Everyone dreams of owning a home filled with laughter, comfort, and a big yard where the kids can play in the evenings. As life goes on, things change and so do your needs and goals. With the kids moving out, and your retirement coming up, you might start considering downsizing to a smaller home.
With fewer occupants, the large house may start feeling empty. Keeping up with the house’s maintenance costs, repairs, utility bills, as well as never-ending cleaning, can be a hassle. Therefore, moving into a smaller house will be a practical option for you. Smaller house have less maintenance issues and reduced housing costs, which will give you more time to spend on other enjoyable things.
Downsizing to a smaller house is certainly a tough decision, but you can’t deny the advantages it can bring into your life. I have helped many couples and individuals downsize their homes to prepare for their retirement.
I have compiled a list of the benefits of downsizing your home for retirement to help you make your decision:
- Things Get Organized
Moving to a smaller house means you would be forced to go through that attic loaded with useless things. Larger houses tend to collect a high amount of clutter because it is easier to leave things stuffed in corners, basements, garages, and attics than sorting through them.
Once you decide to downsize, you will finally start decluttering and organizing things to take only the useful things to your new home.
- Improved Health and Accessibility
With age come unavoidable health issues, including mobility problems. A big house can become difficult to live in after you retire. For instance, climbing stairs can become a struggle for senior individuals. Moreover, stairs also increase the risk of slip and fall accidents.
This shows that a house that was perfectly suitable for you can become more challenging with time. A smaller house, particularly a one-story one, can eliminate these struggles and make your home more accessible for you.
- Better Cash Flow
Downsizing to a smaller house also improves one’s cash flow. You will pay lower monthly payments on your mortgage, utility bills, landscaping and other costs associated with a bigger house. These savings, combined with the other costs you no longer have to pay, including children’s expenses, means you will have more funds for meeting your daily expenses.
You can use these savings in your retirement funds, pay off loads, or enjoy other activities you always wanted to do.
- Positive Lifestyle Changes
Another major benefit of downsizing for retirement is the positive lifestyle changes it brings. You have less mundane tasks to do around the house; less clutter means a more organized house, reduced cleaning time, and little to no yard work.
You have more free time to relax, spend with your loved ones, and enjoy activities you never had enough time to do before.
- Easy Home Maintenance
There is plenty of maintenance work required in a big house. Not just the cleaning, but there always seems to be something in need of repair or update. This is especially true if you have been living in a house for 20 or 30 years.
You need to ensure everything, including the plumbing and HVAC systems, are running smoothly to avoid any substantial damage. This means spending more time and money on fixing things. Moreover, you also have to clean and maintain the rooms not in use to avoid health issues.
A smaller house eliminates the time and money you’d invest in its maintenance. Instead, you can spend that money and time doing more things you love, like socializing with friends and partaking in your hobbies.
- Reduced Stress Levels
Your stress level will automatically minimize when you start decluttering, organizing things, reducing the number of possessions you own, and doing constructive things in your free time.
When your things are more organized, your life will be simplified. Eliminating outdated electronics, donating unused clothing and furniture, and more, will give you peace of mind at your new place.
- Sizable Down Payment for your New Home
Living in a big home that was suitable for you and your kids for decades is now bound to get you sufficient profit when you decide to sell it. This means you will have enough funds to make a sizeable down payment for your new home.
As a result, your monthly payments will also come down. You may even be able to completely eliminate the mortgage from the profits you earn from your home. Moreover, you can pay off or reduce other debts like auto loans and credit cards.
- Reduced Energy Bills
Energy bills, along with other utilities, can get unnecessary high for a few people living in a big house. Larger houses require more energy to stay cool or warm, as per the temperature.
Downsizing to a smaller house will drastically reduce your energy bills. You will, of course, be playing a positive role in protecting the environment by consuming less amount of energy.
- Strategic Location
When you are planning to downsize to a smaller home, you get a chance to select a more strategic location for your new home. You can choose an area with more affordable living costs, within walking distance to the commercial area to reduce your car usage, near a beach, or move near your children or other family members.
This means you can further reduce your living expenses and/or be near your loved ones to spend more quality time with them.
- Funds for Traveling Adventures
The best thing about downsizing for retirement and freeing up funds is that you finally get the chance to travel to the places you always wanted to see. When you are nearing your retirement or are already retired, it is the perfect time to travel to new places with your partner or maybe even a solo trip.
After working hard for decades, you deserve this break. Many people start planning to downsize their home to a condo or a townhouse before retirement, so they can have sufficient funds for traveling care-free.
Staying in a house where most of the rooms are not used, spending a massive amount of money on maintenance and repairs, landscaping, and paying higher utility bills can be stressful and draining. This energy, time and money can instead be invested in more enjoyable and relaxing things. Downsizing your home for retirement can be one of the best decisions you could make. Your lifestyle will become simplified and less stressful, allowing you to plan your retirement life the way you want to.
Indeed, selling off a home you lived in for decades can be hard. There are so many things involved when it comes to preparing your house for sale and simultaneously looking for a new house to make your retirement home.
To make things easier for you, I offer a range of services that can help you to place your house on the market, attract potential buyers, obtain the best possible deal, and find the perfect home. My business has been built on referrals and I am always ready to assist my clients with their real estate queries.
