How to downsize from your family home
Downsizing to a smaller home can be a very stressful and emotional experience. You family home holds so many memories and letting go of that stage in your life can be heart-breaking. Making the experience as easy and smooth as possible is vital for your own sanity and this blog aims to help you with each process from making the decision to looking towards the future with a positive outlook. Take a deep breath and let’s talk about downsizing.
There are many reasons why moving into a smaller household makes sense. Maintaining a large home can be a huge chore, especially with less people in your home and you can save money on your household bills annually by living in a smaller home. You can also look forward to enjoying a few more of life’s luxuries with the extra money you will have from downsizing. There are many positive things to come from this experience.
It is not only people who are retiring who are downsizing. It is a sensible decision for a wide range of people. Obviously, older people who have watched their children leave home and get married, downsize because they have a home that is far too big for just two people. They have maintenance concerns and waiting can cause make moving even difficult when health deteriorates. However, there are also younger families who need to downsize to pay their children through university or to pay for other things life throws at them, such as economic problems.
Reasons to downsize:
As we have already mentioned there are many reasons to downsize your home. Here is a list of the main reasons people downsize:
- Financial difficulties: You may have been hit hard with the recession and need to downsize to afford a comfortable life for your family.
- Additional costs: Life can come with many additional costs such as university fees for your children. The cost of university keeps on rising and you may decide to downsize so you have a lump sum of money to put your children through university.
- Living costs: The fact is a large home comes with a large financial burden. When you add up council tax, maintenance and bills, a large home can come with some huge outgoings on a monthly basis.
- Preparing for a rainy day: The way we work is becoming a lot more free but also insecure and couples may downsize just to ensure they have enough money stored away for a rainy day. It is important to live within your means as well as be aware of how you will survive if one person was to be made redundant.
- Debts: You many have run into debts that you cannot pay off with your current situation and need to downsize to pay off those outstanding debts.
- Age: You may be in your 60s have watched your children move away and start a family and be ready for a change.
The pros and cons of downsizing:
There are many pros and cons that come with downsizing your home. Read on to find out the common plus points and concerns that movers have when downsizing.
Pros:
- Less household chores: Less rooms equals less space to clean!
- Less money spent on upkeep: You will have to continue to maintain your home but the expanse of space will be less. So painting the exterior of your home, roof maintenance, driveway care, garden etc will cost less and take less time.
- No more huge heating bills: Bye bye giant bills each month especially if you install energy efficient appliances in your new home.
- No large garden to maintain: Gardening can take a lot of time and if you have a large garden this can literally be a summer job. You will leave this responsibility behind when you move.
Cons:
- Smaller space for your possessions: Some people found it difficult to downsize their possessions too and squeezing them all in to a smaller home was a struggle. You have to be prepare to sell or give away some of your household items when you downsize, a feat that can add to the heart-break.
- Expensive: No move is ever cheap and downsizing, even though you hope to make a profit, can be very expensive. You have to consider the estate agents costs, legal costs and stamp duty into your equations, plus the cost of moving companies.
Be Positive:
As difficult as it is to leave a home behind, you will feel much more secure and content when you are no longer struggling financially or worrying about your health in the future. There are some major things you need to ensure you do when you downsize. Research and Bargain. You want to understand you market as best as you can and you need to get as much for your current home as you possibly can. Good luck and deep breath!
Have you recently downsized or are you thinking about it? Let us know your thoughts and concerns below.
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