Learn How to Downsize Your Home in the Current Market
Do you want to downsize your home in South Jersey? The current state of the housing market has many homeowners concerned about whether they should wait to sell, or sell now before things get worse. For those in the baby boomer generation, the decision to downsize might be spurred by more serious motivations.
The current economic conditions have many people in this generation struggling with inflation, which devalues baby boomers’ retirement savings and social security checks. As a result, many baby boomers are considering selling their homes and using the equity to keep up with living expenses.
At Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty - Nancy Kowalik Group, we can help you downsize your home in South Jersey and find a new one that fits your needs. Below, we’ll go over a few reasons to consider downsizing, as well as how inflation is impacting baby boomers in particular.
How is Inflation Impacting Baby Boomers in Particular?
New Jersey has an aging population. Between 2010 and 2019, the percentage of people aged 65 and older grew by 21%, while the number of children under 18 declined. This means there may be many senior South Jersey residents who don’t have the earning potential to keep up with inflation.
As of July 2022, the inflation rate was 8.5%, after rising to a 40-year high of 9.1% in June. Of course, this has impacted many people as they face the reality that their income does not have the same purchasing power as it used to.
For baby boomers, many of whom are retired, this struggle with rising costs could be especially challenging. Without a job, many people in this generation rely on their retirement savings or social security checks.
However, inflation means that the value of those retirement savings has decreased, and social security checks don’t have the same spending power. In fact, social security checks have lost 40% of their purchasing power from inflation since 2000.
And while the government does increase social security payments to keep up with inflation, it isn’t always enough. For 2022, social security benefits were increased by 5.9%, which doesn’t keep up with the 8.5% current inflation rate.
Why Should Baby Boomers Consider Downsizing as a Solution?
Use the Equity to Pay for Life Expenses
Current economic conditions mean many baby boomers may be considering selling or downsizing their homes. Without the earning potential from full-time employment, using the equity from their homes may be the only option to supplement their retirement savings and social security payments.
Downsizing is a good solution to keep up with increased living expenses while transitioning to a more manageable home. It also improves cash flow, since mortgage payments for a smaller property won’t be as expensive.
Less Maintenance and Upkeep
Another benefit of downsizing is that baby boomers have a smaller space to maintain, especially if they choose to downsize to an apartment or condo. Less time on chores, landscaping, and other maintenance means more time can be spent on hobbies, traveling, or being with friends and family.
For empty nesters in particular, a smaller home may provide the freedom to get out more and focus on the activities they enjoy.
Lower Utility Bills
Aside from saving on mortgage payments, downsizing also means less money is spent on utilities. A smaller home means baby boomers can reduce expenses on heating, cooling, and electricity. This helps increase their cash flow even more so they can keep up with the rising costs of living caused by inflation.
We Can Help You Downsize Your Home in South Jersey
Baby boomers are increasingly becoming more active in the housing market. According to Zillow, home buyers in this generation grew by 47% between 2009 and 2019. At the same time, people in this generation are looking for a home they can settle down in and “age in place,” meaning many do not plan on selling their homes in the future.
However, current inflation and economic conditions mean some baby boomers may be rethinking their original plans. So if you’re looking to downsize and find your next forever home in South Jersey, we’ve got you covered.
At Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty - Nancy Kowalik Group, we can help you handle both the sale of your current house and the purchase of your new one. Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of home buyers in South Jersey find their dream homes.
We have many reviews from our past clients, who were satisfied with our customer service, marketing strategies, and unique seller’s guarantees. These guarantees help make the process as risk-free and enjoyable as possible.
Ready to take the next steps? To learn more about working with our real estate team to downsize your home in South Jersey, give us a call at (856) 478-6562 or fill out the form below for more information.