If you are a baby boomer or a recently retired individual one of the topics that likely come’s up at the dinner table often is downsizing your home. With real estate prices being as high as they are it is a great way to put some extra money away into your retirement portfolio and create more retirement income. Interestingly enough, majority of baby boomers are on the fence about selling their home.
Many ideas come to mind when you think of downsizing your home and one of the biggest roadblocks is the negative association with the word “downsizing”. It sounds like you are throwing everything away and moving into a box, when in actuality you are finding a home that has more functional square footage.
Functional square footage means getting the most use out of each room in your house. We’ve worked with a lot of baby boomers and seniors who have never thought about functional square footage and it really is an eye opener that makes downsizing your home one of the best things you can ever do.
If you are considering downsizing your home it is really important to ask yourself the following questions:
- What rooms do you spent majority of my time in?
Most people spend majority of their time in the kitchen, master bedroom and the living room.
- How many rooms are never used?
Most baby boomers have 3-4 bedroom homes and are only using the master bedroom. On average we find that majority of people don’t use 30%-50% of the rooms in their home.
- How much “dead space” is in your house?
Not to be confused with rooms you don’t use, dead space is the space in rooms you frequently use but isn’t necessary. You might watch TV every day in your living room, but there might be a separate sitting area which you never actually use.
- Would you prefer more space in the rooms you use most?
The best part about downsizing your home is that you will usually get more space in some of your favourite rooms. If you are in the kitchen and living room often, how much nicer would it be if it was open concept? How about if you traded in the 4th bedroom for a bigger master bathroom?
- What is it you would actually miss about the space you don’t use?
This one takes a little soul searching but you’ll be happy you did it. If you don’t use the space, why do you want it? Think about the actual costs of keeping a house that you don’t utilize, the time it takes you to maintain it and the baggage it can often bring. You would question your kids in a heartbeat if they were throwing away money and it’s important to ask yourself what it is you are