When is it time to hire a moving and storage company and begin the process of downsizing your home? What a great question and one that can be challenging to answer as there’s no one definite time when everyone should think about selling their old house and buying a new, smaller one. It’s always better to start thinking about downsizing sooner rather than later so that the maintenance burdens of owning a large home don’t get to be too much for you that you’re forced to take what there is on the market. These signs will give you the hint that your time to downsize is right around the corner.
You’re Not Using All Your Space
When we have busy family members coming and going at all times of the day (and sometimes night), most of the space in our house gets used. We have kids in their bedrooms, a couple of offices, and several bathrooms that are all occupied at various times throughout the day. However, when children move out, we retire from our jobs, or we change professions, those spaces may no longer be used very often, if at all.
Unused space means that you’re cleaning, heating, and cooling rooms that don’t need to be cleaned, heated, or cooled. While you can control those tasks to some degree, you are still paying for space you don’t need, whether in rent or mortgage or in other maintenance costs. There’s no reason to live in a house that no longer fits your lifestyle needs. If there are two of you in a house, you probably don’t need four bedrooms, two offices, and three bathrooms.
Your Career or Family No Longer Ties You to a Location
As children grow up, they need a stable place to call home, which is why many families choose to remain in a house until their kids move out. Sometimes, though, they stay much longer, even though they don’t have to stay in the school district or in a particular neighborhood anymore. You’re in a new life stage and your house should reflect that new stage.
The same is true for when you retire. Many people live in a city or town because it’s close to their place of business. But when you don’t have to go to that place of business every day, there’s no reason to stay where you are simply because of its proximity to your job. Moreover, these days, with the proliferation of remote work, you don’t even have to be retired to downsize to a house that’s further away from where you work.
Your House No Longer Fits Your Needs
Some senior citizens prefer to age in place, which means staying in the house they’ve lived in all their lives. However, houses with stairs, steep driveways, excessive maintenance requirements, narrow doorways, and other standard features of large homes do present an increasing risk to seniors.
Moving to a single-level home that doesn’t require you to perform maintenance tasks and is handicap accessible might be a smart move to make before you get to the point where you require these features. Otherwise, you could be stuck living in a place you don’t really enjoy.
Conclusion
There usually becomes a tipping point in everyone’s life when the house they’re living in becomes too large for their needs. Recognize when this tipping point is on the horizon and begin making your downsizing plans right away.
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