My five-week series, How to “Right-Size” Your Home and Life, will help you determine when it’s time to “right-size” your home and move on to one that will better match the life you’re living now or the one you want to live. Your home should reflect your needs, wants, and budget — and maybe those have changed since you last bought your current home. Even a home you have loved!
Whether it’s moving up to larger home or moving to a smaller one, moving to the countryside or moving back into the city, you’ll learn about the steps you can take for this next “right-sized” purchase, and also see how to buy and sell at the same time with maximum profits and minimal stress.
Has it been on your mind that something isn’t quite “working right” with your home anymore? Or, maybe it’s something obvious that can no longer be avoided or ignored.
Whether you don’t have enough bathrooms for your now grown teenagers or you don’t have office space for a new remote job or the neighborhood doesn’t fit your lifestyle anymore – you realize your home isn’t working for you like it first did.
Your life has changed, and your expectations have changed since you bought your home. It’s completely normal to find yourself not as satisfied with your daily life there anymore. This is when you might be ready to “right-size” your home! It’s when your current home isn’t the right fit for your life – whether it’s too big, too small, too expensive, wrong location, or something else entirely.
Moving can be a hard decision to make for many homeowners (myself included), both emotionally, financially, and logistically. It’s understandable if you want to put it off in making the decision to move or stay in your current home… even when it doesn’t feel quite right for you anymore, as it once used to be.
What’s Holding You Back
When you still love your home and cherish the memories made there (especially if you’ve been there for many years), love your neighborhood, or absolutely love your neighbors, staying put feels comforting and safe.
And for some homeowners, the hassle of packing up a home, going house hunting, getting financing, and buying and selling at the same time seems daunting.
All of these factors can make some homeowners hesitant to move. Maybe that’s you?
However, if you daydream about what life could be like in a different home or you constantly feel burdened by your current home, listen to those clues and start by making a list about why you want to right-size and why it could be the right time to move.
In fact, the same reasons that are holding you back — your emotions, finances, or logistics — can be the very reasons you should move.
Sometimes the signs are right in front of you but you just need a bit more clarity. That’s where I can help you answer your whys.
Making the decision to move doesn’t have to be overwhelming or stressful if you put careful thought into it and seek out help from a real estate professional like me. Together we can determine when is the right time to move or if you should stay in your current home a bit longer.
Today’s article is a great overview of the factors you should consider if you are confused on whether you should move or stay. It should help you get closer to making a decision that’s best for you.
Signs That Now/Soon is the Right Time
First up, determine if your needs and wants are still being met living in your current home. This is when you ask yourself lots of questions and dig deeper to picture how you see yourself living in the next few years.
I also tell clients to plan to stay at your next home for at least 5 years, ideally 5 to 10 years, and anticipate what your life is going to be like by then so this next home is the RIGHT one.
Here’s what to consider:
- Your life has changed or will change. You want a home that reflects your new or ever-changing needs, whether you have a growing family that needs more space, or would like less maintenance to worry about because you want to spend more time traveling.
Perhaps your first home in town that was close to everything was once perfect for your, but now your family has grown and would like to have more space both indoors and outdoors.
Maybe your home still serves your needs and wants very well, but you’re worried about the new development on the next major street is going to bring so much traffic that your once perfect commute and grocery trips are going to take twice as long.
Or maybe your adult children have settled with their career in their respective cities and you don’t need to keep the large home with their rooms and the responsibilities. You want to spend more time seeing the rest of the world and learning other cultures with a maintenance-free home.
Sometimes you can anticipate upcoming life changes that will happen within the next few years. With some foresight, you can perhaps time a move when the housing market is healthy. Together we can make sure to time it right for your particular situation or your own moving goals. The earlier you contact me, the better!
- Can’t or won’t remodel. You love HGTV and can imagine your home remodeled and updated with larger rooms and a gleaming kitchen. Plus you get to stay in the neighborhood you love!
But you realize it’s only a fixer-upper’s dream. Maybe you’ve been thinking about upgrading your kitchen and bathroom, and adding more insulation to lower your power bills. But you have a busy schedule and just can’t live through the mess, or don’t want to manage multiple moving parts when it comes to remodeling.
Moving can provide you with the sanity you crave, the space you need, and you can ditch the stress of redesigning the floor plan. You can always look for homes in your current neighborhood if that’s a priority.
- Location, location, location. When you bought your current home, it probably felt like the perfect location for you,but maybe not anymore.
Perhaps you want a less noisy neighborhood, more yard space to entertain in, or less yard space to maintain, a shorter commute, or you are free to live anywhere now with remote work.
Maybe you live in suburban area but are ready for something more rural. Or, the flip side, the city living and the convenience to everything you need looks really appealing to you!
As you can see there are lots of variables that can go into selecting a location but it all comes down to what you want now and where you picture yourself living in the years ahead.
- Square footage is NOT working. You want to say good-bye to rooms cluttered with toys, or you have unused bedrooms sitting empty that you have to clean, heat and cool.
You want to move from that starter home to a forever home; or you want to move from your forever home to the condo that allows you to save time and money on maintenance costs. Plus, your families and friends will be only a few minutes’ drive away – does it get any better?
Remember that your space needs could change again so plan accordingly for down the road (at least 5 years!).
Time It Right Financially
Next up, money factors and how they can make your move affordable and more doable. Certain times are the RIGHT time to move financially and you should take advantage of the timing if you’re thinking a move is in your future.
Here’s what to consider:
- Equity in your home. If you have owned your home for more than a year or two, you should have built up substantial equity, putting you in a prime condition to move. This is when your investment in your current home can help you purchase your next right-sized home!
Remember the equity in your home is the difference between what you owe on your mortgage and what your home is currently worth. Your home’s equity can be increased if you have paid down your mortgage or the value of your home has risen over the past few years of owning. Many homeowners experience both circumstances.
You can tap into this equity when you sell your current home and use the profits from the sale toward the purchase of your next home, perhaps helping with a larger downpayment if moving up to a more expensive home.
If you’re moving to a smaller home, you can look forward to the extra cash from the sale of your larger home to use toward your next home. Or invest the proceeds, or use it as a traveling fund if you don’t expect to purchase a more expensive home.
You might be wondering what I would recommend to take advantage of the equity in my home to buy a new home if I haven’t sold mine yet. The answer to this depends on several factors, all of which we can go over together. I’ll also be addressing this topic in an upcoming article in this series, so stay tuned!
- Positive financial outlook – steady employment/income or stable finances/investments. If you’re in a good place financially, all the better when it comes to right-sizing for your next home. Lenders will look at you favorably if you need to finance your next purchase, and you’ll have a better selection of loan options if you’re going larger or pricier.
If you aren’t in the best financial position, you can always work toward improving it. You can increase your credit score, save more for a downpayment, and look for more steady or higher paying employment.
Reach Out for Help
I like to talk to my clients a few months, even a year before when they’re in the “thinking about moving” phase. We can take a look at your specific situation, life goals, and financial circumstances. So reach out to me sooner rather than later so we can determine what is right for you!
If you decide it’s the right choice to right-size, I can walk you through all the steps to make it happen.
Look out for the next article in my series – How to “Right-Size” Your Home and Life. You’ll understand why it’s important to be methodical and purposeful when making decisions for this next move in The Two Questions You Must Ask Before You Right-Size. It’s a game-changer!
Buyer
My Listings
owner
