Thinking About Upsizing? Here’s 4 Things to Consider First

Have you been feeling like your life is busting out of the seams of your current home? Do you feel like you need a home that has more room for the life you want to lead? Upsizing can seem like a simple solution, but it’s an important one to think through to make sure you get it right.

Here are some things to consider when you’re looking to upsize:

1. What are the trade-offs?
Will you need to make any trade-offs so you can upsize? Maybe you’ll need to move further away from work to find somewhere you can afford. Is it worth lengthening your commute? If you have children, will you need to change schools? If so, what are the schools like in the area you’re looking to move to? Will it be harder to get support from family and friends in your new location?

2. More space means more upkeep
It can be easy to underestimate the extra upkeep that larger homes require. Lawns, gardens and pools are wonderful additions to your life, but day-to-day maintenance can take up a lot of time and money— and then there’s the irregular maintenance on top of that. The same goes for increases to the floor space of your home. Do you have the spare time or funds to maintain a larger floor space?

3. The cost of upsizing
The most obvious cost of upsizing is usually the increased price of the house itself. Your bills and maintenance costs may also increase with a larger home. For example, it may be more expensive to run your air-conditioning and an increase in the number of rooms may mean having to spend money to furnish them.

4. Do you need a new home?
An alternative approach to buying a larger home is to expand the one you already have. Renovating or adding a granny flat may be a lot of work but it means you can stay put in the home and area you’re used to at a fraction of the cost of buying a new home. You also get to shape your home to your tastes and liking.

There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to upsizing, but it is important to think through your options before making the commitment to grow.

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