There are many reasons why you would want to downsize your property. Perhaps you are planning your retirement and interested in reaching your financial goals early. Many people live in a large family home, but the house mainly stands empty because the children have grown up and moved out.
There are usually high utility bills that need to be paid, multiple rooms that need to be cleaned or serviced, and a large garden to attend to. Once you reach retirement age, such things may not interest you as much as they once did, and you deem the home an unnecessary expense for you and your significant other.
More often than not, people prefer a neat, smaller home that is easy to manage and costs less money to maintain at this stage of your life. This transition has many benefits and saves you time, money, and energy. Instead, you could use the money you would have spent on utilities on holiday getaways, family, work, and fun hobbies.
Downsizing your property can put you on the fast track to retire comfortably without the stress. Whether you have only considered downsizing your property or have taken the first step, we hope the following article will help you assess your move to a new lifestyle.
Convenient facilities available
Downsizing your property doesn’t mean you have to decrease your quality of life. When moving to a smaller place, you are looking for all the amenities and fun activities that you are typically used to but in a smaller package. You should consider the type of home you would like to move to.
Are you looking for a smaller house or a unit in an apartment block? The two options have their pros and cons, but it is up to you to decide what amenities you can live with and without. For example, a small home may be more private, with a garden and swimming pool, but will require maintenance.
An apartment may be less hassle and allow you to meet more people, but you might not have the private outdoor space you are used to having. Furthermore, people generally like to spend less time at home if they live in a smaller area. This could be your time to start a new hobby or sport.
A quick tip: we recommend researching the property you may be interested in and seeing which cafes, shops, and other amenities are nearby. Are there any sports or community clubs that you could join? Drive to the property and take a walk around the neighbourhood to see if it’s the right place for you.
Distance to neighbours
Something to consider when downscaling your home is whether you are comfortable living close to other people. When people downsize, they usually move to a condo or an apartment block. In this case, you may be right next door to others and will likely share a wall.
This shouldn’t matter if you are a people person and love to socialise. Many apartment blocks usually cater for mixing by making communal spaces for tenants to meet and talk to others. On the other hand, people at retirement age may not be interested in neighbours who share their personal space and make noise on occasion.
Some prefer peace when retiring and want their own space to do what they want when they want. In this instance, the solution would be a small stand-alone home where you still have a private room and an outdoor area. Here you need to decide what suits your lifestyle and stick to that.
This transition shouldn’t have to be a strenuous one. Instead, quite the opposite, as the main point of downsizing is to make more room in your life for fun and relaxation as you enter into retirement.
Need for a personal home office
Although you may be entering retirement, you might not necessarily want to stop working immediately. A home office is a great place to get things done, whether work or simply admin tasks. You should consider whether a personal home office is something you would like to have in your new home.
If you are interested in having a work desk at home, you will need to designate space for it either in a separate room as your study or simply a quiet corner where you can think. A bigger home may be necessary for a separate study room. However, it depends on the property itself. Many apartments are designed with an extra space unofficially designated as the study.
You will need to research different properties and see which layout works. For those who don’t enjoy working from home so much, you can also move into a smaller apartment without an extra room and simply rent a coworking space that you can use as your office. There are many options to consider, but it’s an easy decision when you know what you’re looking for.
Family members in the household
Depending on your living situation, you may have more family members in the house with you. Whether you still have children or grandchildren living with you may affect how much you can downsize. It generally makes things more complicated when more people are involved, and this is something which you should take into account when deciding to move to a smaller home.
If you have more than two family members in your home, moving into a smaller apartment or condo could be slightly uncomfortable. The solution for this option is to move to a smaller stand-alone home with enough rooms to accommodate your family.
If it is just you and your significant other, the downsizing process becomes much more straightforward, and there are multiple options to consider with plenty of flexibility. You could move into your own smaller home and use the money to travel to places you’ve always wanted to see!
Personal space and your quiet place
Although the main reason why retired people downsize is to be closer to family, it is still essential to have a quiet place. Having your own space and a place to yourself may be high on your priority list when downscaling.
You need to decide how comfortable you are staying close to other people or if you prefer your own home. Alternatively, are you comfortable being on your own without anyone else around? Questions like these start to clear up the picture when you want to downsize.
Retirement is a time for fun and relaxation after spending many years working. It can be when you may want to start a new hobby like painting or Kopi King. You need space to do these things. Consider what you are interested in trying out when looking for a new area. There is nothing to worry about if you aren’t immediately sure what you would like to do in your newfound free time. You can always take up art lessons, take fitness classes or join a local music school nearby later.
