There is essentially 2 ways to downsize. Spatial and Financial. Sometimes it might be a combination of both. Sometimes people downsize spatially and upsize financially.
Spatial downsizing is easily the most popular choice many of our clients make. After rattling around in the former family home for a few years it makes sense to move into something smaller. The upside to this move is of course less time spent cleaning. The downside is that this sometimes means less personal space for couples in particular.
Financial downsizing means simply reducing overhead. A smaller space often means lower heating bills, fewer maintenance bills and in some cases lower property taxes.
What Do Your Spatial Options Look Like?
To achieve a spatial downsize you could move into:
A bungalow, a condo, a mobile home, take on a life lease, share an apartment, a granny suite in a child’s home, a retirement residence, a nursing home or perhaps rent a room in someone else’s home.
“Dream” downsizing options include: a cabin by the lake, in the woods or in the mountains, a motor home, a live aboard boat or perhaps a smaller home in an exotic location like Thailand.
How Could You Financially Downsize?
The goal here is to reduce your monthly bills. Perhaps you don’t need to move at all. Why not have a friend move in with you? Or perhaps you sell the family home and buy a 2-bedroom condo and have a friend move in with you there? Do consider the changes this means from an every day living perspective. If you like your personal space this could be a challenge.
Or perhaps you simply need to release the equity from your home? Consider selling and perhaps renting. In the current down market, we have seen several clients do this. They might have hundreds of thousands of dollars locked up in their home and they still pay out thousands a month to support mortgage debt, property taxes, utility bills etc. We have one such client now and their plan when we have their home sold is to rent and spend half their time here in Edmonton and summers in Kelowna on a boat. Sound good?
As inspiration for this article I referred to a wonderful book you may wish to purchase. It’s called The Best of the Rest – Downsizers for Seniors and Boomers (Senior Moves ISBN 978-0-9948631-2)
About the author:
Stuart Neal is an accredited Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES®). Many of his clients are downsizers. You can read more about the author of this blog by clicking this link – Stuart Neal Broker Owner & REALTOR®
Want more information about our lower cost FLAT FEE home selling programs? Please feel free to call our broker owner Stuart Neal at: 780-760-2014 or visit our home sellers page www.FlatFeeRealtyAdvisors.ca
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