Top 10 reasons to downsize your home

Is your family home starting to feel a little too big? Maybe you’re not enjoying yelling to your partner from the other end of the house and the accompanying volley of “what” that follows the attempt. Or your kids have finally flown the nest and their bedrooms are slowly becoming a storage dumping ground. Maybe you’ve gone from a full house to an empty house and don’t want to rattle around with the memories of the past for company. Or maybe you’re just really sick of cleaning and weeding all the time. In any case, if you’re no longer feeling at home in your house, it might be time to consider downsizing, which, just quietly, solves all of these problems. Here are our top 10 reasons to sell and downsize.

1. Free up some equity to live a big new life

Selling the family home unlocks the equity in it, leaving you with extra funds to splash out on your retirement. Many people actually rely on the selling of their family home to fund their retirement. The proceeds from your existing home can be put towards your new home, paying off debts, pumping up your super and retirement funds, or buying a life sized golden statue of yourself; no judgments here! It’s your money to live how you want.

2. Low maintenance living
If you’re tired of dusting seemingly endless skirting boards, clearing cobwebs from the corners of high-ceilinged rooms, and spending half your time vacuuming and mopping in a vicious cycle, then you’ll be in heaven with a downsized home and the low maintenance lifestyle it brings. Say goodbye to your intensive cleaning cycle, and hello to easily maintained living spaces and more free time. Cue fanfare.

If you downsize to a Lifestyle Community, you can also take ‘weeding’ off your maintenance to-do list, as our gardening team will look after your front yard and the neighborhood. Score!

3. Become an accidental greeney

It’s not easy being green - except when you downsize! Downsizing automatically means things like your energy consumption go down, because you’re heating, cooling, and lighting up fewer rooms. There’s less environmental impact, and way more fun to be had, especially with Lifestyle Communities® homes, which are also built with sustainable features and energy efficient appliances. The grass - and the homes - really are greener on the other side!

4. A new start and a new community
Retirement can be the beginning of a new chapter, and with new chapters come new characters, new adventures, and new beginnings. Turn the page on a stuffy future and embrace the excitement of retirement as part of a built-in community of people on your wavelength. Find a neighborhood full of potential friends and get stuck into a Lifestyle Community life by taking advantage of all the community activities and amenities. Meet a tennis doubles partner, bond over books in the library, or challenge someone to a pool handstand competition if you want. New home, new community, new you.

5. Choose your dream location to live

There’s a good chance you chose your current home location for a particular reason: maybe it was in a good school catchment area, or it was an easy commute to work, or you moved there to find the room you needed within your budget. By selling and downsizing, you get to choose your new location solely based on where you want to be. Picturing yourself hanging ten in the ocean? Chase a sea change! Planning on spending retirement becoming a regular at the winery? Pour up in wine country! This is your chance to land the dream location with the extra money from your home sale and the freedom your retirement brings.

6. Time to redecorate and update

Wanting to channel your inner interior design expert? A new home is the perfect canvas. Downsizing gives you the opportunity to finally get rid of those old recliners - you know, the ones your kids spilt spaghetti and apple juice on for a decade - because, tragically, they just won’t go with your new space! What a shame. Get that green velvet couch. Buy the marble coffee table. Hang up 14 pictures of your dog. You can update, refresh, and love your new space with a look and feel that screams “Retired and brilliant at it” for you.

7. Save money on ongoing overheads

Downsizing to a secure community will help reduce things like your insurance, electricity bills, and other utility costs. You’ll have more money to throw at that tandem bike, or pottery wheel, or shiny new golf clubs you’ve been eyeing off. If you’re living in a Lifestyle Communities® home, you’ll be paying even lower insurance premiums, thanks to the added security of the gated community, and won’t pay council rates, water rates, or stamp duty.

8. Travel more, worry less
Downsizer life offers a whole new level of freedom when you want to disappear for a holiday. You don’t have to worry about finding someone to watch the house or take care of the garden, and don’t have to take time ensuring security systems are in place, doors and windows locked and monitored, leaving a light on in the hallway, or any other little security tricks. You can just lock the door and go on your merry way, particularly if you’re living within the safety of a Lifestyle Communities® gated community, with security on-site to keep an eye on things whilst you’re off experiencing the world.

9. Live in luxury
You’ve worked hard your entire life, now’s the time to thank yourself for it. Downsize to live in a modern, easily maintainable house, full of conveniences and luxuries. At Lifestyle Communities®, we partner with the best to bring you the best. Our homes are built by Todd Devine Homes, who have now built over 3,000 Lifestyle Communities® homes and counting, with a focus on delivering high quality, low maintenance living spaces. These are complimented by interior design that creates inviting, luxurious spaces both in our homes and the communal spaces in the communities, so you’ll feel like you’re living in a lifestyle magazine wherever you go.

10. Downsize to a Lifestyle Community and live your best resort-style life
If you’re ready to be completely blissed out for your retirement, we’ve got just the place. Downsize to a Lifestyle Community and enjoy a beautiful home with exceptional amenities. With all the best bits of being on holiday, but with no check out time, you can live it up with an on-site pool, cinema, sporting spaces, and community activities, all in picturesque surroundings.

If you’re getting ready to downsize and are looking to level up your retirement, we’d love to have a chat about what you’re looking for and what life in a Lifestyle Communities® is like.