The decision to downsize to a smaller, better-suited home for your new lifestyle is never easy. Leaving a home full of memories can be hard. Downsizing your home is an emotional, financial, and logistical decision that should be considered carefully. Here are five signs that it might be time to downsize your current home.
Home maintenance is becoming overwhelming
If the labor, cost, and time of doing regular maintenance on your home are becoming too much, it might be time to downsize to a smaller home. Regular chores and routine exterior maintenance should not be a source of frustration and exhaustion for homeowners. If keeping up with the care of your home has become beyond your comfort level and you prefer not to contract out the work, moving to a smaller and lower maintenance home can ease the burden.
Santa Fe’s unique Pueblo-style and Mission Revival homes can require regular upkeep that can become tiresome and costly. Looking into homes with easier exterior maintenance is an excellent way to move into the next stage of your life. Many active adult communities in Santa Fe offer landscape maintenance, which is perfect for those looking to take a break from outdoor chores.
A change in income circumstances
Retirement or a reduction in income can change what you are comfortable paying each month for a mortgage. Most experts agree that no more than 28% of your monthly income should go toward housing. If your income circumstances have changed and your home expenses are taking up more of your monthly budget, it might be time to look into a smaller home.
A smaller home also comes with lower utility bills, especially when it comes to cooling your home in the warm Santa Fe sunshine. With a lower mortgage payment and fewer monthly home expenses, you will have more budget freedom for other expenses. Homeowners might also want to take advantage of equity built into their current home. Many will find that their homes have appreciated greatly since the initial purchase and want to roll the profits over into a new home or other ventures.
Too much space in your home
If you have unused living space in your home, a smaller home might better fit your needs. A large home with multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, and large living areas is perfectly suited to a growing family. But after children have moved to their own homes, many of those spaces lie unused.
Downsizing to a smaller home means you will no longer need to pay to heat and cool those rooms in Santa Fe’s hot summers and cool winters. This will mean lower overall utility bills in your new home, freeing up money each month. And other regular expenses like property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs will be lower at a smaller property.
A changing lifestyle
As your daily needs change, your home should meet your evolving lifestyle. There can be parts of your current home that have become too difficult to navigate, such as stairs or a steep driveway. If you have trouble accessing all the parts of your home easily and safely, it might be time to look into a home to suit your needs better. Many look into a home with all single-floor living, making it easier to navigate.
If you plan to travel more after retirement to visit family or for pleasure, you will not be in your home as much as before. If your new lifestyle means you will not be at home as much, it might be the right time to look at a smaller property so you will not be wasting your monthly housing costs on a large home that is going unused for weeks at a time.
Chasing your happiness
Many homeowners who are thinking about downsizing have more time. With the freedom that comes with retirement and children moving out, many think about moving to a new city completely. If you are considering moving to Santa Fe when you downsize, you can find a new home that better fits your new needs. You might have family here that you want to live closer to, or you might be craving the warm weather. When you downsize, you can follow your happiness to a completely new place.
Simplifying your life with a smaller home can also be a driving factor when downsizing. A smaller home is easier to maintain, easing the burden of caring for your home. And your current neighborhood might no longer fit your social needs. If most of the homes in your neighborhood are owned by young families with children, you might feel somewhat isolated. Moving to a community with people in your stage of life can lead to increased social and recreation opportunities.
Before you downsize
Once you have made the decision to downsize to suit your evolving lifestyle, there are some important steps to take before putting your current home on the market. Compare your home with other Santa Fe homes for sale to get an idea of what the current market value is. This will help you determine how much equity you have in your home and what budget you have for a new home.
As you shift into a new phase of your life and find a home to fit your needs, there are several options available in the Santa Fe market. Buyers can look at a smaller single-family home, a single-story condominium, or an active adult community.
A trusted real estate team
Making the decision to downsize your home can be an emotional decision. Expert local agents can help you decide both when and how to downsize to a better-suited home. An experienced team of real estate professionals can work with you to find your new dream home.
Are you ready to look into downsizing your living space? The Ricky Allen, Cathy Griffith & Tara Earley Team can help you find the perfect home to fit your new lifestyle. They have years of experience helping owners buy and sell homes in the Santa Fe luxury real estate market. Contact their team to begin this new stage of your real estate journey.
