We built our house 10 years ago this year. We broke ground in March 2009 and moved in on Halloween Day. Construction followed about a year of planning – including finding the right lot and selecting a builder.
Building a house is no small project. You pay a definite premium for getting things ‘just the way you want’ and have to make thousands of decisions. That said, it’s a process that we really enjoyed and it’s the second house we built. I could have sold it immediately and started on another!
Everyone gives you advice when you are building and that’s fine. I like hearing about the choices people make about their homes and what they would do differently. Most commonly, people will share things that ‘you shouldn’t waste your money on’. That is, expensive things that they were not satisfied with or did not use very much.
Three things that pretty much everyone told us to ‘skip’ were an exercise room, a jetted tub in the bathroom, and a sun porches. They all sounded good to us and we invested in all three of them, even though they are are on this list of ‘Home Upgrades That Are A Waste of Money”.
Friends and experts both told us that these relatively expensive splurges end up unused in the average household. Indeed, when I was working, all three of these luxuries were seldom used by me. My wife and son enjoyed them enough, but I was much too busy to see the value.
Now, things are different. Like many couples, we have talked about downsizing our house, but I feel like now we are just starting to really enjoy it. It is great having extra room overall, and since the house has some of these nice luxury features, why not enjoy them?
After all, I like the convenience of working out at home and taking a warm soak afterwards or relaxing on our breezy sun porch in the summer. We don’t have a swimming pool, patio kitchen, or water view at our house, but I really feel like we ‘nailed it’ when it comes to building the right house for us.
I’m not sure if there is a downsized home in our near future or not, but I’m in no hurry to give up the home we built for this phase of our life. What options or improvements did you incorporate into your home that make it perfect for your retirement?
Image Credit: (c) MrFireStation.con
MrFireStation 
We similarly built about ten years ago. We built our dream home on a small lake on the East Coast, and just five short years later both our kids were off to college, and we were suddenly wondering why we built this huge house… But we love it. Like you, we are enjoying the extra space now that we are both home full time. And some day we will have space when grandkids enter the picture! We splurged on a great game room, home gym, and porches…lots of porches that take in the views. We were smart by keeping all the essential living spaces on the first floor, so we won’t have to use steps as much as we age. Who knows, by then…we may decide to downsize to Florida or some place with blue-er water! 🌴🐬
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Yes – sounds similar. We built a two story with a walkout lower level (wooded lot), but kept the master bedroom & laundry on the main level, too. Love the extra space – especially in the long, cold winter!
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