People downsize for several reasons.
Are you an empty-nester and want a lifestyle free of taking care of a big house/yard and only using a few rooms in it? Are you divorcing/separating and want a fresh start? Are you wanting to ditch a large house payment & work towards becoming debt-free? Are you attracted by the "tiny house" craze?
I downsized recently because of the first reason. We lived in a traditional, 4 bedroom/2.5 bath suburban home with a large yard. Our daughter graduated from college and we realized we were using 4 rooms in the house. The family room, the kitchen, the bedroom and the Florida Room (oh! and the screened porch). We began arguing over yard work -- who was going to mow the grass, who was going to give up activities they liked to pull weeds and mulch, etc. We just got tired and realized how nice it would be not to be tied to maintaining a large house & yard.
So we started looking in downtown Columbus. We had always liked downtown and been attracted to the Short North. My husband's law office was downtown and being a Realtor I drive everywhere anyway. Decision was made on the place and we were on the clock. Was that scary? Yes, a little bit, but such a good, freeing feeling to have made a decision!! The best part was walking up the stairs to our new downtown roof-top patio and seeing this view.
Now the fun part -- getting rid of stuff.
At first, it was hard. We picked up each thing, put it back down and said "keep." Then a wise friend told me only to keep the things I really liked, and get rid of the rest. Then I would be surrounded by my favorite things! (She knew the concept even before Marie Kondo wrote her Tidying Up book!)
Once we got the hang of it and started, it was opposite! It was hard to keep things! End result was that we went from 2400 sq.ft. with a 2-car garage to 1400 sq.ft. with a 1-car garage and still have room in our closets!! We even got rid of one of the cars as my husband walks to work now.
So, bottom-line, reach out to me and I can give you in-depth, detailed advice on how down-sizing feels and how to get it done.
