Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

We lived in our starter home for 6 years. Then we moved to a much larger home in a different area of Long Island. We have been here almost 7 years.

It was fairly priced for the area and we put a lot of money into updating it.

A few weeks ago, a house was for sale in our neighborhood. It was much smaller, and on a smaller lot.

I sent the listing to a friend that is looking to move. It wasn't a match for them, but I was intrigued.

I started working the numbers, and found that if we downsized to a similar size and priced home, how much less our mortgage payment and taxes would be. We can afford our current home, but to spend that much less is appealing.

There is a house nearby that will be for sale soon. It is much smaller. It is still zoned for the schools that my children attend, but would cut our mortgage in half. It is move in ready, with minor changes that I would want to make.

There would be enough bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate our family.

Did you ever do it? Would you? I like the idea of getting rid of stuff and simplifying.

Thoughts

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

If it works for you and your family then I would do it. Does it work for your future family or is it something that would just work for you now? I'm always game for simplifying. My 2016 goal is to donate to throw out anything in my house that doesn't have a use.

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I think about it a lot. My stepson is leaving for college in the fall and I think that in some ways it would be nice to have a smaller home - less expensive, lower taxes, less to clean lol, etc. But I do love many things about our home, including the big backyard and pool, so not sure if I'm truly ready to do anything yet.

Message edited 2/2/2016 11:25:57 AM.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I have not done this but if I were in your situation I might if I were looking towards saving for college, ect. How much smaller are we talking? How many people in your family?

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Not the same situation. But we bought a smaller home on purpose and have no intention to move.

Space to me is relative. The more space you have the more crap you fill it with. Some necessary some not.

To me it's also all about layout, storage space, and how you use the space you have.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

how much smaller? what is so big about your current house? tons of extra bedrooms you don't need?

how old are your kids? kids come with a ton of crap IMO.

we have a 4 bedroom house each kid has their own room and we have a play room. granted we def. have too many toys but either way I am dying for more space. I cant wait to be able to afford finishing the basement so we can have it?

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

we started in a 1300 sq foot home (3 bedrooms) - after 8 or so years, we moved to a larger 2100 sq foot home (4 bedrooms, we use one as a toy room) and I could not imagine going back to a smaller house but if it works for you - go for it, saving that much a month would be great

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I don't have kids/ however we have a 1275 sqft house- 3 level split/ splanch. We live on the corner with a wrap yard. We were approved for double what we spent, however we refuse to live to pay a mortgage. Our bedrooms are small but we both didn't grow up in mansions- so this will have to do for the long haul with and without children. My mortgage including taxes and what not is $1850 a month and we only put 5% down to put into perspective how we didn't go for that huge house at $475k +. We live in a very nice neighborhood with good schools. I don't regret purchasing our house, at all- life is very comfortable.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I have never downsized and had a recent epiphany about this topic. I thought we (DH, DD who is 8, and me) needed a bigger house. But what we needed was to own less stuff.

It has taken nearly a year- we had a lot of stuff but it was not Hoarders-level- but I have gotten rid of almost everything we didn't need. I got rid of most of the things we planned to use 'someday' along with a lot of things we were keeping for no good reason.

It has made a huge difference. Our house is only 1500 square feet and while I want to get rid of more, I see and feel the difference. The house is less cluttered and I love that it's faster to clean. We were able to afford for me to leave my f/t job a few years ago too.

So I think if you're able to pare down, going to a smaller home will give you a lot of freedom. I like this blog a lot: Be more with less

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

We tend to buy smaller houses - all of them have been less than 1,800 sq ft. However, size isn't always a great indicator - layout is more important to me. We moved here 2 years ago from NC and it was a typical 90s house that is 2 stories (living on the first floor and bedrooms on the second). However, the house we have here is technically smaller, but I like it more b/c it's a ranch with all living on the same floor (living, kitchen, bedrooms, etc) - and a basement for the playroom, guest room, and storage.

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

We do not have kids but sold our 5br house and moved to a 1br in a high-rise. We own about a tenth of the amount of stuff that we used to. No longer buy crap we don't need (well except for me and my clothes/shoes). It is so much easier and simpler to live!

