Last Updated on Apr 7, 2020 by James W

Who’d want to downsize by moving out of the home they’ve lived in for years? The same home where they raised their family and lived a happy life all the way into retirement. Mostly nobody.

But what if you were told your old home has nothing to offer you but sentimental value and expensive bills that your income, or retirement fund might eventually not be able to cover? What if you were told that downsizing doesn’t have to be a loss, but actually a financial gain and a new lease on life?

In reality, downsizing can be all these good things for you.

How? Below are a list of ways downsizing your home can be an effective financial move for you and your family.

  1. Earn free and clear money

You’ve used a mortgage calculator to calculate how much of a mortgage loan you can get on your property and the results are good – you can get quite a high sum. But selling your home can fetch you an even higher sum, and the best part is you don’t have to pay it back. By downsizing from a larger home, you get to sell your bigger and more expensive house, and move to a smaller, less expensive one.

You also get to move to a property that is less of a financial strain on your wallet, and save enough from what’s left over from the sale to do whatever you want. You can travel the country or even see the world, or simply live out the rest of your days in leisurely peace secure in the knowledge that you have a significant stock of cash in the bank to do whatever you please with.

  1. Move to a more modern home
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If your current home is a large, old one, then downsizing offers you the option of moving to a more quaint and modern one. The financial benefit is older and larger houses usually consume a large amount resources which lead to you constantly receiving high electricity and water bills. Not to mention what you spend on heating. But in a modern, smaller home, your expenses are reduced because modern houses are usually fitted with energy efficient appliances which will help reduce the cost of your utility bills. Also, the property’s lesser size implies less resources will be required to keep the property warm.

  1. Move to a more conducive environment

Downsizing is an opportunity to move to a more conducive location. Such as an older person moving to a home with less stairs or moving to a property closer to other family members. There has been a trend amongst families to bring their older relatives to live with them in recent years. As you get older, it can be difficult to accept that you may have lost some kind of independence that once had, but living with family can help you to transition into the later stages of life.

If you’re not keen on the idea of living in the same physical building as your family, it might be prudent to think about a ‘grannex’ as an option. These are small outlying buildings where you can have a self-contained home, within the grounds of another property.

There are many options to choose from when it comes to downsizing, so take the time to find something that suits you.

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Founder and chief editor of makemoneyinlife.com Blogger, Affiliate Marketer, Tech and SEO geek. Started this blog in 2011 to help others learn how to work from home, make money online or anything related to business and finances. You can contact me at makemoneyinlife@gmail.com