Is It the Right Time for You to Downsize?

Many of us are reasonably familiar with the term "downsizing" as it applies to real estate.  You once needed or wanted a larger home, but circumstance or taste dictate a smaller home for your present and future.  Seems simple enough, right?  Even the reasons seem obvious to most people - they become empty nesters, experience a divorce or widowhood, or are facing the realities of retirement living.

There can be less apparent intrinsic factors for many as well: perhaps they wish to have more leisure time, which necessitates a smaller house and yard.  Perhaps they wish to save aggressively for a lifelong goal, like travel or early retirement, and a smaller home makes these dreams financially feasible.

Financial matters blog The Motley Fool offers these five points (and elaborate further) as signs you might be ready to downsize:

1. Your mortgage, insurance, and property taxes exceed 30% of your take-home pay

2. Your maintenance and repair costs keep climbing

3. Your housing costs leave no room for savings

4. You're tired of not having options

5. You're no longer using all that space

These are the basically the intuitive things you likely already associate with downsizing - can't afford it, want to afford other things, need a smaller space, but Motley Fool gives their usual incisive analysis for those who want further reading.

Less intuitive is understanding how your interest in downsizing may match market realities.  For example - what do you ot of people considering the move, they have a lot of equity in their homes. Right now, in a strong seller's market, it can be intimidating to think of making an easy sale, but having to compete to gain something else to live in at the same time.  And wouldn't it be better to wait until prices go down?  Cassandra Lopez and Ashton Evans of Dupuis Team present a short video in this week's Dupuis Team video on this subject, and you may be surprised at their take.

It really gives one pause, if it's the first time you've looked into the concept of downsizing in a seller's market.  If you'd like to talk it over more, please give us a ring here at Dupuis Team, and we'll help you consider your particulars. We understand the national economic factors, and the Kitsap particulars, and would be pleased to help you give downsizing a closer look today!

And just for a PS . . if you've already decided to dive in headlong, here's an article and an infographic aimed at the practical side of preparing your home: