have more of a turnover than other home styles, so there would be less of an issue of an established neighborhood with established friends.
Property taxes and bonds tend to be lower on CYVs; even though more of the land is usable within a courtyard, as opposed to a lawn that runs into the lawns of your neighbors, the properties tend to be smaller, and consequently the bonds as well.
Whatever you decide, good luck to you.