You’ll know when it’s time to downsize your property. You’ll have reached the point where the yard work is too much effort, or you’re an empty nester with rooms that are filled now with nothing but memories, or the taxes and upkeep of your old property keep increasing with each rise in assessment. When you’re at that point a smaller, easier to maintain, more affordable home can become the best option.
A typical example of downsizing would be someone who owns a detached residence and then decides to purchase and move into a townhome, patio home or condominium. This decision is often taken by retirees who enjoy travel. In a 55+ community for example residents can travel without concern for their property, as caretakers will mow the lawn and look after their home in their absence.
In reality there are many advantages to downsizing, aside from smaller tax bills. For one if you’ve sold your old home you’ll no doubt have a significant sum that could be used to purchase a smaller property, and still leave you a comfortable nest egg for future needs. If you’ve chosen not to purchase a new property outright downsizing will certainly allow you to significantly reduce your present mortgage payments.
Having that nest egg will also allow you to do things you might have been hesitant to attempt before, such as travel (as mentioned above) buying that car your always wanted, or to invest in that business idea you’ve never had the capital to do before. By freeing up the equity you’ve built in your old home over the years you may find yourself in a position to turn into realty dreams that until now had only existed as remote fantasies.
No matter how you look at it a smaller home will automatically require less of your time. There will be less or perhaps no yard work. Spending fewer hours in the garden or mowing the lawn provides you with more time for your personal leisure time pursuits.
Those are some of the positives of downsizing, as in everything else, the move to smaller quarters can bring with it some negatives as well. When moving from your home you have to think about your possessions. In all likelihood not everything that you now use and cherish will fit in your new home. When you downsize, don’t go too small.
Here’s a little exercise that can help you in deciding what the right size is for your future home. It’s recommended that you take an inventory of the rooms in your current home that you’re presently not using. Then add up the square footage of these unused rooms, subtract that square footage from the square footage of your current house and the result will be the right size for your next home.
Downsizing is an important consideration and isn’t for everybody. But for many people, the freedom and financial gain to be had from shifting to a smaller residence more than outweighs any negative elements. If you think you’d like to learn more about this or any other real estate related issue contact your Realty Executives REALTOR® and begin the conversation.
