There are many good reasons for existing homeowners to consider downsizing their home.  Most often, we think of downsizing as something that older homeowners or empty nesters do. However, there may be valid reasons for others who may have “too much house” to think about right-sizing.  There are many benefits that can be gained by reducing the size of one’s home.

I would suggest that the benefits of downsizing one’s home generally fall into one of two broad categories: financial savings and freedom and flexibility. In fact, the two categories are interrelated.

FINANCIAL SAVINGS

- by selling and moving into a less expensive residence, you may be able to use the proceeds of the sale to seriously lower your outstanding mortgage balance or possibly pay off your mortgage entirely.

- by cashing out of your home, you can unlock and make liquid a good portion of your home equity (wealth).

- by making your wealth liquid by selling your home, you can use the sale proceeds to maybe boost your retirement savings. 

- by selling your home and moving into a smaller place, you can significantly lower your utility costs for things like electricity and gas.

- moving into a less valuable home means that your property tax bill can be reduced, resulting in annual savings.

- reducing overhead or operating costs by downsizing can really help improve your cash flow, allowing you to live a more comfortable and less stressful life.

FREEDOM AND FLEXIBILITY

- owning a detached home, especially a standard size or larger one, can involve a lot of maintenance, cleaning and upkeep.  It can be time consuming. It can be physically demanding and tiring. It can be stressful when there are inevitable and unexpected costly repairs. By downsizing into a condo or townhouse, you can greatly reduce the burden of home maintenance. 

- it’s generally not practical to leave a detached home unattended for extended periods of time. Not only that, your home insurance can become void if your home is not being resided in for a certain number of days. Living in a condo makes it easy to lock and leave for an extended vacation. Condo living is especially ideal for those who want to head south in the winter as snowbirds.

EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS

It can make a great deal of sense for older homeowners, such as baby boomers, to seriously consider downsizing. Those who live in relatively more expensive housing markets in Metro Vancouver, have a wonderful opportunity to move to cheaper housing options in the suburban markets of the Fraser Valley.  You can sell in a more expensive market, buy a Fraser Valley home and bank the difference in value. That banked money could support things like personal savings or retirement funding.

Even those already residing in the Fraser Valley have options. You could downsize within your existing community or move further east towards Langley, Abbotsord, Mission or Chilliwack.  

There are a lot of great smaller size housing options. The Fraser Valley has been booming over recent years with new construction projects.  Getting a new or fairly new condo or townhouse is pretty straight forward to pursue, with lots of choice.

Overall, it can be a wise move to downsize your home at a certain point in time. The Fraser Valley housing market is a great place to do this in.