Have you been thinking about downsizing your home and or its contents? Are the kids gone? Tired of taking care of your house and lawn? Do you have rooms that you rarely enter? Do you have things in your house or garage that you don’t use or need? What about personal finances? Are you thinking about retiring and want to get a better handle on your finances? Tired of paying high taxes on your home? Are you ready for your personal home downsizing?
We’ve put together five insightful tips and lifestyle situations can help you decide whether downsizing is the right move.
This is part of an on-going best in class series of helpful personal lifestyle and real estate articles by Nick Santoro and Joe Santoro of Personal Property Managers who service Pennsylvania and New Jersey and specialize in real estate, home content downsizing, property management, estate sales and home watch services. These tips and insights are especially important in the economic environment we are in today due to the Corona Virus. Additionally, during this challenging time in the Corona Virus and COVID-19 era, we help families that are unable travel or tend to their property needs by providing a true one-stop resource. We are focused on making life just a little easier for families during often difficult times. With Personal Property Managers, one call does it all.
Let’s take a look at 5 lifestyle situations that can help you decide if now is the right time to think about downsizing. They are:
1. Is your home getting more difficult to maintain?
Sometimes families and seniors find their current homes are too large to keep well maintained. Nick Santoro has found that working with families that have their kids grown and out of the house, and also working with many seniors that they are finding that taking care of their yard may be just too large now to easily mow and landscape, or the interior of their home is too big to easily clean. Maintaining a large home may seem overwhelming, especially as the house gets older.
2. Do you need equity from your home?
Nick has found that many older homeowners have put the bulk of their net worth and lifetime of income into their homes. Now that the kids are gone and out of the house, some older homeowners may find that they need or want to convert the equity that they have built up over the years in their home into cash. In some cases, they may want to spend the money on things like travel, and in others, they could invest the proceeds and reinvest any gains on their original investment.
3. Does your home match your physical abilities?
If you have mobility issues, your current home may not accommodate your abilities. You may need a wheelchair ramp and other accommodations inside your home, or you may live in a multi-story home and have difficulty climbing the stairs. Maybe you could check to see if your current home could be modified to fit your physical needs and then explore how much it would cost.
4. Would you like to reduce your expenses?
Have you sat down and tried to figure out if your savings will last long enough as you transition into retirement? If not, this may be a good time to take stock of what you have, what you need and your current and future financial situation and then match that to your current home and living expenses. Managing your expenses and finances can stretching them out can be easier to do if you downsize. As a result, by downsizing and or moving to a smaller more manageable home can decrease your property taxes, insurance and maintenance expenses. You may also be able to reduce your mortgage payments if you still have one.
5. Would you like to improve your lifestyle if you move?
Joe Santoro has found that in working with many older homeowners that they have found that their neighborhoods change over the years as their friends age and move away, and younger homeowners with children move in. Joe says that many empty nesters may find living in a neighborhood with more older homeowners to be more comfortable. In addition, downsizers sometimes want to move closer to children and grandchildren.
Joe has found that most empty nesters and seniors would like to stay within about 15 minutes of where they current live to be near their kids, grandkids and familiar surroundings. In some areas, that may be nearly impossible unless they’re willing to consider a townhouse or condo.
These are just a few of the reasons and lifestyle changes that Joe and Nick have found to be common elements that their clients have shared with them when considering to downsize.
Personal Property Managers offers additional insights into:
No matter the specific reason, it can feel great to downsize and organize your belongings.
For more insights, tips and videos please visit our Resource Page in the About us tab.
We offer 6 primary services to help families or executors. They are:
Additional info can be found on this brief 90 second video or a full array of great tips and insights and video by clicking on our resource page.
For more information on real estate or home downsizing please contact Nick Santoro or Joe Santoro of Personal Property Managers at 215-485-9272 or 908-368-1909. Personal Property Managers specializes in helping home owners transition from their home of many years into a new community. Personal Property Managers services Pennsylvania and New Jersey and offers downsizing services, estate sales services, home staging, discount full service real estate services via its association with EveryHome Realty. Learn more about Personal Property Managers from our recent News Stories.
