Buying a home is a huge financial commitment, and it can pay off very well if you hold on to the investment (repeated buying and selling to make your way up the property ladder can take away much of the value of your investment). Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that a home is supposed to be the one place where you’re comfortable, not the one place that constrains you. If you need to move up you could consider renting your home out, and looking into buying or renting a bigger home yourself. You do need to make sure before you make such a move, though, that you do in fact need a bigger home.
If you’re in the process of considering a change, but aren’t sure if you really should go all the way, here are questions that it could be helpful to ask yourself.
Do have enough room to entertain guests?
When you buy a home, usually, it’s natural to only plan for the bare essentials — a master bedroom, a room for each kid, and a garage for one car. It can be hard enough to afford as much. There can be so many other things that one needs their home to be good for, though, that usually do not come up when you plan to buy.
How about a room for a parent coming into town to stay with you, or a dining room large enough for the family when they descend upon on the house at Christmas? While these things may not happen often, it can feel terrible to not be able to have any of it, simply because your home is too small.
Is there enough room for pets, a home office or for another car?
It’s easy to overlook how important extra garage space for a second car is (it won’t do to park your car out in the street), and room for a large dog. It wouldn’t feel right to give a Labrador space that would only be good for a toy dog. A home office can actually help improve productivity.
Some of these things can be helped with a remodel. In most cases, though, finding a larger pad is the only workable solution.
There could be cheaper real estate available elsewhere
If lower-priced real estate is available in a different part of town and it would make sense for your commute and for your children if you moved there, moving to the new area can greatly help add to the value that you get out of your investment.
Finding out how to make the move
If it does appear that a bigger house would be a good idea, it’s time to find out how to make it happen. According to leading real estate agency AlandeMaid.co.uk, there are many routes that you can take to making a move to a bigger home possible, depending on your financial condition and the equity that you have in your current home.
You could rent out your existing house while you find out if you qualify for a second mortgage or you could simply sell the house. You can also work on how you might rent a new home, if you aren’t of a mind to buy a new house.
You could have too much room, as well
Outgrowing your current home isn’t always necessarily about running short of space. Past a certain point, when your kids have grown up and left the nest, you simply won’t need a huge home anymore. It can be more maintenance than you want to put in, and it can cost more to heat and light than you are happy spending. Selling and moving to smaller quarters can be a perfectly reasonable plan.
It’s important to fully think things through before you make up your mind about moving on. It’s possible that while your house is too small for you at this point, that things will ease up in the near future when a child leaves for university. It’s also possible that you could create a great deal of space simply by decluttering. A minimalist life can free up so much room, you could find all the space that you need right in the home that you live in right now. The more you think about your plan to come by a more spacious home, the better the outcome will be.
Sean Moss sells houses for a living and sees plenty of properties where it is clear that the current owners need more space. He likes to share his tips and suggestions on planning your move with an online audience and is a regular writer for several property-related websites.
