Downsizing
In this economic climate one solution to reducing your expenses is to downsize. This is also a great solution if your children have left home and your property is now too big. You can sell your large house and buy a smaller property. You may even find that you can buy a smaller property outright leaving you mortgage free. A great option in this economic climate.
Creating An ADU
Another option, if your property is large enough, is to divide your home in two apartments. You can then rent or sell one of the apartments, and live in the other one. If you want to help an adult child who has been hit by the credit crunch, you could convert part of your house or your even garage, into a granny apartment. Or as they call them in realtors' language, accessory dwelling units (ADU's). Your child and family could move into the main part of the house while you move into the ADU. You will be close to the grandchildren, while still retaining your privacy.
Saving Money
By downsizing from a large property, you can save quite a lot of money on property taxes and utilities. You also save money on maintenance and redecorating. This is a big consideration especially if you have a lot of your rooms closed off most of the time. Taking care of a big yard can also be quite expensive and moving somewhere smaller can make your life much more manageable and convenient. You may even decide to move from a large house in the suburbs to an apartment complex or condo in a small town or city and get rid of the problem of yard maintenance once and for all.
Swapping
If you are having problems selling your house, some realtors or real estate agents may be able to help you to swap your home with someone who is trying to trade up. This can be a great way to avoid getting stuck in the quagmire of not being able to sell your house once you've found something you want to buy or vice versa. Once you've found your swop you need to safeguard yourself by making the contracts contingent on each other, in writing. You also need to put your money in escrow to make sure that no monies change hands until both sales are closed. Depending on what type of mortgages involved, if any, your buyer may only need to pay you the difference between your selling price and their buying price. This can make the whole process of buying and selling that much easier, especially as you won't need a bridging loan.
It's a good idea to contact an agent or realtor who specializes in this type of sale and has a large database of possible swaps and trades throughout the country. Some people even trade houses from the east coast to the west coast in this way. Of course, if you choose to swop houses you may not find your exact dream property, but if it is something you like enough and can make work, this may be the best solution in an otherwise slow market.
