Move-Down Graciously

I was talking to a colleague yesterday about a household planning to move-down while kids were still in public schools, and today's New York Times had a story about exactly that--a family with two tween boys moved from their 3,000 sf home into a spacious mid-century comprised of only 1,300 sf.  Yes, the new house has many built-ins freeing up floor space and sight lines.  But fundamentally they realized that they "lived" in the kitchen and family room of their old house, and really needed half of the square footage of the old house.  (Dad points out that they had a five-bedroom house:  One bedroom was a playroom, one a home office, and the formal living room?  "[T]hat was where the dog lay on the couch, that was his room.”)

They sold the old house, bought a mid-century around the corner for half the price, then put a not-trivial $300,000 into the new house.  Maybe $100,000 went into the bank for college, but dad points out that the savings in cleaning time (they do their own), taxes, and utilities are sizable.  

So move-down moves are not just for boomers!