4 Questions to Ask Yourself if You Want to Downsize
You don’t always realize you’ve started down the downsizing path until your child calls and asks to take their bed with them as they move into their new apartment. That’s when reality hits some homeowners; realizing they don’t need that bed, or that extra room with no bed in it. For experienced homeowners, the idea of downsizing can be a positive change or a negative one, and ultimately depends on each person and their lifestyle. For some millennials interested in living a minimalistic lifestyle, buying a home could be a great downsizing option while helping them get out of renting and instead spending on something that will truly be theirs. So before you embark on your downsizing journey, here’s how you can tell if it’s truly the right choice to make:
Is bigger really better for you?
It’s been practically ingrained in our minds that the bigger the house, the better it is. But does size really matter to you? For some homeowners, a home, because it’s the largest investment most make, represents a certain status to friends and family. Having a big house is often seen as a sign of success, therefore, to those homeowners, bigger is better. But if you’re a homeowner that doesn’t focus on status, then there’s no real reason to be against a smaller home. The bigger the house, the more work you have to put into it for the upkeep. That’s more time spent on cleaning, and if it’s overwhelming then sometimes it’s necessary to hire someone to clean it for you, which is an extra cost to consider.
Are you looking to live a simpler life?
Sometimes it’s a matter of all the stuff we own that gets us urging for decluttering and living in smaller spaces, preventing us from owning too much. A minimalistic lifestyle has been growing in popularity for both millennials and experienced homeowners. So if you’ve grown tired of high-maintenance living habits, then downsizing to a smaller home is a great option, especially because it tends to require less housework. Imagine going from vacuuming a 2-story, 4-bedroom house to a 1-story, 2-bedroom house, or better yet, a condo. That’s like cutting a third of the housework out. To get started on your journey to a more minimalistic lifestyle, these decluttering tips are great to begin with:
The 4 Box Method
Pick a room to start in and list all rooms in order of what you plan to tackle
Bring 4 boxes to each room (trash, give away, keep, and relocate)
Go through every item that would be placed in 1 of the 4 boxes
Move on to furniture next
Repeat with each room The 12-12-12 Challenge
Pick one room at a time
Find 12 items to keep
Find 12 items to throw away
Find 12 items to move to a more proper location (ex: book in the bedroom moved to bookshelf in home office)
Once finished, move to the next room
Still looks cluttered? Go back and do a 5-5-5 challenge
Repeat each week, and don’t buy anything new unless absolutely necessary or replaces a previous item The closet hanger method
Hang all your clothes reversed in your closet
When you wear something, hang it non-reversed
Do this for 6 months
After 6 months, check to see which items are still hanging reversed
Throw away or donate those items that were unworn
Ask yourself, “How much of my stuff can I really part with?” If you go through your house and see there’s tons of stuff added to fill up the space rather than it having an actual purpose, then downsizing could be an easy transition. Or maybe the stuff once had a purpose but now, you really don’t need 2 guest rooms, 2 offices after your kids move out, or that extra chair standing in the corner of the room.
Are you looking for convenience?
For some homeowners, a change is necessary if they’re interested in convenience of walkable neighborhoods. It’s common for homeowners 55 and older to transition to a condo or townhouse closer to restaurants, parks, nightlife, and entertainment simply for the convenience factor. At that age, most homeowners have children away at college or living on their own, giving them a good reason to downsize for the opposite reason of them upsizing years back: kids. Condos and townhouses are a great option if you’re interested in living in the city or closer to a downtown. And that’s not just for young homeowners. For homeowners over the age of 55, consider the fact that you’d have less yard work to worry about, way less.
Does a lower cost appeal to you?
Speaking of cost for maintenance help, in general, the cost of a smaller home tends to be lower. Obviously lower costs appeal to just about anyone. If we could get big houses that are incredibly affordable and don’t break the bank, many of us would be choosing to live like millionaires. But that’s not the case, so you have to choose: do you want a bigger house and pay more, or do you want a smaller house and pay less? Once you hit retirement age, it’s incredibly important to consider downsizing for expenses alone. It’s the age that many people choose to do more adventurous things; travel more and stay home less. By that age, it’s common to have more saved up, allowing you to have the luxury of spending time and money on things that truly bring happiness to you. So it may not make sense for you to be spending most of it on a mortgage. By downsizing, you can save on monthly costs, have less maintenance to worry about, and have more time to do things you actually want to do. For renters considering downsizing but into a home, you could get a smaller home and spend less on mortgage than rent, while actually paying towards something you’d one day own. Unlike renting, home buying is an investment that can really pay off in the end. And in the case you ever need to upgrade to a bigger house, you could always rent out your downsized home, which could potentially cover costs of the mortgage on it. Downsizing, although may sound like a negative thing, is actually quite often a positive life change when it makes most sense to make. Consider speaking with a mortgage banker or real estate agent about downsizing and whether or not it’s a good move to make currently. Learn about buying a house while selling your current one before getting started.