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When it comes to picking out a home, most of us tend to think bigger is better. After all, you have more space to spread out, more rooms to devote to the things you love, and more social prestige. But do you do when all that space starts to feel more like a burden than a blessing?
In some cases, downsizing your home or moving into a smaller home may be the right decision for you. Read on to discover the signs that it may be time to downsize your home and find a place that meets your current needs.
1. You’re Approaching Retirement
One of the best reasons to downsize your home is that you’re approaching retirement. While retirement is a wonderful time, it does represent a decline in income for most people. You want to make sure you have enough money to last you through the rest of your life and cover your final expenses.
If you downsize your home it can be a great way to keep your home expenses manageable during retirement. Even if you’ve paid your house off, you’ll still have to pay for insurance, taxes, maintenance, and utilities. Take a look at your retirement savings and any income you’ll have from pensions or Social Security to determine if your current house will fit in your new budget.
2. Maintenance Is Overwhelming
Maintaining any home is a demanding task, and in some cases, trying to keep your home in good shape can become overwhelming. Your job situation may have changed, or your house may have more problems than you knew about when you bought it. You may also find that, as you get older, routine tasks like mowing the lawn or cleaning the floors can be overwhelming.
If you downsize your home it can make your home more enjoyable to live in and easier to maintain. Less space also means less to clean and fewer repairs to make. And by moving into a smaller house, you may be able to afford something newer or in better shape, which can reduce the burden of home maintenance on you.
3. You Have Unused Rooms
When you think about where you spend your time each day, which rooms do you use the most? You likely spend a large portion of your time in your kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. But how much time do you really spend in your guest room, your sunroom, or your bonus room?
You may find that, the longer you live in your home, the more your routines shift away from certain rooms. If you have rooms you rarely or never use, it may be a sign that it’s time to downsize. There’s no point in maintaining space that you don’t use, especially if your monthly budget is already somewhat tight.
4. Your Medical Status Is Changing
Injuries, illnesses, or chronic medical conditions can have a huge impact on every aspect of your life. And while some conditions or injuries will pass with time, others demand a permanent change in our lifestyles. If your medical status has changed or is going to change in the future, it might be a sign that you need to downsize.
If you are no longer able to climb stairs, it might be better to move to a different house than to try to adapt your current house to your disability. Likewise, you might not be able to keep up with routine cleaning tasks at your current home. If your home no longer works with your health needs, it might be time to find one that will.
5. You Can Turn a Healthy Profit
Of course, not being able to keep up with your current home isn’t the only reason to downsize. This last summer, we saw a housing frenzy unlike any in recent memory. Homes were selling in hours, not days, and for tens of thousands of dollars over asking price as first-time homebuyers and investors alike jumped at low interest rates.
Depending on where your home is located, the current market might offer you an unprecedented opportunity to turn a profit. Selling your home while the market is hot can earn you a lot of money. Downsizing your home could help you get a very affordable mortgage (or no mortgage at all), allowing you to spend your money in other areas.
6. You Want to Be Closer to Family
In some cases, your decision to move to a smaller house may have less to do with where you are now and more with where you want to be.
Since the start of the pandemic, many of us have realized that it’s more important for us to be closer to family. But depending on where your family lives, housing there may be more expensive than in your current location.
If your family lives in a more expensive area, downsizing to a smaller house may allow you to move there and still stay within your budget. If you’re moving to be closer to your children or grandchildren, this can also be a good opportunity to move into a smaller, more manageable home.
You may even consider getting a condo, where you don’t have to worry about lawn maintenance or other such challenges.
Are You Ready to Downsize Your Home?
The decision to downsize your home can seem somewhat scary, especially if you’ve been in your current home for a long time. But in some cases, your finances may improve if you move into a smaller home.
You may also find that you don’t need all the space that you have or that you can’t maintain it as well anymore.
If you are ready to downsize your home, check out the rest of our site at Dean Miller Real Estate.
Our agents live and breathe the local real estate market, and we make Long Island real estate easy. Start the process of selling a home and start achieving your homeownership goals the easy way today.
