Looking for a new home is a very exciting time for families. Especially when it means you’re moving into a bigger home where the kids won’t have to share a bedroom. Or maybe it means mom finally gets the kitchen and dining room she’s been dreaming about and imagining on her Pinterest board, complete with a walk through or corner pantry and an island to make hosting that much easier. Or maybe the new home you’re moving to has a front attached garage for dad to put his tools in, the kids to put their bikes and all those storage tubs won’t be stuffed under the stairs in the basement any more.

There’s no shortage of things to look forward to and as it gets closer to moving day you can almost feel the anticipation building as everyone in the family starts to realize that the things they’ve been wishing or wanting are close to becoming a reality.

All of the excitement can be brought to an uncomfortable and abrupt stop when after the first month of being in your new house, the financial costs of ‘upsizing’ your home start to become realities. Some people overlook these realities before getting the keys to their new home and then all of a sudden they have a rude awakening and what was supposed to be an exciting time is all of a sudden made very stressful because of increased costs they may have overlooked.

It's important to understand the financial costs of ‘Upsizing’ your home, as it’s about more than just buying a house with more square footage, a room for everyone or the pantry or garage you’ve always wanted.

Below are 5 important things to remember when it comes to ‘upsizing’. The first three are financial impacts to your monthly budget, while the last two take into consideration costs to your time:

  1. Increased mortgage payments: When you purchase a larger home it’s likely the purchase price is more than your previous home. When that’s the case it means your monthly mortgage payment is going to go up. Whether or not your payments are set up as monthly or bi-weekly, expect to see an increase.
  2. Increased utilities: There’s no way around it, a bigger home costs more to heat. It also means you’re likely going to be using more electricity, both of which will result in higher utilities each month.
  3. Increased property taxes: If you’ve moved to a bigger home, the lot is likely larger also. When you have a larger home on a larger lot, the cost of your municipal taxes is going to go up. Be mindful of this in your property search and ask what the annual taxes are on the homes you’re looking at. This will help you be prepared so you can factor any increases into your budget.
  4. More housework & cleaning: A bigger home means more places the kids can make a mess, leave a mess and not pick up after their mess. It also means that ‘stuff’ has more places to find a home and before you know it, you may find yourself overwhelmed and feeling like you can’t keep up. The trade off of having a bigger home is that their will be more areas to be mindful of and keep clean. It may mean you consider hiring a house cleaner to keep up, which is something to factor into your budget along with the other increased financial costs.
  5. More yard maintenance: When you move into a bigger home it’s usually accompanied by a larger lot, which means more green space and yard. This means more time to mow the grass, prune trees or maintain a garden in the summer. In the fall it means raking leaves and prepping for the winter. When the weather turns and it starts to snow, you could find yourself having to make time to shovel a driveway. All of this adds up to more time spent working on the property so you can enjoy your new home to the greatest extent.

Being prepared for your next move and ‘upsizing’ your home is important so you can be prepared, instead of surprised by the changes to your monthly budget and cashflow. After all, you made the decision to ‘upsize’ so you could start enjoying your home and new surroundings…not to be stressed out by increased costs and feeling like you don’t have enough money or time.

If you’ve been thinking about ‘upsizing’ and want to find a house that checks your boxes, contact me and let’s get looking.

Have an amaZing day!

People First. Homes second. 

Garrett Zimmerman

Realtor

403.506.5795