I downsized from a 3300 square ft home to 1400 sq ft bungalow. And I couldn’t be happier. Life is so much easier to handle. Retiring next month and the bills will be considerably less. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Did you own the home, so that you're able to take some equity and use it for the new place? How much less is your new payment, if I can ask? Just curious because I'm looking to do that soon myself. My current mortgage is killing me.
We love our choice to downsize from a huge home into a 1200 sq ft corner condo. Best choice ever! Cost savings are mega. No maintenance. Single floor living. Lock and leave without worries about security issues. Such an easier lifestyle.
@@kbanghart Basically with a condo you own wall to wall, so your insurance is much lower. Your HOA dues cover common areas, the roof, ext. siding etc. However, one needs to be clear that there is sufficient funds in the HOA fund. It is best if it is professionally managed. In terms of appreciation, condos generally appreciate at a lower amount. This is not a hard and fast rule, one also has to be fine in living in a densely populated area too.
Just found your channel! I love it! We downsized in a BIG way twice. Once from a 10 acre ranch in Ohio then again in 2017 after living in our Florida home for 8 years. We traveled for 7 months living out of our carry-ons with our 2 college aged kids.This was one dream we knew we had o do RIGHT THEN or the kids would have grown and moved away and we would never had the chance. Because of downsizing...we were able to fulfill that dream and not only that...now our children have had experiences they would never would have had and now LOVE to travel and have some big dreams of their own. Downsizing can bring unexpected wonderful things into one's life. - Melody :)
We downsized from a four-bedroom house to a two-bedroom condo. Overall we are pleased with the results. In addition to the living area, we have a 5x6 storage room in the basement and a one-car garage in a separate building. Our unit overlooks a large pond with a backdrop of trees. The complex is not age-restricted but the neighbors are generally quiet. The big con for us was that we didn't plan well and did things in too much of a hurry. If you decide to downsize, be organized in your planning and communicate openly with your spouse or partner. Be open to each others' ideas and make decisions together.
@@stephenmerrick3189 I'm watching this video again after months, and then found your comment, you didn't really give any other details but that's ok. I just hope to avoid problems of my own. Our current house is 2,200 square feet, and we plan the downsize to maybe a thousand or even less, with a much smaller mortgage,. We may have to rent for a bit first though, of course to make sure we find the right place.
@@kbanghart We have lived in our two'-bedroom condo for over three years now, and my wife and I still agree that it was a good decision to downsize. We like the area because it's convenient to shopping, highways, and the airport. If we could go back and do it over, we would have bought the larger unit that was available at the time, but our current unit has adequate space. The gas and electric usage is considerably less than in our previous house. We have replaced carpet and flooring in the dining room, kitchen, living room and hallway with vinyl plank flooring. The range and dishwasher have also been replaced and we are considering further upgrades.
This helps me so much. My husband and me are ready, he was just diagnosed with the big C and reality hits on what is really important. Like your channel
We moved into a house twice the size as our last house, it’s our dream home! This was 9 yrs ago and people are asking us when we are downsizing I guess because we are of that age 57 & 58. Well we are not downsizing! We are downsizing our items and have been decluttering a lot. I played the Minimalism game in February and I continue to declutter monthly. We love where we are and have no plans to move. Maybe if circumstances change then maybe but no plans to downsize our house anytime soon. Great video kudos darling!! 💜 it’s a 3100sqft house and we are debt free except the house but it will be paid off before Hubby retires.
I downsized from a 4,000 sq ft home in the country to an 1,800 sq. ft. home in town and I regret it. My former home is in the process of being sold and I accepted and offer for hundreds of thousands less than asking because there is not a huge market for homes in its price range. My new home needs far more work than I realized. It did not look like a fixer upper and came back with nothing wrong on the inspection. I will have to spend over 100k to fix it. I will not gain any money for years to come due to the high repair budget. But what surprised me the most was that the yard work is actually easier at my old home due to commercial equipment. Now I am missing my huge Mustang for snow removal. I am out there (now walking instead of riding) with a Toro snowblower that cannot get thru end of driveway snow. It is a nightmare. I miss my large commercial mower as well. I considered moving to a condo, but with several dogs it is not a good fit. Downsizing has added so much stress to my life. I have no trouble with a smaller space or getting rid of possessions.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I'm so sorry the downsize didn't work out for you. Hopefully, once you get the bulk of the repairs done, it will be far less maintenance for you. And, yes, we certainly like the simplicity of living in a condo (but we only have 1 dog... ;) ) Thanks again for sharing!
@@ramonagaibor1898 me too. But one thing, I definitely will be moving to an area that will get a lot of snow, so that will help. Plus it sounds like the commenter had a bad inspection, like, very bad! This is a big lesson, spending a relatively small amount for a second opinion might really pay off!
100,000 to fix?? I don't understand. Was the foundation bad, or roof, or ?? I mean, roof by itself isn't nearly that expensive to fix or replace, so I really want to hear some details about this. And you or the realtor or the inspector saw NONE of this beforehand??
@@kbanghart Concrete driveway all cracked up (I did not notice), cost $20K, repair cinderblock fence that had cracks (did not notice), 10k, replace peaked part of roof only, 2K, roof leaked from melting snow, house had almost no insulation and I was told it was energy efficient, 15K, paint house, 15K. I was told the house need painting from inspector, landscape and regrade yard as water pooled around house after raining 30K(not a spectacular landscape), remodel bathroom 15K(I did see and expect this), replace 2 carpets 5K, replace garage doors and 4 exterior doors. Garage doors rotting(did not know, 8K, replace windows that did not open in bedrooms and large window with broken seal, 8k did not notice, 8k I was told nothing at all was wrong with the house except for paint. I am sure I have forgotten something, but you get the idea.
We lived in our first home for 24 years and we have it as a rental property right now. This home is 1600 sf and is located in a very nice neighborhood. The home we replaced it with is over 3200 sf. The problem with our new house is that it has a large mortgage and our property taxes were $11,000 last year. Since we will be retiring in 2 years, we plan on moving back to our first home. We believe that our retirement will be much better without a mortgage. We really love the larger home but the expense of owning and maintaining it will make things harder for us in our retirement years. On the plus side, since owning the new house it has increased in value by around $300k, which will be a blessing for us to use in our retirement. Going back to our smaller home will require us to swallow our pride but not javelin any debt will make this easier for us.
Pros: Lower heating bills Cheaper to decorate Cons: Cramped kitchen/laundry area Less space to sit and eat Less 'circulation' space Less storage space (even though you need it more when moving from a larger property) No space for hobbies or side-hustles Can't have relatives come to stay Claustrophobia (especially if you're housebound) Fewer toilets (important as you get older) Less outside space Increased cooling bills due to inability to move around so easily
I believe in the video I talk about downsizing form 5000 to 3000 to 1500. But now, we're in a 250 sq foot RV! And that took some serious downsizing! haha! But it's awesome! I will be posting a video on that soon!
