Should You Downsize Your Home?

Downsizing is a natural part of life, but many Americans are hesitant to take this step when the time comes to move into a smaller space or sell the family home. After all, you may have lived in your current property for many years and enjoyed your time there; should you really downsize your home?

Today, let’s break down the benefits of downsizing, share some downsizing tips and explore some reasons why you might want to sell your current property for a smaller home.

Financial Benefits of Downsizing

Downsizing almost always comes with significant financial improvements; after all, moving into a smaller, more manageable home should naturally result in fewer costs, not more!

Save Money on Upkeep Expenses and Mortgage Payments

For starters, your mortgage payments may be more affordable if you move into a smaller property. This isn't always the case, of, course, since mortgages are heavily dependent on the location of the property, its inclusions, its age and style, its quality, and other factors. Still, many homeowners who downsize save money just by virtue of making smaller mortgage payments each month.

On top of that, you can expect to pay less in terms of upkeep expenses, such as those for property maintenance and so on. The larger a home you have to maintain, the more you’ll have to pay every year to keep it looking great. The reverse is true with a smaller, well-kept home.

Lower Property Taxes

By the same token, downsizing into a smaller property may result in lower property taxes. Property taxes are usually higher for proportionately larger properties, including those with extensive grounds or large yards.

Downsizing into a smaller property and help you save money on every mortgage payment by adjusting property taxes rather than the payments on the lease itself.

Save on Utility Costs

On top of all those aspects, downsizing may help you save money further by lowering your utility costs.

For example, a large property with tons of empty rooms will cost much more to heat adequately each winter. If you downsize into a smaller property, you’ll spend less money heating or cooling that property, plus spend less on electricity and other utility bills. When you move into a smaller place, you may realize that all you need are bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room, leading to much less square footage to heat and cool.

These costs can really add up over time; many property owners who downsize their old home could end up saving hundreds or thousands of dollars per year when all is said and done.

Reduced Lawn Care and Home Maintenance

Downsizing also leads to additional benefits besides saving you money.

For example, larger properties take a lot of upkeep in terms of labor in addition to finances. A property with a big yard means you have to mow the lawn frequently or pay someone to do landscaping for you.

Larger properties with decorated backyards, tons of guest rooms, and other unused storage space require more time spent by homeowners maintaining them and taking care of chores. If you no longer have kids to care for, do you really want to do the laundry for two empty rooms and their bedspreads every month if no one will sleep in those rooms?

This question is particularly pertinent for retirees looking to pare down, downsize and relax during their golden years. Many retirees would rather have a home they can take care of comfortably without having to spend much of their new free time decluttering a property that they don't use to its fullest extent.

Less Clutter to Organize or Pack

Many of us gradually pick up sentimental items, objects and keepsakes as we live life, whether they are gifts, trinkets or souvenirs from our travels, or random junk we seem to accumulate for no apparent reason.

When you downsize, it's the perfect opportunity to declutter duplicate, useless and no-longer sentimental items, and prevent them from taking up space in your home and in your mind. A smaller home forces you to choose which objects really spark joy and are worth keeping and which items are worth selling or giving away to charity. You may also see a cost savings using a storage unit rather than storing unused items in your home.

We recommend using the Konmari method as you downsize. With each item you remove from your current home, decide if it sparks enough joy to bring into your new home. If so, you can find a place for it. If not, it’s likely time to give it away.

Decluttering is a benefit of moving to a new space that you’ll appreciate in the long run, as well. Using sites like Craigslist and Ebay can turn decluttering into a profit-driving endeavor. Many downsizers also take advantage of yard sales or passing items onto the next homeowners. Near the end of life, a smaller home with fewer things to sort through means that there’s fewer family heirlooms to organize and pass down to your descendants.

Other Benefits of Living in a Smaller House

This doesn’t even touch the psychological benefits of downsizing into a new space. Many empty-nesters will feel that the proverbial nest is a little less empty if they move into a space with fewer rooms that need filling than their current home.

Moving into a small house for a fresh start can do wonders for your motivation and help you begin or continue your favorite hobbies after you’ve retired. But you also can't forget the home quality improvements you might see once you start the downsizing process.

Say that your current home is a typical family-sized house and want to downsize into a smaller condo or other property. You might have plenty of money left over from the sale since your new home could be cheaper than the home you sold. You may also have extra cash from selling furniture pieces that don’t fit in your new home.

Homebuyers can use the proceeds to buy a better, smaller home. You could also use them for a lot of things like home improvements, vacationing, and much more. All that extra cash will be a welcome bonus when you downsize into an apartment or settle for less space than you had before.

Are There Disadvantages of Downsizing?

It’s true that there are some potential downsides to the downsizing process, including not having enough living space for when family members come to visit or having to give up a treasured family home you've spent years or even decades enjoying.

However, downsizing tends to bring more benefits to your life than problems or regrets. Letting go can be tough, but it’s a huge benefit to loved ones and descendants to streamline your property to cause fewer problems in the future.

So - should you downsize your home?

It can take quite a while to find the perfect property for your downsizing journey, which is why you may wish to contact a real estate firm.

Whether you’re looking for a new home for the next chapter of your life or are trying to downsize after retirement, our realtors can help you find the perfect property for your needs throughout the Cambridge area. Make an appointment to talk with Sage and we’ll figure out your next steps together!

Originally published October 2021; updated June 2022