Tips For Downsizing To A Small Home
Have your kids moved out of your home and your place now feels a bit too big? If so, you may be looking to downsize to a smaller home. Downsizing is never easy since it is not as simple as moving to a home that has less square footage. These tips will help make downsizing a success since they help you know what to look for in your next home.
Look For Plenty of Outdoor Space
It's easy to sacrifice indoor living space when your new home has plenty of space outdoors. If you have a nice size backyard, this will give you a place to relax, take up gardening, and even entertain people from time to time. With a big backyard, you can even put up a shed to store things like bikes and garden equipment, which would normally go into a garage if you had the room for it. This is also a reason why you should still look into a house when downsizing, as opposed to a condo since you'll still have outdoor space.
Look For A Home With Similar Rooms
A common problem with downsizing is that you realize a house doesn't work for you until after you have moved in. To avoid this problem, you'll want to be looking for a place that has about the same amount of rooms, just with them laid out differently in a smaller blueprint. For example, you could find it difficult to go from a home with 3 bedrooms to 2 bedrooms for when guests stay over but be able to deal with a 3 bedroom home with rooms that are smaller in size.
The same can be said of trying to move into a home that has one big family room instead of a separate family room and living room. You may find that you miss the personal space you had before by having two separate rooms, and would much rather enjoy yourself if you maintained that layout with smaller rooms instead.
Don't Fixate On Certain Features
Know that you are going to make some sacrifices when downsizing, but if you are living on your own, this may not matter too much. For instance, one issue that some people run into is the idea of losing a master bathroom. Know that as long as the bathroom is located close to the master bedroom, lacking a master bathroom won't make a big difference in your overall lifestyle.
For help with downsizing, be sure to meet with a real estate agent that can help you find what you're looking for in a home for sale.
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