DID YOU KNOW? Interest rates dropped roughly 11% from their high of 2 months ago, now around 4.55%.
This week’s blog I want to talk about helping your client find the “right size” home and why it is a smart move. As I make my rounds each weekend to many of your open houses for a brief introduction, I tend to also make conversation with some of the home buyers that come through. I had a conversation with a woman, who shared with me that she was going through a divorce and had two children and was looking for a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home. The first question that popped into my head was, “Why?” Why do you want to take on the burden to upkeep such a big home (cleaning, landscaping, utilities, etc)? So many times in conversations with family or friends or in talking to strangers, we all think “bigger is better.”
But that isn’t always the case, bigger is NOT better and scaling your home size down to meet new or changing needs may be the smart thing to do. Here are some great reasons to share with your clients who are looking to “right-size” their home.
- Better quality of life. Often a much larger home requires lots more work and effort to maintain. That time could be better used for other endeavors. Time is the last luxury. We are ALL running out of it.
- Save Money. The monthly maintenance costs and real estate taxes - not to mention large-project improvements and upgrades - can be brutal. They add up over time. Sometimes taking the loss on a selling price can be offset by not having to spend on these items.
- Minimize losses. When a market is in decline, there is little way of knowing when that decline will slow or stop. Sometimes waiting only leads to further, larger losses.
- Closure. Often the stress of not selling your more expensive property and putting your life on hold waiting for a better market can be brutal. Sometimes taking a loss, or making a smaller profit and being able to move on with your life could be invaluable.
Scaling down your home often feels like a regressive, negative moment in life, but I see it as the exact opposite. I have a few friends who have chosen this route to “right-size” and months after they made this stressful shift only to find themselves happier, less stressed and with a new sense of freedom. Remove ego from homeownership and the decisions made are often much wiser.