There will come the point in your life where you will ask yourself if it is time to move house. You might decide to do so because you don’t need the space anymore after the kids have moved out, or you might just be bored. Moving house feels like a chance to start all over again and reinvigorate your life. However, moving house is never as simple as that, and even if you feel it’s the right time, it may not be the same for the rest of your family.
If you find yourself seriously-but-not-seriously browsing available homes on the other side of the country, you better ask yourself these questions first.
Is This The Right Time?
How long have you lived at your current address?
What do you have planned for the future? Have you exhausted all potential home improvements? Have the kids all moved out and got their own homes with a family? These might all be signs that it is the right time for moving. However, even if any of these questions ring true, you shouldn’t immediately start packing up all of your memories and shipping them across the country.
Moving house is not just about finding the right time, but also considering a wealth of other scenarios.
Do you have the money to relocate? Are you tied down to anything in your current location? If the time doesn’t feel right (and you’ll know if it does), don’t put your house on the market just yet.
What Are Your Reasons for Moving?
Some reasons for moving are suitable, but other reasons are not so suitable. While many people can romanticize the idea of starting over somewhere else, they forget (or flat out ignore) the additional logistics that come alongside moving house, including cost and convenience.
Conversely, you may need to move house to be closer to aging relatives, or you’ve got a new job that demands relocation. Even with these ‘suitable’ reasons, you will still need to consider the practicality of moving house, and whether or not you can afford to do so right now.
Do You Have a Plan?
Sure, you might have a plan for your new house.
You can already envision the decor, the furniture, the summer days with a grill, and slip and slide. But, have you considered a plan for your current property? The housing market can be a fickle industry, so you might struggle to find a buyer, and without a buyer, you may not be able to afford to put a down payment on your new property.
There are solutions for this, of course. Services like Andrew The Home Buyer can provide the cash required to sell your home, and avoiding real estate agents could help you find a suitable buyer.
Even so, you will need to plan for all scenarios, and even if you proceed with the move and stay in a hotel while you find a new house, you will still have another property sitting empty that will be a severe drain on your finances.
Is Everyone On Board?
You may have already made up your mind, but what about the rest of your family? Whether you have young kids, teens, or it’s just you and your partner, you must make sure that everyone is okay with the move.
And this could be an issue.
While very young kids might not understand much about moving house, older kids will. Like you, they have lives, friends, and connections here, and saying goodbye (especially just for a whim) is unlikely to sit well. Because of this, if you are moving house for no other reason except you can, it’s best to wait until the nest is empty.
Will You Miss Anything?
You might not think you will miss anything, but the truth is far different.
What about close family and friends? What about neighbors? What about your favorite coffee shop? You can try to convince yourself that this will be okay on the other side of the country, but it may not take long before you realize you’ve made a significant mistake.
Answering Yourself
Moving house is often not purely your decision to make.
It won’t just come down to your whims, and frankly, being bored of where you live now, unfortunately, just won’t cut it. By asking these questions, you can open doors for discussion with yourself and with your family. It might be that they feel the same way, but they may not be ready to move.
If you ask yourself questions regarding the move, you can at least gain some perspective on your desire to move.
