Is It Time To Right-Size Your Home and Your Life?
Let Us Help You Find Out With This Quick Right Sizing Checklist!
Are you living in an“empty nest” and trying to figure out your next move?
On the one hand, you have so many great memories in your current home but yet, is it now starting to feel like too much space? This is a common dilemma that many couples face as grown children move out of the house. Transitioning to either a smaller residence or a new neighborhood can seem like an overwhelming possibility. If you’re not sure exactly how or where to begin, we can help you take it step by step.
Home Size
The National Association of Home Builders says that homes are getting smaller, as the average size of homes built today are in the 2,000 to 2,500 square foot range. But the best size for you really depends on your current situation and your future plans. Consider your lifestyle and happiness level in your current residence.
- How often do you entertain guests or need the extra bedrooms for overnight visitors?
- Are your kids on their own now?
- Are the landscaping maintenance costs and responsibilities starting to outweigh the usefulness of your large yard?
Home Layout
- Are you still able to handle your two-story residence or do you see a time in the near future when a single-story would make more sense?
- Perhaps the separate dining room is not as useful as it once was as you aren’t hosting large groups as frequently?
- Open floorplan vs living space with privacy areas
Assess Your Neighborhood
- Is being in the premier school district important now that your children are grown?
- How is your commute to work and how might that change in the next five years?
- Will it be important to you to be closer to entertainment and shopping venues or are you still happy with your current surroundings.
- Want to live in a ‘walkable’ town? Check out the Walk Score results of the location that you are interested in.
Think About Your Future, In Five Year Blocks
- Has your employment status changed or will it change within the next five years? Consider how that might affect your current living status or influence a future housing change.
- Health Status: No one can truly predict what the future holds for our health as we age, but you probably have a good idea of your activity level now and how things may look five years out. Think about what types of medical facilities are currently around you and how far you would have to commute to reach them.
- Proximity to Family: As one’s life stage and lifestyle changes, this factor tends to be an extremely important consideration and one that is highly variable depending on your own personal situation. Perhaps the age and/or health status of a relative or loved one isn’t a factor now but it may be in the near future. Or perhaps your children have families of their own now and you are planning on retiring soon.
So, if you’re ready to explore new “right-size” housing options, a good place to start is on The Right Size Tampa Bay-our website that is dedicated to helping people from all walks of life with their right sizing housing decisions.
It would be our pleasure to help with any questions you may have. In fact, working with a licensed real estate agent is a best way to get first-hand information about what it’s truly like to live in a specific neighborhood or location. And we’ve provided customers with outstanding residential real estate services for nearly 40 years now.Please contact us at info@dickandkarla.com or 813.294.5786.
