Downsizing from a large family home to a smaller place may seem
like a natural progression as you near retirement age.
But consider these factors before you make the big move.
The decision to sell your family home and downsize is not an easy one to make. It seems like you’ve spent your whole life fixing it up and paying property taxes and before you know it, the reasons for selling outweigh the reasons for keeping your home. It seems like you’ve spent your whole life fixing it up and paying property taxes and before you know it, the reasons for selling outweigh the reasons for keeping your home.
It could be that your home is now your nest egg, an egg you need to crack to fund your retirement. Or it could be that weeding the grass, shovelling snow and everything else that goes with a large home is now too much. Or that paying for electrical and gas bills on
a four-bedroom home doesn’t make sense when it’s just one or two people living there. Or, perhaps you want to cash in and travel or use the funds to help your children or grandchildren.
Whatever the reason, May Fung, High Net Worth Planner at TD Wealth, says that you have to weigh the reasons and the costs of downsizing to a new home carefully and realistically.
Fung has some experience in this area as she and her husband took the initiative to downsize from their Toronto home to a condo even though both were still working. For her, it was a great experience with a simpler lifestyle but it is not for everyone.