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July 1, 2020

Is Your Home a Good Fit for You?

At a time where families are spending much more time in their homes, you may be starting to notice things about your house that you hadn’t before! That storage closet hasn’t been opened in 2 months. You always have to move things around in your cabinets to get to your favorite pan, or you can hear your partner’s conference call from upstairs. At the time you purchased it, this was your “Dream Home”, but now it has transformed into your worst nightmare.

Perhaps your unmet needs are temporary/ fixable, such as reorganizing your pan cabinet. However, some issues are structural and the best solution is to find a new home that best fits your altered lifestyle. Here are five ways to know when it’s time to search for your new dream home:

#1 – You lack a home office (or in some cases, two)

Now that much of America’s workforce is working remotely, work-from-home space is becoming increasingly more important. Waking up in the morning and working from your bed sounded fun when this first started out. However, it’s a fact that your concentration is at its lowest when your professional and personal spaces are mixed. Your significant other also may need a place to work, which causes a scramble to take over whatever “work-able” spaces your house may offer.

Unfortunately, no one can predict how long this could go on. Some companies are claiming that their employees will probably be working remotely until the end of the year, if not longer. If you fall into this category, it may be the time to search for a home that provides separate spaces for both home and work life.

#2 – There’s a room you can’t remember the last time you entered

Maybe you have a classic dining room space that never gets used, or perhaps you have children who moved out of the house. Or you have an extra bathroom that never gets used. Life changes, and so do people’s needs! Although no one is complaining about having extra space at a time like this, if the only time that you enter a room is to clean the dust off of surfaces, you may want to start searching for a smaller home.

#3 – Your utility bills are too high due to inefficient systems

You’re at home much more often than before, so an increase in utility usage is understandable. However, you may be coming to realize that your bills are high not due to usage or the size of the house, but the systems within it. Your HVAC unit is old and needs to be replaced. Your furnace is an older model, and your windows are no longer doing their job of insulating the home properly. If renovating is not your cup of tea, consider looking for an energy-efficient home with updated appliances and internal systems. This also counts for homeowners with high monthly mortgage payments and/or property taxes.

#4 – You struggle with storage​

You’re starting to realize that you can only squish so many things in that hall closet. Things are starting to spread to under your bed, behind dressers, in between couch cushions, etc. Even after donating bags upon bags of items to Goodwill, you still find that you do not have the space for all of your things.

While some good ole’ organization and de-cluttering may do the trick, oftentimes people are in this situation because they plainly do not have enough space. If you’re looking for some breathing room, or if you have to use a storage unit to hold items, it may benefit you to start looking for a home with more space.

#5 – You haven’t furnished all your rooms (and don’t have plans to)

That door you never open to that room you never enter – it’s empty or only has one piece of furniture that you never use. Perhaps you have a finished basement that never gets used. Be conscientious of your family’s true needs are try to contemplate if your home is realistically meeting them. If you truly need extra space and square footage, then keep your home as it is! Perhaps you have a plan, such as using the finished basement as a space for guests to stay. However, if you haven’t had a guest stay in that room in over a year and are keeping it on the off-chance that someone may stay at your house, the best decision would be to consider downsizing to a smaller home.

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