The bar-tailed godwit, on her epic annual migration, leaves her nest every spring. After over 7,500 miles on the wing, she needs to find a place to land. Any decent, dry nest will do the job admirably the first night, she is exhausted. But soon enough, she will want to feather her nest ‘just so’ once she figures out the lay of the land, the wifi situation, local hangouts, and currency exchange rate.
Listen, I am not really talking about birds here, people. I am talking about you!
If the title of this article has gotten you this far in, you may relate to our situation. An empty nest in the near future is becoming a reality for my husband and me. We have given our kids roots, and wings, they are nearly up and out. We are ready for a new season of adventures to begin. Are you? Have you asked yourself some of these questions: ‘Is our house too big for just the two of us?’, ‘Do I need all this space to myself?’, ‘Do we really want to leave our neighborhood.’
For us, and anyone wrestling with these questions, there is good news. Homeowners can take advantage of a new form of micro-development designed for freedom, and roots. You could call it the ’empty nest flip’.
I can tell you about it, because we did it, and we are so glad we did. We first set down roots in our 927 square foot depression-era home, in the most affordable part of our zip code, just the two of us. As the family grew from two to five (plus dogs), the house expanded, into a bigger nest, now 2,200 square feet, where our family grew up together. By some twist of real estate fate, the zip code no longer has an affordable part. In southern California, none of the zip codes seem to have an affordable part anymore. This dynamic of equity-blessed godwits like us, and their empty nests has some benefits.
Selling, downsizing, or moving out of expensive zip codes are tempting options, of course. But for those, like us, who like their roots right where they are, one great way to do this is to design a ‘stream unit’ within the walls of the existing house. We designed an independent guest suite on the ground floor of our existing home. This well appointed, one bedroom apartment is all ours, and just what we need when we are in town . The rest of the home, the formerly ’empty nest’, is now rentable, and very lucrative. By making the ‘stream unit’ our home, we have flipped from an empty nest to a tidy pied-a-terre in the neighborhood and community that we love. Since our house is now two homes, we always have the freedom to live in either one. We have been delighted to discover that our nimble new ‘stream unit’, though modest, has everything we could want for an abundant life.
Our young adult kids live in 3 different states, so we know that travel will always be part of our life. The way we have adapted our home, and the resulting passive income stream, have made this season of adventure all the more fun! The best part, is to know that no matter where we go, or how long we stay, once we find our way home, our nest is just the right size and feathered just the way we like it.
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