Are you or a loved one considering Downsizing? How do you know When to Downsize
How do you know when it’s time to downsize? People often think it’s time to move to a smaller house when they are no longer using all of their current home.
Did you know that there are other signs for when it’s time to downsize that are much more critical?
We specialize in helping Baby boomers and above downsize out of their current home and right size into their new home. Steve’s right, there are other signs that may be even more important when considering downsizing. A top one to think about is finances. For people on fixed incomes when your mortgage, insurance and property taxes all exceed 30% of your take home income it’s probably getting time to downsize into a less expensive home.
Another thing to consider, is home maintenance. When maintenance and repair costs start to become a burden, that’s really not good. The last thing you want is to delay repairs or maintenance on your home because you can’t afford the expense. It is always so sad for us when we see older people who have deferred maintenance on their homes. When we see this, we know that they probably should have sold their home years ago and moved to a home that was smaller and much easier and more affordable to manage. The deferred maintenance also brings down the value of their home.
Another key factor is when your housing costs no longer allow room for savings. Not being able to save for unexpected bills, puts you in a very risky position. Our home is typically our largest asset. And we’re fortunate that we own real estate in Seattle, where we’ve had high appreciation over the years. But of course we also live in an expensive area. We have high property taxes, sales tax, and cost of repairs are going up and up.
If your home is become financially or physically challenging to maintain, it’s probably getting time to downsize. Curious what your home is worth? Give us a call or click below to find out.
Think of us as a resource for all things real estate and downsizing.
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