Downsizing Your Home: What to Consider Before Making the Move

In today’s society, bigger is commonly thought of as better. One of the prime examples of this is home ownership. Many people spend their lives trading up their homes for the bigger and better. The first apartment becomes the starter home which becomes the McMansion. But what happens when big starts to feel too big? If your home is starting to feel like a burden, then it might be time to start thinking about an alternate path that’s becoming more and more common: Downsizing your home. Here are four things to consider before you make the move.

• Is your current space impacting your quality of life? We’ve all heard the term house poor, but you can feel indebted to your home in more than just a financial sense. If the extra space that used to feel like freedom is now more akin to a trap, whether it’s because you spend all of your money paying the mortgage, or the upkeep of such a large space interferes with your ability to do things you enjoy, then downsizing could have a dramatically positive impact on your quality of life.
• Will your family fit in a smaller space? Most of the time, one of the major reasons to purchase a larger home is to gain more room for a growing family. If your kids are grown up and out of the house then your home might not be serving the purpose your originally needed it for any longer. On the other hand, if you still have children at home, or aren’t sure if you’re done adding to your family, you may want to think hard about what a downsize will mean, and whether less space will actually simplify things.
• What will the move cost? If finances are a big reason you’re thinking about moving, be sure you have a keen understanding of what it will cost you to move to a new home–even a smaller one–before you stake that for sale sign into the ground. Among the major costs you can expect to go along with a move of any kind: a real estate commission that’s 5-6 percent of the sale price of your home, the cost to hire a reputable moving company to help you relocate, and closing costs on a new home. These expenses can often equate to thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars, so be sure that selling your property doesn’t end up costing you more than it would to stay put.
• Are you retiring? If you’re thinking about retiring in the near future, now may be the perfect time to sell your home for a number of reasons. For one, if you no longer carry a mortgage on your house, you can collect the money you make on the sale of your home and put it into your retirement account to accumulate interest. If you do still carry a mortgage, on the other hand, you may want to look for a home with a mortgage payment that will allow you enough savings to put money into your retirement account each month, or a home with a payment that will be affordable with your new budget after you do retire.

In the process of downsizing your home? A top-notch moving company will make it easy. Get in touch with Orange Movers to discuss your options today!