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Even though our teenage sons will both be living on the college campus in a year or two, we don't plan to downsize our home. My husband and I are still 30 years away from retiring at about 70. We will have an "empty nest" for all of our later working years.
A lot of financial experts argue that couples should move into a smaller home as they approach retirement. We purchased a single story home that could accommodate us during the different stages of life. From a financial perspective moving to a smaller home can still be expensive.
Avoiding the townhome trap
A retired friend told me she wonders if she made a mistake by buying a single family home instead of a condo. I told her about what I call the "townhome trap." When I owned a townhome, I had to pay $200 every month for Community Development District fees, an additional $150 for townhome maintenance fees as well as special assessment fees for items such as gutters. Downsizing from a single family home to a condo can be extremely costly.
Recognizing the hidden moving costs
In addition to paying moving costs, people who downsize often spend thousands of dollars on new floors, furniture and decorating. My neighbor spent $3,500 for moving costs. Then he could not part with some of his belongings, and had to pay an extra $1,200 a year for a storage unit. When I purchased my townhome and later my single family home, I paid thousands for engineered hardwood floors. If I downsized, I know I'd want to spend that money all over again for new floors.
Giving our children a place to call home
My teenagers want to be able to live at home during the summers in between college semesters. By keeping their bedrooms the same, it gives them a place to retreat to when they want a break from their hectic college schedules.
Having enough room for visitors
One of the nice things about having four bedrooms is that you have plenty of room for visitors and grandchildren in the future. After moving to Florida, we had more overnight visitors than we did living in Indiana. I suppose Indiana is not a hot spot for vacationers. When we don't need to use the guest bedrooms, we convert them into our home offices.
Although it may sound smart to downsize, I know that I would spend thousands of dollars on landscaping alone if we moved. Instead of downsizing, we are taking other steps to retire without a mortgage. We make extra mortgage payments every month and apply financial windfalls to our mortgage principal.
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