How to Know if It’s Time to Downsize
You’re officially empty nesters. The kids are living in their own spaces, and you’re retired, or close to retirement. It’s spring and the thought of trimming the shrubs one more time just makes you tired. You finished doing your taxes and paid the property tax bill on your large home for another year, thinking that tax bill could have financed a pretty great trip somewhere. You’d rather be spending time with friends, or visiting your grandkids, or hanging out at Marty B’s – anything other than maintaining your overly-large home!
If those thoughts are going through your head, if your friends’ one-story, smaller home fills you with envy, if your knees are screaming about your second floor bedroom … it just might be time to take a serious look at downsizing.
The decision to downsize (or rightsize, a popular term these days) is not a decision easily arrived at, because leaving the family home can be a very emotional decision. So many memories are associated with a home – holidays, family occasions, even the kids growth chart marked on the wall! But is that a reason to stay put and spend so much of your time maintaining a space that’s no longer right for you?
One good way to help you decide if downsizing is in your immediate future is to make a pro-con list. Another decision-making method is to pretend you’re advising a friend. (It can help you remove the emotion from the situation, which can cloud your judgement.) There are other ways – phone a friend, decision trees, spreadsheets, ranking, etc. Google “decision making tools” and find a method that makes sense for you.
You will want to discuss the idea of downsizing with your family, too. It can be emotional – maybe your kids want you to live there forever – but you’ll want to hear them out. They might present points of view you hadn’t considered. But ultimately, the decision to downsize is yours to make.
Once you make the decision to downsize, call on The Seay Realty Group. We can show you housing options in this area, and guide you through the downsizing process. Call us today!
