The day has finally come, all the kids have moved out and have places of their own. Now, as an empty nester you might ask yourself, ‘Is it a good idea to downsize?’. Downsizing can come with many benefits, some might say the biggest benefit is saving money. For example, if your family home is roughly 3500 square feet and you downsize to something about 1500-2000 square feet; almost cutting your home size in half; will also cut most bills in half too. Those include utilities, taxes, insurance and even your mortgage.
Also consider the amount of maintaining it takes, indoor and outdoor, many older folks find it more difficult to get out to do yard work, or even would rather take less time maintaining and more time to spend elsewhere. Indoor maintenance work, like cleaning or any indoor repairs can take a great deal of time out of your daily life. So, reducing the size of the home greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to maintain, giving you more freedom to spend your time doing things that you love.
With this being said, downsizing can come with some negative aspects. A smaller home might mean less space to entertain guests or even not have space for family when they visit. Also, most families have sentimental value in their home; families make many memories in their household so the emotional attachment may be greater than the need to downsize. It all comes down to what you want and need for you and your family.