Downsizing Your St. Louis Home
Lately, you’ve been feeling like your St. Louis home is just too big. You have empty closets, and you don’t even go in some of the rooms in your home any more. If you’re thinking about downsizing, then there are a few things to consider before pulling the trigger.
Here is our guide on to downsizing your St. Louis home.
Understand How Much Downsizing will Save You
Getting a smaller St. Louis home doesn’t mean that you’ll be keeping more money each month. Depending on where you move to, you might end up spending just as much, especially if you move to a more expensive area.
If you’re nearing retirement, then you should be looking for smaller homes in less expensive St. Louis areas. This will keep your property taxes down, and you usually won’t have to pay additional fees like homeowner’s association fees.
You should also be thinking about how much you’ll be saving on utilities. Some homes may have energy-star windows and appliances as well as other green features. Though they may be more expensive upfront, they’ll save you money in the long run. Consider this as you shop for a St. Louis home.
Look at the Best Times to Move
Staying in your St. Louis home for long periods of time means your home will appreciate in value and your family will get to finish certain stages of their lives. For example, if you have a child who is a junior in high school, then moving to a new school district may disrupt your child’s graduation path. Since he or she is so close to finishing school, it’s best to stay in one place.
On the other hand, if you’re nearing retirement and your St. Louis home is empty, then it might be the perfect time for you to pack up and move. If this is you, look at the best times of the month and year to move. Summer months usually have higher moving rates because no one wants to move in the cold. If you can handle a little bad weather, consider moving in the winter or late fall. You’ll save a little money.
Keep your physical limitations in mind as well. If you don’t think you’ll be able to move boxes, then you may need to hire a moving company and add packing services to the overall cost. It’ll cost more money so be ready for that.
Decide What You Need from Your Home
When you bought your St. Louis home, you were probably concerned with the school district, the traffic and the crime rate. Now you may have slightly different concerns. Maybe now being close to your primary hospital is a bigger deal or perhaps you want to be close to your friends and family.
Your needs for your home have also changed. You don’t need four bedrooms any more, and you may not want to have to go up and down stairs all day.
To really know what you want, make a list of your needs, wants and hates. You may only need two bathrooms, and you really hate having two floors. You may also hate having a certain size house because it just means more to clean.
Sell and Get Rid of Extra Belongings
You can’t take all of your belongings to your new downsized house. You won’t have the space, and you’ll feel cramped.
You should be doing a few things to get rid of your possessions. Call your kids home and ask them to go through their old belongings. Have them take what they want and leave the rest to be donated or sold. Next, go through your own closets and take out anything you don’t use any more or don’t want.
Finally, hold a garage sale and donate whatever doesn’t sell. This is a nice way to make a little extra money, and it’s less for you to haul away.
Once you’ve completed these steps, you’ll be ready to start looking for a smaller St. Louis home.