You love your home. But, lately, you’ve noticed a few things going on that you just don’t like. You’re running out of room and you seem to be “bumping elbows” more often with your spouse or kids. What to do? Maybe you need a bigger home.
Sounds scary doesn’t it? Well, before you get ahead of yourself, stop and think for a moment. Here are the telltale signs that your home is getting too crowded and you need to upgrade.
Your Family Is Growing
If your family is growing, you might need the extra space. This happens a lot. When you already have a kiddo, and only 3 bedrooms, space is getting pretty tight. Now if you go and have another child, you’ll probably want another room. Sure, you can make due with three bedrooms, but at some point, every kid is going to want their own room.
You can discover more at HDG.co.uk, but basically, it’s time for an upgrade.
You Want More Amenities
When you want more amenities than what your home can reasonably sustain, then you’ll want to upgrade your home. This might seem like more fringe benefits than anything else, but it can be important.
So, let’s say you want to have a swimming pool in your backyard, or additional amenities like a home gym or a sauna or something similar. You might not have room for these structures in your current home.
Or, if you have a decent-sized kitchen, but you’d like a full-blown chef’s kitchen but there isn’t any more room to expand the house or it would be impractical to do. In these situations, the only real alternative is to buy a bigger home that either has them or has the space so that you can build them.
Of course, the larger home comes with a higher cost, so it’s important to weigh out the benefits. For example, you may pay an additional $200-$500 per month in mortgage payments, utilities, and other costs to have a room fit for a home gym. Compare that to $300-$400 per year for a commercial gym membership.
At that point, the commercial gym becomes a cheaper option. For some, the extra cost is worth it, however, because they can install their own equipment, have a private gym experience, and not have the commute that you would have with a commercial gym membership. If it’s all about the costs, however, a commercial gym is probably the cheaper choice.
Your Needs Have Changed
When your needs have changed in a fundamental way, it might be time for an upgrade. For example, let’s say your current home is fine for a small family of 3. You have a decent-sized kitchen, and the bedrooms have ample room, but something’s lacking. Maybe you decided you want to take up exercising at home, or your spouse is getting a new job as a chef, or you’re going through a career change and you’ll be working from home all the time now.
That’s a major change and a complete overhaul is probably in order. Sometimes, this overhaul can be accomplished through a redesign or remodel. Other times, it can’t. The only way to get what you need is to move.
And, if your daily routine is about to change in a major way, it might be nice to change your surroundings to make your life easier. If your current home can’t support that, then it’s time for a change.
You Can Afford It
If 2008 taught us something, it’s that we shouldn’t buy homes we cannot afford. When you can afford to buy a home, and only when you can afford to buy a home, you should do it. So, in other words, you can go ahead and buy a home when that home will not cost you more than 30% of your take home pay.
If your debt-to-income ratio rises above 40%, you’re in trouble. Now, when we talk of housing costs eating up 30% of your income, that doesn’t mean the mortgage. That means the mortgage, the utilities, maintenance costs (which should be calculated at at least 7% of your home’s value, per year), and any other costs that take money out of your pocket for the home.
Also, you should be able to put down between 10% and 20% of the sale’s price before you take out a mortgage.
If you can still afford the new home after that, go for it.
Lucas Freeman is a family man who has a passion for writing. Recently taking a break in his career to raise his family and become essentially a house-husband he is spending his free time writing articles from his home office whilst fleshing out his first novel.
