A smaller home can cut your costs and worries

The kids are long gone, you’re in a big home that requires a lot of maintenance and is expensive to heat and cool. You’re also thinking it’s time to explore a different kind of living. So why not downsize? 

With downsizing, however, comes hard decisions. Should you stay nearby or leave town? Do you want to live in a condominium or single-family home? Making the wrong move will cost you and maybe you’ll have to relocate once again.

According to recent studies, people downsize for a variety of reasons – a desire for lower monthly housing costs, a larger home is too much work, there are fewer family members in the household and not as much space is needed, and the wish to free up cash from a prior home while building equity in another.

Whatever your reason, the solution may be a land-lease home where you buy the home outright and lease the land. By downsizing from a larger house with higher costs into a land-lease home, retirees can free up cash for more important things in life.

The key to the affordability of land-leasing is that you pay for just the home and not the lot it sits on, making it much more affordable. This means you’re then free to do whatever you wish with the money you unlock from the sale of your current home, or money you’re not paying the bank in big monthly mortgage payments.

What you do with that money is your choice. Many land-lease homeowners are snowbirds or frequent travellers. Some purchase nearby golf memberships or their dream car or boat, or simply create more retirement savings that may not be possible otherwise.

Moreover, land-lease homeowners continue to build equity because they own the home. Market analysis shows that well-maintained homes in land-lease communities appreciate in value similar to freehold homes in the same market.

And, since land-lease communities are also often located in picturesque settings a short drive from larger urban centres, the model may be an attractive housing option for retirees who are considering downsizing as their needs change.

Find more information at parkbridge.com.