An entire segment of our population is trying to make the life-changing decision if they should downsize their home. As children leave the nest and parents face the empty nest situation, sometimes homeowners begin to determine if now is the time to sell their home. However, having been in real estate for nearly two decades, I have discovered the downsize vs. upsize yo-yo effect.
Here is the scenario:
The Seller determines they want to downsize their home. They sift through their furnishings, collections, and knick-knacks as they plan the move. The purging process ensues as the big move becomes a reality.
The new homeowners settle into their perfect downsize casa and everyone appears to be happy. Well, sometimes this state of Nervana is short-lived. When the happy empty-nesters realize after the first family get-together that with the grands and grown children, this smaller nest is not ideal.
My phone rings with the clients saying, "We've decided we need a bigger nest!" Here we go again in reverse mode to find a larger home. Not a problem for me as an agent, but in reality, the stress for the clients is escalated.
This is what I call, the "Yo-Yo Effect". For this reason, having the early-on conversation with your clients and bringing up the realities of downsizing is important. The potential needed to re-upsize is often not even thought about.
The bottom line is that as real estate professionals, being able to speak into the "realities" of a potential down-size is paramount. You may lose out on a potential sale but you will have saved your clients a ton of time and stress if the downsize is truly not the best option for them.
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