What Do We Do With The House?

For George and Eileen Watt of Whitehouse, Texas, there was never any question about what was going to happen when the last of their 11 children left home. They put their four-bedroom house on the market and looked for a smaller place in a nearby town.

"I've got brothers and sisters in the same situation--we're all downsizing," says 54-year-old Eileen, who professes not a shred of regret about leaving the old place behind. "You make a home where you're at," she says. They found a real estate agent and put the house on the market, though a buyer has not yet stepped forward.

All the children have been supportive of their decision to list the house, she said. (Those who are still living in apartments have been allowed to store their childhood mementos in the Texas place. But Eileen has a longstanding rule with the kids--once you get a house of your own, you have to cart all your stuff away.

A big priority for their new house--a smaller dwelling in the nearby town of Lynndale--was that it would have plenty of space for 62-year-old George to park his collection of old cars. Eileen says she can't wait to move. "I got used to noise when I was raising the kids and now I want to enjoy the peace and quiet."

Other Things to Think About

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