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Now that you are an empty nester a whole new life is about to begin for you. Perhaps your kids have moved to another city for college or even starting families of their own. They may even be taking up professional positions in places across the country, but now the place is yours again and you can start considering how and where you would like to live.
Downsizing your home is a financially intelligent plan and opens up so many new opportunities. Of course, this is not an easy task as there will be so many factors from emotional spikes and financial questions. Sell house fast and start your new life in you new home as soon as you can. In the following article we will provide some support and help along these lines.
Here are four important empty nester questions that every parent should consider when their children move out to stay:
1. How do I want to live?
Being an empty nester gives you an opportunity to recapture some of that time you have so generously dedicated to your family over the years. It is a good idea to begin considering how you would like to spend that time. Before planning on what to do with your house and where you would like to live, it is a good idea to consider how you would like to live and what you would like to do with your time. This way you can choose a home that will perfectly suit your new lifestyle.
You can begin by asking yourself what you would be doing if all your time was free time. Would you like to take time in the yard caring for peonies and sweet peas or would you like to invest in a home improvement. Would you like to move around and be more active? Do you want to live close to scenic running paths and trails you can head out into every morning? Would you like to be closer to your family and spend more time entertaining friends and family?
Whether your passions include cooking and baking, yoga or writing those memoirs, choosing the place you will be performing these activities can greatly improve the experience and quality of your interests.
2. Where do I want to live?
Now that you have a better idea of what you will be doing with your life, you will have a better idea of where you want to do it. Would you like a secluded location of the main roads and tucked away in the sticks — the perfect place for writing those memoirs? Or do you see yourself in a high-rise apartment complex with the convenience of the downtown area just moments away? Or maybe something in between, out of town and in a quiet area, yet still close enough to all the amenities of modern civilization?
Obviously, the type of life you are planning to live will decide which type of house you would like to live in and where you want to live.
Moving is an especially big decision and you will want to ask yourself some important questions first. Will the kids be wanting to move back or are they fully settled? Do you want to wait until you are completely sure? Do you want to stay in the same city you have been living in? What would be the advantages of moving to another city?
The type of home you will choose will need to be selected for its suitability with all the above pointers. Now more than ever neighborhoods of close-knit communities with everything in walking distance are becoming very popular with down sizers. It is not quite the city and not quite suburban either, the new concept of suburban-ism is a highly appealing option.
Another great option is choosing homes that are actually walking distance from other cities and communities. This means they have access to all the stores, studios, gyms and other amenities. They also have convenient transportation to other cities and communities further off. This allows for plenty of opportunity for work, play, day trips to special locations and evenings out as well.
New Modern Townhomes in Walkable Neighborhoods
For the actual home itself, you will want to consider what you want in your home. If you will be entertaining several times a week, you will want to have the space and comfort to do this. If you want to leave room for an older kid to move back in with you, you may need a home with more than a couple bedrooms. Then, think about visitors’ holidays and other occasions where space will be a question.
If you like cooking, you will want to choose a kitchen of your dreams. This could mean sprawling counterspace, exquisite quartz countertops or plenty of storage room. If you will be spending a lot of time writing your memoirs, you will want to choose a home that provides that vital scope for the imagination.
3. What will be the financial benefits of downsizing?
Most downsizing empty nesters have owned their home for some time and will expect a hefty profit from the sale of the home. Depending on the conditions of the market and the price of your next home, you will probably have some cash left over to get a head start in your new life.
In addition to making the down payment on a new house, you could lower monthly costs, pay off debts and even use the cash for that special something you have always been dreaming of doing, like a vacation in the Bahamas. No matter how you choose to invest this financial advantage, downsizing provides you the opportunity to choose a head start.
For example, if you were to choose to have a new home built, you can find many advantages. Your new construction home will be built with all the advanced-energy saving technology that will keep your home running efficiently and low-cost for the foreseeable future. This means that your monthly living expenses can be dropped lower as well. Furthermore, a new home can also mean a considerable reduction in housework and maintenance.
Another way to consider this downsizing is in all the regular expenses that will be reduced through downsizing. Consider the size of your home and all the costs of upkeep. There are the regular expenses that cover cooling, heating, cleaning and maintaining your home in comfortable livable conditions.
Then, when you add that to the costs of food, groceries, and the increased utilities of living with children, the savings improve even more. You can now take these savings and choose where you would like to invest them, you can choose to improve your quality of life with a cooking course, spoil the grandkids or refinish your new home.
Savings are far more than just financial. Consider all the time you will be saving by living in a more convenient location with less responsibilities. This means that you will be able to spend less time cooking, skip picking up the yard, avoid making replacements and upgrades and reduce time invested in many other important tasks. Unless this is the type of thing you want to do with your life, you will find plenty of time opened up for new adventures.
4. How do I plan for the future when downsizing?
There is a common misconception that downsizing is a lot like retiring, but this is not the case. Most empty nesters are still living a fully-active life, just now they have more time and less responsibilities. This being said, it is important to point out that many empty nesters will continue living in their home for years to come. With the great importance that comes from this decision it is good to take the time to think about what you hope to accomplish and then plot out a plan to reach these goals.
Some good longer-term questions to consider at this time include: what type of home would you like to retire in? Are you planning ahead for your health? Will you be selecting the last or perhaps the second to last home you will live in?
There are many options of where you can go from here. Fitting your house with an in-home elevator is a good idea for the coming years and allows for aging relatives to move about easily. There are also single floor condominiums that allow the same kind of easy-access to the home.
Both townhomes and apartments have the added advantage that you will not have to tend to a yard. Whether this is a financial or physical burden, it is not one you will have to bear in some of these locations. This means you will never have shovel snow, mow the lawn or pay one else for this service.
