Are you at the point in your life where you are finding yourself thinking ‘less is more?’ If so, downsizing your current home may have crossed your mind a time or two. Maybe all the kids are (finally) out of the house, you find yourself not using all the space in your home, you want less bills each month or just want a smaller space to maintain. Whatever your reason, there are some things to consider before you pull the trigger on downsizing, and we are going to be discussing them below!

The first aspect to think about is your finances. Picture this: you have a large, spacious home in the Midwest and now want a smaller townhouse with an ocean view near the water somewhere. Even though the square feet may be smaller, the Oceanside townhouse may actually end up costing more than your large single-family home due to its location. You may find yourself not getting enough from the sale of your current home to pay for the new townhouse. So just because the space is smaller does not always mean that a smaller price tag will follow.

The next thing to think about is your family size. If you are wanting to downsize because your kids are all living on their own, you may want to stop and think about when they come to visit. Do you want to be able to host everyone and be under one roof for the holidays? It is possible to downsize when it comes to how many square feet your home is while still being able to host guests by finding a home with smaller rooms. Speaking of smaller square footage, if you move into a smaller house, your current furniture may not fit in your new pad. You will want to make arrangements and see what you want/are able to keep and what new items you will need to purchase. Knowing this ahead of time will allow you sufficient time to order furniture and plan out your new dream home prior to moving in.