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“Real luxury is not working like a maniac to take an expensive vacation–it is living a life you enjoy every day.” ―Kathy Gottberg
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A previous blog described our ten year experience downsizing in a smaller home. In this blog, I’ll explore our decision to “Rightsize” into a larger and more expensive Home, and some of the pros and cons associated with “Upsizing” or “Rightsizing” (whichever term you prefer.)
In the blog DOWNSIZING IN RETIREMENT, I spoke about our decision to move from a bigger home to a smaller patio home. After living in our patio home for ten years, we have moved (rightsized) into a larger home in a different area of our hometown.
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Why Upsize?
Our decision to upsize resulted from several factors, primarily the need for more space. Our family has more than doubled in the last ten years.
Our nuclear family is five people (my wife, me, and three children.) Our immediate family has grown to eight adults and four grandchildren, with a fifth grandchild expected in December 2024.
Our patio home began to feel smaller and smaller with each passing family event.
In addition, our daughter, son-in-law, and their two daughters decided to move back to our hometown. They requested that we move closer to them.
My wife and I felt our current patio home was not optimal for our future.
We also realized that nothing was forcing us to move. We could live happily in the patio home we lived in for the last ten years.
Our decision wasn’t based on necessity but on optimization. Looking closely at the three reasons outlined above and several other factors, we decided to move into a bigger home in a more upscale area of our hometown. We felt that this home would be most appropriate for us at this point in our lives.
As I write this, I am sitting on my front porch and watching kids practice soccer across the street in the park. These activities are not something that I would have been able to do at my previous home. Both yesterday and today, I walked over four miles around the neighborhood. It is pleasant walking in our new neighborhood. There are beautiful homes and trees present to shade the route. These are the kinds of optimization things that I am speaking about. There are more couples here that match our demographics. It’s only been one month, and I am close to matching the number of neighbors I knew in my old neighborhood.
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Pros and Cons of Upsizing
*More maintenance– A large home generally means more maintenance when compared to smaller homes. Our new home is larger than our prior home and has not been maintained. My wife and I realized when we purchased the home that it would require significant upgrades to both interior and exterior spaces. Our rationalization was that our patio home is now 13 years old and will soon begin to have maintenance issues. By replacing the roof, upgrading stucco and trim, and renovating the interior of our new home before moving in, we felt that we were “front-loading” required maintenance at our new home. The strategy here is that front-loading these costs now will minimize maintenance costs in the future.
*More taxes– there is not much to be said about this particular consideration, as a move to a larger home will precipitate an increase in property taxes.
*More utility usage– more square footage means more space to heat and cool. This extra space equates to higher utility usage and higher utility bills. In retirement, more time is spent at home, which increases utility usage.
*More cost for home– Generally, smaller homes carry a smaller price tag, especially if relocating to the same town or moving within the same geographic area. Since we are moving from a smaller home to a larger home in an upscale area, our home cost increased exponentially.
*More stress– owning a more expensive home may create more stress. It costs more to purchase a larger home. It costs more to maintain, has a larger tax bill and higher utility bills. A larger home in an upscale area may increase the need to “keep up with Jones” because of the greater exposure to affluent neighbors and residents.
*Freedom to do other things (more time)-this may seem weird, but purchasing this house should give us more time. When purchasing our home, we were aware of the fact that there was a great deal of delayed maintenance. My wife and I decided to “front load” or do as much of the maintenance now as possible. We are still working through some of the maintenance issues but should be finished with all of the upgrades and maintenance to the house within six months. So, right now, we have less free time. However, that situation should change within 6 to 8 months. The good news is our new location provides the opportunity to comfortably walk to restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies, and exercise facilities. The benefit of nearby services should result in significant savings in travel time the longer we live in our new location.
*Freedom to do other things (more money)– there is no way around the fact that living in our new home will be more expensive. Taxes, utilities, insurance, and HOA fees will all be higher. However, future maintenance fees should be minimal because much of this deferred maintenance has been resolved. The proximity of many services means that we should save on fuel and automobile expenses in the future.
Why would we willingly increase our monthly and annual expenses? We are trading dollars for an improved environment and lifestyle. Is living in this neighborhood worth all of the headaches and extra expenses? Only time will tell! I only know that at this point in my life, I am willing to optimize our lives by trading dollars for a better living experience.
*Forced closeness– having 2600 ft.² of living area is more space than two people require. Our new house has allowed us to reconfigure our living space and how we utilize it. We have reconfigured one of our four bedrooms as a business/craft space. Some people might refer to this room as my “man cave.” Having more space allows my wife and I more room to pursue different tasks without interfering with each other. We had periodically experienced a forced closeness in our patio home that sometimes was not ideal.
*Different demographics of homeowners– I am not convinced yet that we have found “our people.” we have enjoyed the interaction with neighbors and other residents that the design of this community affords. Our daughter, an architect, described how the design of homes and public spaces encourages interaction among residents. We have met many neighbors and other residents who stroll past our home.
*More storage space– compared to the limited storage capacity of our patio home, it feels like we have unlimited storage space at our new location. We have not filled all kitchen cabinets and have some cabinets that are empty. We also have surplus closet space. These things are some of the bonuses of our new and bigger home that we are more appreciative of coming from our smaller patio home.
*More garage space– our new home has increased garage space. I am excited that we have adequate storage and workspace in the garage, and I now have a dedicated workspace. I’m still missing a workbench, but I may create a workbench in the future.
*Reduced clutter– downsizing can be an opportunity to consolidate and reduce clutter. Now that we have upsized, we find we have extra space. The directive now will be to avoid clutter in the future. Extra space increases the tendency to retain unneeded items that should be donated or discarded.
*Releasing equity– I explained in detail in the blog “THE BIG DRAIN” how we addressed the purchase of our new home. Instead of selling our patio home to provide funds to purchase our new home, we had to seek outside funding while allowing our daughter and her family to live in our patio home. They will live in our patio home while their home is under construction. To learn more about the purchase of our home see: “THE BIG DRAIN.”
*Moving costs– We contracted the services of a local moving company to move our furniture and major items across town. since we were only moving several miles, we decided to move fragile and irreplaceable items on our own. We were able to avoid wrapping and securing many items, and also moved the majority of our pictures the same way.
*Cost of buying– there are several costs associated with buying a home.
*Freedom from “Things.” A chance to clean out– There is a certain amount of freedom derived from getting rid of things. We decluttered ten years ago when we moved into our patio home. We now have a second shot at decluttering as we relocated to our new home. It’s amazing how much “stuff” one can accumulate over time.
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Final Thoughts
Downsizing was a wonderful thing for us. My wife and I had the opportunity to evaluate living a simpler, less expensive lifestyle in a small but well-appointed patio home. We experienced a certain sense of freedom after selling our more expensive Home.
After living conservatively for ten years, our lives have changed considerably. We decided to upsize. Our family has grown and our patio home no longer fits our needs.
Our decision to move is less a financial decision and more a decision to optimize our lives. We’re willing to trade dollars and a more conservative lifestyle in exchange for a bigger and more expensive house that fits our present needs and desires.
We could have continued to live in our patio home very comfortably and without regret. Our decision to move was driven by external force and not by the living conditions of our patio home.
Only time will tell whether our move and attempt at life optimization are successful. My wife and I don’t regret our purchase and are thrilled with the progress we’ve achieved to date.
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