We’ve got your back with personal and professional insights from real estate agents and home financial specialists who have outgrown their homes and who’ll share the determining factors that influenced them to upsize their space.
Running Out of Room
The most obvious indicator that you’ve outgrown your home is the realization that you simply need more space. The “starter home” that you moved into as a single person or newlywed might be getting a little tight as time goes on.
More Kids than Bedrooms
Perhaps your home was ideal for a single person or small family, but now you have more kids than your bedrooms can comfortably hold. Not to mention, you may find yourself tripping over toys and sports equipment because you’ve run out of storage space.
Carolina Barefoot, a REALTOR® at Illustrated Properties, experienced this when she had her first set of twins. The family moved from a tight one-bedroom apartment, barely able to fit a stroller, to a two-bedroom apartment with ample storage and perks for kids, like a pool and playroom.
However, after her second set of twins arrived, her family had to move once again, this time to a large home that would fit the entire family.
“Perhaps your yard space feels tight, and you need another garage bay for the hulk of a minivan that you needed to buy once the second set of twins arrived,” Barefoot jokes. “Not to mention all the bikes and scooters that come with raising a tribe of toddlers.”
Furniture Fiasco
Toys might not be the only things you’re tripping over. How many times have you stubbed your toe on a piece of furniture or bumped your hip into the corner of your counter? Or as Barefoot phrases it, “Your once clear hallway is becoming a veritable minefield.”
Additionally, over the years you may have stuffed furniture or other miscellaneous items into storage and find yourself running out of storage space.
Are You Not Entertained?
You may also want to entertain friends and family at parties or during the holidays but realize that you lack the space for larger events and adequate seating. Families are constantly growing with new relationships and new children. If Thanksgiving is already a tight squeeze and you prioritize entertaining, you may need a new venue.
Unexpected Family Factors
In addition to the lack of space, there are some unplanned events that might occur in your life that would require more space.
Boomerang Kids
If you have “boomerang kids,” young adults who move back home after previously living on their own, you might go from a little bit of breathing room to waiting in line for the bathroom every morning.
While to some, this might be a huge blessing (or worst nightmare), the fact remains that you might have to make room for your returning child. You’ll also have to adjust your empty-nest mindset along with your space; if you turned your child’s bedroom into a yoga studio, you’ll have to move your meditation sessions to a different room.
Aging Relatives
You may have aging parents or other relatives who need health assistance and might not have the financial means to age in place or stay at an elder care facility, ensuring that they might need to move in with family members.
Should you experience this, you’ll not only need to make room for the person or people, but any necessary medical equipment or specialized furniture they may need, and your home may need to include wheelchair accessibility.
All things considering, if you want your boomerang child or aging loved one to move into your home, you may need to upsize in order to make room.
Economic Factors
Not all factors for outgrowing your home are going to be obvious.
In fact, one important perspective to consider is purely financial, suggests John Bodrozic, co-founder of HomeZada, a personal finance platform designed to manage all aspects of your home.
“You might live in a neighborhood where the forecasted home values are not growing and perhaps even shrinking in value,” Bodrozic explains. “The desirability factor of your neighborhood might be decreasing, and therefore, you might want to get out now where you can sell the house for a decent price, but if you wait a few more years, the value might be even less.”
Bodrozic asserts your home is a real state asset, and depending on a combination of economic and neighborhood factors, the estimated value can go up or down. Your city or town might be growing with more people wanting to live there, or shrinking as more people move elsewhere.
“This is part of the real estate asset value you as a homeowner don’t really have control over, but you really want to pay attention to this neighborhood trend on a continual basis,” he explains. “If values are going up, you are growing your equity and net worth because of these market conditions, but if values are going down, your equity is shrinking and you might want to sell sooner before it continues to shrink more.”
Personal Factors
You may also have personal reasons to move to a new home that aren’t based on size.
Long Commutes
If your area is booming or you’ve experienced a recent career change, your commute to work might be a few more miles or minutes than you’d like it to be. This can add up on your car, financially and physically, and you may not want to rack up a hefty gas or maintenance bill on your automobile.
Not Knowing Your Neighbors
There might come a day when you look around your neighborhood and realize you don’t know any of your neighbors, which might have a few different effects on your level of comfort. You may want more people around in similar situations – you might want (or already have) children and are looking for a kid-friendly environment.
You’re Never Home
If you enjoy the city but live in the country, you may want to make the move to somewhere more your speed. On the contrary, you may want peace and quiet and the sounds of horns honking and music blaring might get to you over time.
If you find that you’re rarely home, consider the locations where you spend the bulk of your time. Perhaps you want to live closer to work or your favorite nighttime scene? If you have kids, you might want to live closer to their schools.
In Barefoot’s case, her family opted for a home on a country club facility that provided tons of common space with outdoor activities for her kids like tennis, a pool and easy access to great parks and beaches.
Consider these personal factors when thinking of your current home. If you find your current location doesn’t mesh with your lifestyle or needs, it might be time to move.
You’ve Outgrown Your Home, Now What?
If your home starts to feel crowded, Barefoot advises to act quickly, saying, “You don’t want to move when you can’t bear it any longer.”
She also mentions that a new home might require compromises, like moving to a new neighborhood, having a longer commute to work or moving to a new school district.
“The bottom line is, don’t be afraid to educate yourself on what is on the market,” she suggests. “Talk to a professional REALTOR® and lender to understand what you can afford.”
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