Saturday, April 8, 2023 / by Lead Revenue Revenue
Downsizing Your Home: Everything You Should Know
While downsizing your home can be a time-consuming process, understanding how to downsize the right way can keep the process from feeling overwhelming!
If you’re considering downsizing your home, you aren’t alone. Many people are opting to downsize whether it’s because they’re moving to a new city, have children who moved out, are going through a breakup or divorce, are aging, or just want to simplify their lifestyle. While it’s a significant decision, downsizing can be an excellent way to make your life easier- and it doesn’t have to be stressful. Here’s a simple guide to help make this big transition a lot more smooth and stress-free. Keep reading to learn more about downsizing your home!
Key Takeaways:
Downsizing is an excellent opportunity if you’re looking to save money and enjoy equity freed up from your home sale.
Moving to a smaller house should be done wisely- you need to accurately determine your current home’s value by enlisting a local real estate agent.
You also need to be clear-eyed about the costs (including closing costs) of real estate in the neighborhood to which you’re moving.
What’s Downsizing?
Downsizing entails moving to a smaller house than the one you currently live in. That’s usually a decision made by people struggling to deal with the upkeep of their homes, have an empty nest, or are finding related costs of living in a large house challenging to deal with. Moreover, you might just be eager for change, want to simplify your life, move closer to your loved ones, or start a new phase of life.
What are the Advantages of Downsizing Your Home
While some homeowners want to upsize through their homebuying journey, downsizing your home has numerous advantages, including:
Lower Your Utility Bill
Less square footage lowers the amount of energy you expend. For instance, it’ll cost less to heat or cool a smaller house and there’s no wasted space, such as vaulted ceilings, in smaller homes. That’s not only good for your pockets, but also for the environment since it helps keep your home green.
Reduced Consumption
Typically, if there’s no space to put it, you’re much less likely to buy it. As such, you’ll acquire less furniture, clothing, and consumer goods if you’re living in a smaller home.
Increase Cash Flow
If you’re spending less on your mortgage payments and utility bills, you’re likely to have more money left over each month to allocate for other needs and wants. On the other hand, you might pay cash for a smaller home from the proceeds of your existing home, meaning you’ll avoid monthly mortgage repayments altogether.
More Time
A smaller home can lower the time you spend on household tasks, leaving more hours to do something else. In fact, when asked about their primary reasons for downsizing, 36% of baby boomers, 19% of millennials, and 18% of Gen Xers said it’s because their previous homes were too challenging to maintain.
Minimized Stress
A smaller workload, increased cash flow, less responsibility, and greater flexibility can all lower stress. Generally, people who’ve successfully downsized are no longer overwhelmed by the demands of a larger home.
5 Tips for Downsizing Your Home
Downsizing is an excellent idea- you make walk away with money as well as simplify your life and lower your home maintenance and utility costs for years to come. But to achieve that, you’ll need to steer clear of unexpected pitfalls that often make downsizing so dicey. To help you kickstart your downsizing journey, here are a few simple and effective tips:
Assess Your New Place Space
Downsizing means less space, and hence you might need visual evidence of what it’ll look like. You may want to take a look at the layout of the new house. That way, you can find out how many pieces of furniture can fit into the rooms.
Take Inventory of Your Belongings
Over the years, you’ve accumulated numerous possessions. When downsizing, you won’t have much space for them. Hence, you should take inventory of your belongings before you start packing. And as you sort things out, it’s vital to separate aspirational possessions from the ones you actually require.
Declutter
With all your accumulated possessions, moving to a smaller house inevitably means decluttering. When decluttering, if you come across something you haven’t used in the last year, you should get rid of it. Moreover, if you didn’t even know you still had that item, it’s definitely time to let it go.
Estimate Your Current Home’s Worth Correctly
It’s easy to imagine that your home will fetch a high price. Your home has a sentimental value or perhaps your neighbor sold theirs for an enormous amount (or so they said). But it’s crucial to note that home features may be different and the housing market may have changed. The ideal way to estimate your home’s value correctly is to work with a skilled real estate agent, an agent has the expertise and skills to price your home accurately and can also guide you on the inexpensive things you can do to enhance your home value.
Consider the Closing Costs
It could be years since you bought a home, and you may have forgotten all the closing costs you had to pay at that time. These costs could’ve included recording fees, legal fees, title insurance, and other miscellaneous charges. The good news is that you can work with your real estate agent to lower these costs. Your agent can negotiate on your behalf ensuring your closing costs are kept to a minimum.
Need Help Selling Your Home? Call Us!
Downsizing your home is an excellent idea to free up some additional cash and lower the cost and stress of maintaining a large home. It can also simplify your life and lower your home maintenance and utility costs for years to come.
To learn more about downsizing your home, you should consult our skilled real estate agents. We have the expertise to help you sell your current home and buy a new, smaller home to meet your downsizing needs. Call us today!