Ken and Lesley Downsize for Freedom in Retirement

For many people, retirement is an excellent opportunity to re-evaluate priorities and adjust their lifestyle to gain more freedom, flexibility, and enjoyment. Downsizing often plays a key role in this shift, helping homeowners shed the burden of a large home and instead spend more time on travel, leisure, and hobbies.

This was the case for Ken Wiggins, who, after over 31 years in his West Midlands family home, decided it was time to move on. “I bought my old property with my late wife over thirty years ago. We loved the local area, and it was close to all the amenities we needed,” said Ken. “We particularly liked the spacious kitchen and garden, which was perfect for our two sons to play in. Now that my children have grown up, my partner Lesley and I enjoy travelling in our motorhome, so having a large family property seemed like a waste. We also didn’t like the changes in our local area; too much traffic and just too busy, so it felt the time was right to sell up and start a new chapter for our retirement.”

Starting the move

While Ken and Lesley initially listed their home with a local estate agent, the process brought frustration. “We had around eight viewings, but no firm offers came through,” said Ken. “The agent didn’t encourage enough prospective buyers to come and view on the weekends. We thought this was strange, as that’s when most buyers want to visit when they are buying a property. I’d say the agent performed average at best; it was disappointing.” While waiting for a buyer, Ken and Lesley searched for their ideal location to start the next stage of their retirement. “We’d always loved the idea of downsizing to a quieter area, one that was a little more rural,” said Ken. “In our search, we found a lovely Park Bungalow community in Studley, Warwickshire, that ticked all the boxes for us.”

Finding the dream

Ken scheduled a viewing with the EKOS Homes team because a ready-to-move-in show home bungalow was available on site. "We fell in love as soon as we stepped inside; it was perfect,” said Ken. “We knew buying the bungalow would give us the freedom to fulfil our travel dreams and not worry about maintaining a large property.”

At this stage, the couple still hadn’t had any offers on their home. During the bungalow viewing, they discussed their circumstances with the EKOS team and discovered Spring’s part-exchange service, which offered them the ideal solution. “Spring would buy our home directly from us, and this was the reason we chose Spring, because we were struggling to get an offer on our house,” explained Ken. “We hadn’t heard of house buying companies like Spring before, but other homeowners should definitely explore a company like Spring, for part exchange, or simply selling their property to them. Most people are unaware of companies like SPRING and what they can do for home-sellers.”

Ken and Lesley found the ideal solution that allowed them to sell their current home and quickly secure their dream bungalow. “The process was straightforward to get started, the Spring offer was fair and presented well in a property valuation report that was clear and explained in layman's terms.”

Next steps

With their West Midlands home guaranteed to complete with Spring, Ken and Lesley could now focus on the move ahead. “Communication was first class from the Spring team throughout,” complimented Ken. “Everything was quick and easy. We saved on estate agency fees, and getting through the legals was made easy by Spring too.”

The couple also took advantage of Spring’s ‘License to Occupy’, which gave them extra flexibility in timing their move. “Having the license to occupy was imperative for us as the time to move was very tight,” said Ken. “We moved over a few days and then the rest the following week; everything was so much easier.”

Looking Ahead

Ken and Lesley are now gradually settling in and beginning to see the true potential of their new home and the life ahead. “We love the modern and bright bungalow, it was great value with a good spec,” explains Ken. “We have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a lovely L-shaped lounge, and we’ve even got space for two cars.”

‘We’ve still got things to sort, but we know we will get there soon. We are delighted that we made the move, which wasn’t just about downsizing; it was about gaining the freedom to travel and have more flexibility in our lives. Using Spring helped us achieve our goals. What stood out most for us was the speed and efficiency of the whole part-exchange process,” comments Ken. “While a traditional sale can take many months, our move was completed in around seven weeks from beginning to end; an amazing performance.”

Watch Ken and Lesley's video journey HERE

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