by Bigger is better. That is the general notion that people haveregarding majority of things, whether it be paychecks, TV screens, smartphones, cars, lunch deals, houses. But is that always true?A lot of the homeowners today are living large, too large for their needs. Families have become smaller but houses are increasing in size while the opposite was the case in previous decades. In fact, in 1950 the average house size used to be just around a 1,000 square feet while today it has more than doubled (is 2,600 square feet). Do we really need all that extra space? After all people were doing fine earlier too in smaller houses. Surely we can too, no? When do we know that we should downsize our house?
Extra/unused space
When your children have moved out and your retirement is closing upon you, you know it is time to downsize. There are extra rooms that your children once used and you will not need them anymore.More space only means more cleaning and things to take care of and you do not want to waste your time or energy on that. You definitely have better things to do.
Too much clutter
There are so many things in your house that you probably do not need yet find it difficult to part with. Extra clothing, books, memorabilia and souvenirs, CDS, toys, you name it.You can live without them and they do not really serve any purpose in your life but you are attached to them. When you are going to downsize your house you will have no option but to get rid of things that you do not need and you will do that, somehow or the other, even if with a heavy heart. You will soon not even remember them and it will no longer be a big deal.
Savings
You cannot imagine how much you can save by downsizing your house.
Mortgage: the monthly payments you are making for mortgage are likely taking up the majority of your income. It makes complete sense to reduce that, especially if the extra space is not even a requirement. You will notice and welcome the direct effect downsizing will have on your mortgage expenses.
Utilities: The bigger house you have, the more energy you are utilizing for running it, and the more you are paying in bills. Not only is that bad for your financial health but the environment also gets affected with the heating or cooling system you use; obviously you would be using lesser energy if you have smaller space to heat/cool.
Your monthly expenditures will reduce, you will be able to contribute more to your savings account, you will be able to repay any student loans you might have accumulated and save your credit score if it was going down, you will be able to save up faster for the vacation you have been yearning for. The results are limitless: all because you decided to downsize.
Make money
When you are going to downsize, you will obviously need to get rid of a lot of things. Of course,a small condo will not be able to accommodate everything your huge house contained. A good way to get rid of your extra things is to sell them off. You will be making money of it and de-cluttering, both at the same time.However, remember that selling things on your own is not as easy as it seems to be and may prove to be a headache while not even giving you any returns. Sometimes it is better to talk to a listing company instead.
