As we grow older, our needs and capabilities change, and not all homes are designed to support this change along with us. It’s common to upsize your home when your household is growing – whether to accommodate children, pets, or simply because you need an extra room for a home office. But what once was the perfect home, may now be too hard to manage and maintain in your golden years.
There are countless benefits of downsizing your home, and it’s a wonderful way to open the door to the next stage of your life. But, making the decision to downsize can be hard, and leaving a home filled with cherished memories can bring heartache. So, when is the right time to downsize? If owning your home in Seattle, WA or renting a house in Portland, OR has brought more stress and worry than it has joy and comfort in recent years, the time may be now to downsize into something smaller – or maybe even renting a space like an apartment in Beaverton, OR. Here are 14 signs it’s time to put your house on the market and downsize.
A general rule of thumb is to spend around 30% of your monthly budget on housing expenses. This includes your mortgage payment, utilities, maintenance costs, homeowners insurance, and property taxes. In fact, any household that spends above 30% is considered financially burdened. Stressing over finances can have an impact on your mental, emotional, and physical health, and having a little extra money saved up will help you be prepared in case any unplanned expenses or health issues arise.
Downsizing your home is a great way to lower monthly housing expenses because typically, a smaller home means smaller monthly housing expenses. Before you begin the home buying and selling process, be sure to calculate how much house you can afford on a fixed income.
The definition of retirement has changed drastically over the years. Now more than ever before, retirees are maintaining an active lifestyle that includes hobbies, exercise, and continued learning – and these all cost a bit of money. “Downsizing can significantly lower your monthly housing costs, including mortgage payments and utility bills, freeing up more funds to save or invest in services like professional home cleaning,” says Brian Vargas, Chief Growth Officer of Clean Home Theory, a home cleaning service in Maryland and Virginia.
So, how would you like to spend your time? Perhaps it’s joining a gym, taking painting classes, or taking a few college courses. If your monthly housing expenses are so high that you can’t enjoy your hobbies or activities, now may be the perfect time to downsize to free up some cash so you can spend it the way you want.