Our first home in Australia was the second floor of a two-storey home. That tiny two-bedroom apartment housed my wife and I, my son, and on occasion, my elderly mother. While it may seem that we were living on top of one another, we had all the space we needed.
Fast forward to today. We have a two-storey home to ourselves, however it is now just shared between just my wife and I. Now we have considerably more space than our first home. However, I can honestly say that we use a quarter of that space.
Now that my son is fully grown and living overseas, we’ve started to consider if and when we should downsize. I’ve outlined below some of the factors that we would address before moving to more modest accommodation.
Factor One: Social Butterfly or caterpillar?
We have loved hosting our friends and family over the years. Whether it was in that small apartment or our current home, we’ve thrown numerous parties. As such, our homes have served as the foundation for numerous laughs and treasured memories.
However, the downside to entertaining is usually the day after. No one really enjoys the countless washing, clean-up and re-organisation that follows a party. It’s certainly an anti-climax.
Having a larger place only means that the clean-up task will be bigger. Moreover, as we get older, we’re less enthused about hosting large-scale parties. Instead, we prefer the smaller, intimate gatherings that don’t require all that space.
Factor Two: how much Does Your Family Visit, Really?
Between my wife and I, we have family based all over the world. Over the years, we’ve played host to several of them. Whether it’s been for weddings or special birthdays, we’ve loved sharing our home with them.
However, since COVID, we’ve had no visitors, nor have we visited anyone. While I’m confident that global travel will resume, I don’t believe it will be the same as before.
Even if it does return to normal, we weren’t really running a bed and breakfast. We played host maybe once or twice a year, and those stays didn’t last more than a few weeks. So if we were to downsize, we could likely still accommodate our guests without it being a terrible inconvenience.
Factor Three: Choosing Utility over Creature comfort
With each house we moved into, we expanded our creature comforts. I included a putting green in the backyard. My son and I also converted one of the spare bedrooms into a full service gym. These were all great ideas at the time.
However, after the first month of practising my short-game, I stopped using the putting green. Nowadays, I seldom use the gym, preferring to exercise outdoors.
While these creature comforts were important to me and my family at one time, I’m now more focused on overall utility. I take greater enjoyment in the limited space I use frequently, as opposed to the larger space I use sparingly.
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Choosing to downsize is definitely in my future, as it is for most others. While I’m in no particular rush, I know based on the factors above that I will be not be burdened by the decision, whenever that time comes.
The content outlined above was written, edited and published by the Lost Realtor. The author has over 20 years or real estate sales and investing experience in the Australian property market. He has held senior positions in Australian building companies, including being the General Manager of the residential sales division of Collier Homes. His qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Graduate Diploma in Building and Construction Law.