Why Downsizing Doesn’t Have To Mean Downgrading Your Home

Many of us reach a point in our lives when the home we’ve been living in and enjoying for many years is no longer fit for purpose.

Maybe the last of our kids has gone off to college, our personal circumstances have changed or we simply want to live somewhere that’s smaller and more manageable than our current home.

But it can be a hard decision to make and what often holds us back from making the move are the reservations that we have about whether our new residence will represent a step down in quality and comfort from our current one. There’s also the reluctance to leave behind all of those memories from the past.

When Downsizing Becomes Essential

However, this might be less of an issue if it’s a split and divorce means selling a house has become a necessity. It may well mean that as part of the agreement, or just as for convenience, you’re keen to sell as soon as possible, in which case it may be worth considering selling to an intermediary who will buy before selling it on.

Even if this is the situation that you’re in, there’s no reason to assume that your new, smaller property can’t be just as great a place to lay your hat as your current one.

Location, location, location

For example, you might be going smaller. But this could mean that the budget you have available will get you a place in a more desirable or prestigious neighborhood, somewhere that you’ve long hankered to live in but have never managed to make the move.

Or maybe it can be somewhere that has facilities and amenities nearer than ever before. So even if you’re giving up some of the garden space that you’ve been used to a nearby park or even a beach could more than make up for that.

Plus, if and when the time does ever come for you to sell, most property experts agree that location can be the critical factor in ensuring a quick deal at the right price.

Choose What to Keep and What to Dump

So you’ve decided to make the move. But how are you going to fit the furniture and all the other stuff that’s filled up your home into a smaller space? Surely not having room for it all is going to materially affect you, and not in a good way.

The way round this is to take a good long look at what you own and decide which items give you the most pleasure and mean the most to you. It may be a chest of drawers that’s been in your family for generations or some piece of vintage furniture you picked up for a few dollars but which you just love.

Surround yourself with these pieces and divest yourself of the rest. After all, that IKEA wardrobe just won’t take another dismantling before it collapses completely.

Then, before you know it, you’ll have managed to successfully downsize and it’ll be time to start living your best life, forever.