Even in a sluggish economy and iffy housing market, there is one group that is still moving forward and making plans: the downsizers. They are an army of retirees who continue to put houses up for sale, in order to get on with their lives.

According to Forbes Magazine, in a survey conducted last year for Metlife, Mature Market Institute, 11% of those ages 55-64 said they planned to buy a different home within the next three years and 6% had definite plans to buy sometime after that.

Sue and Don Jordan are among the growing number of downsizers. They recently sold their large old home in East Brainerd opting for a much smaller and more manageable townhome at Stonewall Farms, a Bell Development community. The Jordans not only wanted a smaller house and yard, with very little maintenance, they wanted to build their own townhome.

Don said, "We had looked at townhomes and condos all over town. We happened to go by Stonewall Farms and felt real comfortable with the area. When we got with Jay Bell. He was fixing to start building more townhomes, and so we were able to get the exact lot we wanted."

The Jordans selected the "Ansley" floor plan with three bedrooms and two baths and a number of specific changes. "We have been married 57 years," said Don, "we have built six houses, and this one has been by far the easiest."

"That's exactly what we want to hear," said Jay Bell, operations and sales manager for Bell Development, "that tells me we are doing our job to help make the custom home building experience one that is simple and satisfying."

"It's been stress free," said Don, "when we needed something done, all we had to do was call Chuck Kaye, our field supervisor, and it was done, and we didn't have to worry about it."

With the popular Ansley floorplan, the Jordans chose to change the entrance to their master bedroom, add a larger shower and lose one lavatory. They also made some changes in the kitchen and opted for the screened porch. "We sat down with Jay to start with, we customized a lot of things and all of those things were done, sometimes people forget things and all, but in this case, they were all done. We couldn't be more pleased with the progress and with every one's cooperation," said Don.

"We are very pleased with the entire process, the help from the suppliers, the foremen, all the wonderful subcontractors, all are very easy to work with," added Sue Jordan.

It was some of the Bell suppliers that helped with the final details in the Jordan kitchen plan. "We were fortunate, we got with the cabinet maker, and he had a new cherry wood cabinet, he had never furnished before, we got the first one and they had some special granite, that was thicker and we got that as well," said Don.

The Jordans said they also have been impressed with the actual craftsmanship.

The Jordans are now in the final stages of finishing up their new Stonewall Farms townhome. They will be just a few miles down from their grandson.

For more information on Stonewall Farms Townhomes and other Bell Development communities, you can visit their website at www.belldevelopment.net or call Jay Bell at 423 760-1088.