Needs for home storage
As most people agree, people can gather plenty of possessions over time. Some hoard all belongings in their garage for their entire lifetimes. Enough things to fill two houses! At retirement age, it’s safe to say that people have had a long time accumulating possessions.
When deciding to downsize, you must be aware that you will most likely not be able to bring all of that with you. For those up to the task, downsizing can be seen as the spring cleaning of your life. You will need to think about what you will keep, sell or throw out when you move into a smaller space. Moving, in general, is not a straightforward task, never mind having to decide what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.
Does your new home have a garage where you can store certain things, or will you have to rent out a self-storage unit? How much storage space do you need? Do you really need that old rug? Asking yourself these questions will allow you to make the right choice when choosing your next property.
Possible visitors in the future
When downsizing your home to plan for retirement, you should also consider others. Most retired people downsize and move to a new home to be closer to family.
This may be to spend more time with children and grandchildren. Grandparents can support their children by taking the grandchildren on outings and occasionally having them sleep over at their home.
There will need to be an extra room available for grandchildren to stay in when visiting their grandparents. You may also have relatives that live overseas and would like to visit you in your new home. They will require a comfortable place to sleep and enjoy their visit with you without feeling too cramped.
Again, downsizing your home doesn’t mean you have to compromise on the quality of your home and the quality of your life! You want people to think of your home as their favourite place to visit.
Ask yourself if there will be any possible visitors to your new home over the years. Make a list, and if you come up with five or more names, it’s a good sign to look for more rooms.
Furniture
It is essential to review your furniture as you downsize your home. Items such as large couches and coffee tables and eight-seater dining room tables may have fit perfectly in your old home. However, your new home may require furniture tailored to its size and shape.
For example, you may no longer have a huge lounge to place three bulky couches but instead, have a more quaint lounge that only fits two standard-sized couches comfortably.
Another example might be that you don’t have a designated dining room anymore and may instead have to get a kitchen table to eat your meals with family and friends.
More often than not, it is difficult to move furniture from one home into another. Especially if you bought the original furniture for the home you were staying in at the time.
The furniture looked terrific in that home but may not work so well for your new one. Therefore, it’s essential to take inventory of your furniture and whether it’s worth it to bring everything along to your new property.
If there are no sentimental attachments to your furniture, selling them and buying new furniture could be the best option. Furnishing a new place can be fun and could end up saving you a lot of hassles!
Future financial aims
Downsizing allows you to save on monthly payments. High utility and maintenance bills, along with mortgage and insurance payments, can burn money quicker than you think. It’s time to reassess if the large home you are in at the moment is necessary and sustainable for your finances.
If you are looking to retire, downsizing your property is a sure way to attain your financial goals faster. Less space usually means less money and less hassle. You may find moving into a smaller home may be the best decision you have made in your life.
The simplicity that comes with a smaller home already takes some pressure off. Once you can see what it does for your finances, you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it sooner. Whatever your financial goals may be, downsizing is one of the best ways to realise them in a relatively short and effortless manner.
Plans for the future
Is your plan to enjoy your full retirement in your new, downsized home? If so, you will need to take into consideration that over time, moving around may not be as easy as it once was. You will have to think about the accessibility of your new home and if you will be comfortable there for years to come.
For instance, moving to a third storey unit in an apartment block without an elevator could mean trouble down the line getting up the stairs to the apartment. A more suitable home would be a ground-floor apartment or an apartment with elevator access.
If you are planning on moving to a more accessible home in your old age, then accessibility is not a significant concern at the moment. However, it is something to keep at the back of your mind over time.
Closing thoughts
Change is a certainty of life. Downsizing your home is a positive change, whether it’s for retirement financial aims, being closer to family, or traveling the world. There is so much to gain from moving into a smaller, more manageable home.
We sincerely hope that this article has cleared any doubts and enticed you to consider the option of downsizing your home. After all, retirement is meant to be the best time of your life!
Should you need further advice on downsizing your home for retirement, feel free to get in touch with the PropertyLimBrothers team, and we will always be happy to help.
If you have enjoyed this piece, we think you might also be interested in checking out our past article, Is there a best time to sell my property (timing the market) to take your first step in downsizing your property.
P.S. This article is written in conjunction with our #InvestorsSeries on Youtube. We drop nuggets of wisdom for you to learn more about Singapore’s property market! From frequently asked questions to market analysis, we will take you through them all with the PropertyLimBrothers team.
