To downsize, or not to downsize?

Just because you worked hard to purchase your present home , don't you think that everybody who brought a house years ago also worked hard , so your not alone . I purchased a new 4 bedroom house in Sydney in 1973 , I did not have a choice I had to purchase where they were building , it was Seven Hills at that time it was right out of town , in 1999 I downsized to a small three bedroom house , but I would not think twice , of downsizing again to a two bedroom house . I am 78 and live on my own , all my children have their own homes , and they are presently buying houses for their children . because they can see if they don't , their children wont be able to afford to buy houses when they need them . It's a matter of getting your priorities right , most people don't . they sit on their backsides complaining all the time . 

What a lot of rubbish, there are houses for sale every day in Sydney, the auctions are open to everyone, you pay you get, if you don't have the $2m plus just wait like everyone else 

As Susan commented, sick of being blamed for woes. We are generation who saved, had hand-me-down clothes and furniture, repaired rather than bought new TV's etc, turned off lights before it became fashionable, drank water from a tap not a bottle, took lunch and a flask to work & saved paper bags to put it in, re-used wool from hand-knitted jumpers, re-soled our shoes, saved buttons and screws, turned sheets sides to middle, turned shirt collars, stored leftover wood/fabric for future projects, grew vegetables, saved jam-jars to make jam & chutney and went to the phone box to make calls. If anything left out, feel free to add. Seems hard to blame such a frugal generation doesn't it when they are probably still doing all of the above and need places to store such things-? 

Why can;t the state government reduce their % ie take on sale of property rather than penalise everyone.They would just be like councils and want more and more money for less benefits.as each year goes on if they put a tax on all home owners 

I worked hard for what I have. I will not be leaving my modest little home in the Blue Mountains. When we paying a mortgage it was 17 - 18%. The trouble with the next generation they want it all NOW. They are not prepared to do without luxuries to get things . We never had household items on time payment/loans etc . We saved and paid in cash. The government has got away with too much for too long. Why are we selling to the Chinese? All we will get in return are the shoddy goods that Kmart etc sell. We are selling our future food security for the present not the future . Change of PM is nothing new just the same old, same old.. Start by curbing the greedy developers who will buy our homes to put more shoe boxes on them. Tell these selfish young people to take their kids to the parks. That's what they do in UK and Europe! I have done my time living in pokey little flats. I paid for it and it's MINE. Lesley 

Simple Solution give the over 50's some incentive - The government can pay for child care etc,etc but aged pensioners are expected to pay real estate agents and stamp duty - Why give money away when you are perfectly happy living in your home with amenities nearby 

First the government takes the part pension now we are hogging all the backyards. Do what we did and buy what you can afford where you can and work your way up. We are not going anywhere!, 

When I was a child in Austria, one of my uncles took over my grandmother's house when she was in her mid-70s, my grandmother retained the right to live in the house until her death and he had to pay his siblings their share of the value of the property. He then extensively renovated and added a second storey to the house, with my grandmother living on the ground-floor and my uncle and his family on the upper floor. Years later, the house was torn down to give way for a road and my uncle built a huge new house with him and his wife occupying the ground floor and my cousin and her family the upper floor. Another cousin and her husband extended the parental home and moved into the upper floor of the home as her parents aged and needed round the clock care. This is how it is commonly done in Europe, where you find many inter-generational families sharing a house, but still retaining their private space as houses are divided into two independent accommodation. 

If the family home was included in assets test for pension lots of oldies would move to a smaller cheaper house. If they want to stay in their mansions and claim the pension , the money supporting them should be taken back from their estate before it is given to their children. 

I thought the government wantes the elderly to stay in their home because there is not enough aged care facilities to cope. Maybe if we sell our homes,we can downsize and live with a politician.Seriously,will the government pay all our costs to downsize and not touch our pensions.