Truth is, we are all at different stages of life and there is no downsizing fits all model
Choosing to downsize includes taking a look at all aspects of your life and we will bullet point some for your consideration, after which give it further thought then you decide when it is your time to want to downsize :
- Are we in a empty nest syndrome and our family home has now outgrown us?
- Is the family home to large for just ourselves?
- Am I now struggling with the upkeep of the home and not enjoying it any longer?
- Meaning am I living here out of habit, uncomfortably comfortable?
- Have I always dreamt of a sea or tree change and am i ready for one?
- Is my family home more valuable to someone else than to me/us if I choose to sell?
- How is my health, do I now need to be closer to a hospital requiring potential high care facilities?
- How are my knees, back and general strength and am I strong enough to keep my home in the condition I love it to be in?
- What are the financial implications of staying where we are compared to downsizing in terms of : ongoing maintenance, upkeep internally and externally, rates, water, electricity, insurance etc?
- Are we stretching our retirement budget just to hold onto the family home which we have or will outgrow?
- Fear of moving?
- Fear of change?
- It is all we know and can’t see how we can downsize with all our furniture and belongings?
- Don’t want to move out of our neighborhood, we will miss the neighbours and the local shops we know so well?
Costs of staying versus benefits of moving
When it gets to this stage and you need to weigh up “am I living here because it is what I know, but we have outgrown our home and struggling with upkeep and expenses” versus “perhaps exploring the advantages and benefits of downsizing” then it is time to be serious, you would agree?
Being in a rut, living with what we know, putting up with what we have just because it is easier than contemplating change is very debilitating and living life negatively on purpose.
What do we mean by saying that you would be asking?
Vision without action is hallucination; it is much easier to be uncomfortably comfortable than it is to change. Yes or yes?
If yes, you do know that this is merely your current thinking out of your own choice when if you changed your thinking you can change your life to live comfortably the way you do want to live! After all, life is short and becoming shorter for us … meaning we should deliberately be living the life we deserve and want for ourselves!
Once again is that a Yes or a Yes??
We can stay where we are, sit at the same spot at our dining table every meal, sit in the same sofa chair to watch the same TV show, shop at the same shop, smile at the same neighbour, hear that same dog barking down the road blah blah blah …. fooling ourselves that we don’t want change.
OR
Turn this all on it’s head and look forward to change! Change brings a revival to our lives and relationships. Change brings on excitement, new friends, new beginnings, better living, healthier bodies, healthier minds and we can go on but you get the drift of how healthy change actually is, yeh?
Question becomes, “how do we change?”
Of course change is never easy, it starts with creating a new belief in a new goal and lifestyle. Followed by a new thinking which is in line with this new belief. To give us the new results we want to have in our lives. Does this make sense?
As soon as your thinking changes, you will benefit from achieving new results which will help you and allow you to change your lifestyle, change your place where you live and actually go out there and enjoy the autumn years we have left ahead of us.
If you go and ask the people you know you will get the answers you want to get this becomes ‘action without vision which will lead to chaos and confusion for you’. When you get the answers you want to hear you will remain Uncomfortably Comfortable for the rest of your life. Is this what you really want? If not, we urge you to please choose carefully who you choose to discuss your goal to downsize and change your lives for the better with!
Those that will never change, or cannot see themselves having that new life will give you all the reasons why you should not even consider it … and do you know why that is “because they will never consider it themselves and they would hate for you to have the courage, strength and foresight to change!”
Costs of staying where we are?
- Higher rates and taxes
- Higher ongoing maintenance bills
- Higher Energy bills to keep the home nice and warm in winter and wonderfully cool on those hot summer days and nights
- Higher insurance costs on a larger property
- Upkeep of the garden, lawns and exterior of the home
- More areas inside the home to keep clean
- One of the Biggest Costs is the human one “living in a rut!” for the time you still have ahead of you … can you imagine anything worse?
Sure there are costs to move
Moving and downsizing will cost you $’s and it is essential that you invite a professional firm such as ours to review your current family home and help you work out how best to add value to what you have so that you can sell for more!
Think about it “what are the financial and human costs to staying?”
Selling for more allows you to more easily downsize and gives you more in your coffers for retirement and lifestyle choices.
Talk to us to offer you clarity and vision in working with you to afford you the lifestyle you deserve and want for yourselves. One short life, live it!
Commitment to uncertainty is scary, but it’s when you find out who you really are!