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Size really wasn't what we were looking for when we were house hunting. It was more layout. We only have 3 in our family so we were looking for 3 or 4 bedroom houses. We wanted a master bedroom, bedroom for my DD, a playroom an office for DH because he works from home. I also wanted a nice size living and dining room and not an open floor plan kitchen. We entertain our family often which is about 25 people so we wanted to be able to have them sit comfortably. That being said, we looked the gamut for houses - 3000 sq. ft and 1200 sq. ft. It was our needs and layout that made the choice. Our house is 1900 sq. ft and it is the perfect fit and layout for us. If your family is able to fit comfortably in the smaller house, do it!!

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Not the same situation, but we live in a 3BR co-op in a phenomenal district. People are always like, arent you going to sell for a bigger house. The answer is no. We arent. We are very happy here. There are 4 of us in 3BR, 1BR and 1100 square feet. Plenty of space for us. our mortgage is DIRT cheap, I know people who rent smaller apartments for more than we pay. We DONT EVER spend our free time doing yard work or repairs, Ill never have to worry about the roof going or the boiler - all covered. Lightbulb out in the front - not my problem. Oil deliveries - nope. It affords us the luxury to do so much more - both in the amount of things I can afford for my children to participate in, vacations and just free time on the weekends where the ONLY thing we have to do is spend time together.

I would HIGHLY recommend it, its not for everyone, but it works for us and I wouldnt change a thing.

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I got divorced two years ago and kept my home , mostly for DD, but its a four bedroom and alot of work and expensive and thinking of downsizing also. Since its only the two of us I would love to get a townhouse in the same development now, people think im crazy. i just keep thinking of how much more money i could save, especially as DD gets older.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I think if there is still enough space to meet your needs then go for it.

Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I don't think I would downsize unless there was a life changing event that I would need to. If I could afford what I had - I wouldn't get less space to save money. Especially with little kids. I know so many people who bought smaller homes before kids and are now looking to sell or hate that there is no where to store anything or give the kids their own space. My sister in law especially - I get stressed just walking into her house because all the kids are right on top of each other, toys are all over the place.. I wouldn't be able to deal with that everyday.

Wanted to add: my SIL is very neat and organized so that is not the issue. Theres just not even space for everything for the kids. They have small bedrooms and no play room so everything for them ends up in their liviing room.

Message edited 2/2/2016 2:41:40 PM.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Not me but my SIL and BIL did it when their oldest was close to college age and they were anticipating needing less space.

They were able to pay cash for the smaller house so now they are mortgage free, which enables them to save more for their children's college tuition.

It's several years later and I believe they are happy with their decision.

Personally I would crunch ALL the numbers before I would even consider this.

Both selling and buying incur many costs.

Even the "little" things will add up. You'll need to move. You'll probably want to renovate. Some of your furniture might be too big and you'll need new, smaller items. Etc. etc.

I would think it would only make sense in drastic circumstances - i.e. you really can't afford your home, you'd be mortgage free, or you'd be changing your type of living space (home to apartment) etc.

Message edited 2/2/2016 3:10:40 PM.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

If we had a bigger house we would just fill it with more crap and run out of space again. Bigger house = bigger bills for everything. We are staying put in our starter home.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Another thing to think about, which may or may not apply, is house values. I think of my house as an investment. I expect it to double in value in X number of years.
If I have a $300k house, in X years, I'll have an "extra" $300k in my investment.
If I have a $500k house, in X years, I'll have an "extra" $500k.
I know that equation is over-simplified, and there are many factors involved, but it's still something to factor in when crunching the numbers.

We doubled the size of our house instead of moving because it would have cost us almost $50k just to move (Real estate tax, moving costs, attorney fees, closing costs, etc, etc....)

DW wants a smaller house, for many of the reasons mentioned in this thread. I want an even bigger house because 1) I'm a guy, and 2) "Bigger is better", right?

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

I have not done this personally but I have a friend who has. Basically, they went from a HUGE 3,000 sq. ft. house to a little more than 1,000. Their first house was too expensive and they were facing foreclosure.

DH and I, however, have been in the same home we bought as newlyweds 10+ years ago. We have 2 kids and 1500 sq. ft. is perfect for us. We have a partially finished basement for a playroom and the rest of the area is storage.

I would definitely price out the options. There's no harm in looking. Good luck!

Message edited 2/2/2016 7:59:51 PM.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?

Something to also consider is the reduction in tax write offs as you'll most likely be paying less real estate taxes and mortgage interest which will result in higher income taxes and offset the overall savings.

Re: Has anyone ever down sized to a smaller home?