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So, You’re Thinking of Downsizing? You Need to Know This.
Good reasons to downsize your home can happen at any stage of life.
Maybe you’ve found yourself with a suddenly empty nest or you’ve recently retired. Perhaps you’re keen to embrace simple living or looking for ways to save on daily expenses. Orperhaps you’ve just binge-watched too many ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’ episodes on Netflixand are now all about that minimal lifestyle!
Whatever the reason, here are some good things to know before you downsize.
Get packing asap? - Don’t judge how long a downsizing move will take you based on your pastmoving experiences. Deciding on what will stay and what will go takes far longer than throwingall your worldly possession into boxes. Think months, not weeks. There’s an emotional elementto consider too. Invite the whole family around to help with the elimination process (especiallywhere beloved childhood mementos are involved) and make it a celebration.
Donate with discretion? – You may feel good about gifting things that won’t fit into your newlystreamlined lifestyle to charities and causes. But do familiarise yourself with what items certainorganisations will and will not accept and also how they prefer to receive donations before youstart sorting out your stuff. It will save you from embarrassment and time wasted upon beingrejected and save them from unnecessary disposal costs.
Know your neighbourhood?- A smaller living space means you may experience the urge to getout of the house more often. You don’t want to feel stuck inside your new home, particularly ifdownsizing was not purely by choice. Make sure to choose a location with lots of elements toexplore or plenty of planned amenities. Before you move, subscribe to local lifestyle blogs,follow council pages for community news and events, even make your own personalisedGoogle map of things to do, eat, try, see and buy nearby. Happily, owning a smaller homecould mean you have more spare change and spare time to help you get out into the world!
Look to the future? – Sure, you’re planning on aging like a fine wine. It still pays to think aboutwhether a home will continue to suit you as you get older. If you’re downsizing, it’s quitepossible that this could be your forever home (and thank goodness, moving is stressful). So askyourself: is it close to healthcare and community services, are there too many steps, is thebathroom design accessible? What about parks nearby for the grandkids to run amok?
Space exploration? – Storage will be a key feature of your new downsized home. Buying a newhouse and land package (find Arramont’s extensive home and land package options ?here?) orbuilding a home from scratch can be handy here because you can often adapt the design tomatch your exact storage space needs. Can you pop a cupboard under those stairs? Makethose in-built shelves floor to ceiling? Add in an extra closet in the spare bedroom? Including enough storage from the get-go is so much easier than renovating later.Finally, don’t forget about the ‘Downsizer Measure’. If eligible, this law means you couldcontribute up to $300,000 (each) from the sale of your former home to your Superannuation.That makes for a great retirement boost
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