Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate

Freedom! Glorious freedom!

Many Waterloo Region families purchase their homes when their children are young and the family is growing. So it is not unusual to buy a home with extra bedrooms for additional children who might come along and recreational areas where the kids can play.

Many of our K-W homes also have large basements to store things, huge kitchens, multiple bathrooms, two and three car garages, and large yards with fenced in areas, swimming pools, and intricate landscaping.

The trend towards larger and more elaborate homes has accelerated in the last 20 years. The trend continues even though families are smaller now than they were one and two generations ago, there is much less cooking done at home, and there are far fewer families where older parents live with their mature children.

However, as we get older reality sets in. The kids move out, we do less entertaining and have less energy for cleaning and repairing. Most of us want to get rid of the excess and “downsize”.

New Beginnings

To a large degree, downsizing is about saving money. A larger home sits on a larger lot so you pay more in taxes and your utility bills are higher because you have more space to heat or cool or keep lit.

But downsizing is about new beginnings too. The kids are gone so your focus in life has to change. Seeing all those empty rooms just reminds you of the way it used to be – of younger days that are gone forever.

Downsizing to a smaller home, apartment or condo is an affirmation that you are ready to redefine a new life in a new place no longer dedicated to things and events from the past.

Your New Needs and Interests

You’re probably familiar with the TV ad where minutes after waving their last child off to college the mom and dad streak up to their child’s room and start transforming it into an entertainment center for themselves. They’ve obviously been thinking about their new “needs” for quite some time.

If you have a large house with too many rooms to clean, too much grass to cut and a furnace that burns way too much fuel you’ve probably already done quite a bit of thinking about your needs and interests.

Financial Considerations

First of all there’s the money you can save by living in a smaller place. If you don’t need 4 bedrooms, three garages and a large deck sitting on a half acre of grass, then you’ll save quite a bit of money by downsizing to a smaller home.

You’ll also pay less for maintenance, less for taxes, and less for utilities. Plus, you’ll be relieved of a lot of the responsibility for upkeep and maintenance of these things.

You should also be able to use the equity in your large home to purchase something smaller and end up with a fair chunk of money left over. Or if you are still paying down the mortgage, your payments should be quite a bit less per month.

Convenience and Security

For many people increased convenience and security are just as important reasons for downsizing as saving money. We become more vulnerable as we age, need more frequent access to medical services, and are less inclined to travel long distances for groceries or visit large busy malls to do our shopping.

So there is a strong tendency for “downsizers” to move to self-contained communities where shopping and medical facilities are close at hand. Some of these communities are gated and have their own security systems. Larger ones even have recreational facilities and offer social and cultural opportunities right within the community itself.

Most of the residents of communities like this are in the same stage in life. So the homes, condos or apartments are designed with just the right type of amenities. These homes also require as little maintenance as possible, and are located near the services they make regular use of.

It is also much easier to leave a home in this type of setting untended for weeks or months. There is no grass to cut or snow to shovel, and security is usually handled by the community. So that makes it much easier to vacation, travel or go south for five or six months at a stretch.

All things considered, downsizing makes a lot of sense for retired couples. A smaller, well-planned home is a good investment for now and for the future, costs less to operate, and frees up the couple to enjoy their retired life.

Tags: downsizing, empty nester, retirement housing, retirement living