Live Small and Prosper Pt 2: Priorities related to your house

I concluded Pt 1 yesterday with the following deep thought:

“Though my wife and I live in Wortley Village, close to most conveniences, a move within the neighbourhood may only be 5 - 9 years away.”

Why?


["Four wintry scenes from The Village": photos GH]

In part, the answer lies within two more tips that S. Rinomato passes along to new homebuyers in a recent article entitled ‘Set priorities before house hunting’ even though I’ve been living at my current address in Wortley Village, a very convenient, cozy part of town, for over 25 years.

Rinomato writes:

“And what about the size of your home? The bigger the house, the more space you're heating and cooling. That's something to think about, since about 60% of Canadians' home energy use is related to these two activities.”


Allow me to add, the bigger the house the more furniture and appliances that are required as well. As far as I know, just about everything we need or want in every room comes with a price tag.

Rinomato adds, “Be realistic about how much space you're really going to use. Bigger isn't necessarily better.”

Well, that’s a problem for some,eh?


Many learn too late that one, two, three or more rooms don’t get much use after a year or two. And the ones that get lots of use could house a football ball team, not just their family.

I remember reading about the owner of a large ‘cottage’ in Muskoka a few years ago.

She said that 5,000 sq. ft. was probably too big for herself and husband.

Probably? She wasn’t sure?

She also said she would sometimes go and sit in a room for an hour just to get some use out of it.

Hopefully, by now she’s pretty sure it’s too big.

Yes, we must be realistic. And think about true needs.

That’s why I’m thinking about something smaller than my current 1,050 sq. ft. house now. My wife and I are getting older. We just don’t need as much room as we once did when our two boys lived with us.

Yes, smaller is sometimes cheaper but whether I’m inside or out, I wouldn’t mind doing a bit less work.


Okay, I lied. I’d like to do a lot less work.

If you’re thinking along the same lines, you may be one day joined by a legion of others who are searching for something smaller, more convenient, less work, cheaper.

Start collecting information now, I say.

Don’t get caught in the rush to ‘get small before we get low.’

.