Weldon Hobbs | The Platinum Group, REALTORS®

The kids' rooms have been quiet for years. The stairs feel steeper than they used to, the snow shovel comes out every winter, and the list of things the house needs never seems to get shorter. Maybe a friend just moved into a patio home. Maybe your children have started asking whether it's time to move.Downsizing makes sense when your home no longer supports the life you want next, not because everyone says it's time. Start with your life goal: what you want the next chapter of your life to look like. Then look at the wealth side: what selling would do to your taxes, whether you could buy the next home with cash or would need a new mortgage, and what your monthly cash flow would look like afterward. If the taxes, the financing, and the monthly cash flow are reasonable for the resources you have, that's when the real estate decision comes in, because the right real estate strategy supports your life and wealth plans, not the other way around. Whether you're deciding for yourself or helping an aging parent, that order, life first, then wealth, then real estate, is what keeps people from regretting the move.How do I know if it's time to downsize?I prefer the word rightsizing, because the goal is a home that fits where you are in life. Sometimes rightsizing means a smaller home. Sometimes it means staying in your current home and changing it so you can age in place. Sometimes it means moving closer to the doctors you see, or into independent living, assisted living, or a life plan community so more support is in place if you need it. And sometimes your current house simply takes more of your time, energy, and attention than you want to give it.Every one of those reasons is valid. The test for all of them is the same: does your current home support the life you want for the next 10 years? If it does, staying may be the right answer. If it doesn't, ask yourself why your home doesn't support that life, and then ask why again. Keep asking until you reach the core issues: the specific things about the house, or about your situation in it, that are making daily life harder or weighing on you. Those core issues are what your next home has to solve. That's where downsizing regret shows up: when someone moves without answering the core issues that were eating at them in the first place.Will downsizing save me money in Colorado Springs?Not automatically. Downsizing doesn't guarantee lower costs, and staying in your current home isn't free either. Compare the full monthly cost of staying with the full monthly cost of moving: property taxes, insurance, upkeep, HOA dues, and any new mortgage. Many of the newer single-level and patio homes around Colorado Springs come with an HOA, and some sit inside a metro district, a special taxing district that adds its own line to the property tax bill. Two homes at the same price can cost very different amounts to live in each month.A few other things to check before you list your current home: Colorado's senior property tax exemption requires 10 consecutive years of owning and living in the same home, so moving generally starts that 10-year clock over at the new home. A temporary program that let some recent movers keep the exemption covered only tax years 2025 and 2026. The El Paso County Assessor's office can confirm whether you receive the exemption now. Profit on the sale above the federal home-sale exclusion ($250,000 for single filers, $500,000 for most married couples) can count as taxable income. Medicare sets your premiums using your income from two years earlier, so a large gain this year can raise your Medicare premiums two years from now. That premium increase is called IRMAA. Your estate plan, such as a will or trust, should match the move, including how your next home is titled and whether it's placed in your trust. The tax questions are for a CPA, and the estate questions are for an estate attorney. The time to ask both is before your home goes on the market.What if I'd rather stay?Choosing to stay in your home on purpose is a good outcome. A handrail, a main-floor bedroom, or a walk-in shower can make your current home work for years longer. Larger remodeling projects may need a permit from the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, and the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging offers free information and referrals for adults 60 and older who want to stay in their homes.Why does downsizing feel so hard?Because the hardest part is rarely selling the house. When homeowners call me about downsizing, the worry I hear most often is the packing, the sorting, and getting the house ready to sell. After 30 or 40 years in one home, every room holds decisions about what to keep, what to give to family, and what to let go of, and many of those decisions are emotional.Time is what makes sorting a lifetime of belongings manageable. With 12 to 18 months, you can sort at a human pace instead of in a weekend, and you're far less likely to make a decision you'd want to undo later.How do I help my parents downsize without taking over?Your parent stays the decision-maker. Start with what your parent wants for this next chapter before anyone talks about selling the house. Agree on who in the family should be part of the conversation, and whether anyone holds legal authority, such as a power of attorney, to act for your parent if that's ever needed. If you live out of state, it helps to have someone in Colorado Springs who can walk through the house and coordinate the professionals helping with the move.Who handles everything else?Once the decision to move is made, this is where most families feel overwhelmed: the number of people involved, and the order things need to happen in. I handle the sale and the move as one project, which I call the Senior Home Transition Plan.We build the timeline for the sale and the move first. Then I assemble the Downsizer Dream Team: a senior move manager, cleaners, a stager, movers, and the donation, cleanout, or estate sale option that fits your belongings. I recommend the professionals, you approve them, and I coordinate them so every part of the move happens in the right order. You hire and pay each professional directly, and I receive no referral fees from any of them.For your current home, I help you decide which repairs or updates it needs before listing and which ones it doesn't. Then I price, market, and sell the home, and time the closing with your move, including a move-in date at a senior living community. If an attorney or CPA is part of the picture, I work alongside them; they handle the legal and tax side.Every step follows the Life Wealth Real Estate order I use with every client: life first, then wealth, then the real estate that supports both.You can see how the Senior Home Transition Plan works, step by step, from the first conversation to moving day, along with my free guide, 150 Concerns of Downsizers: Senior Home Transition & Downsizing Help in Colorado Springs. Weldon Hobbs, SRES, Colorado Springs REALTOR, The Platinum Group, REALTORShttps://teamhobbsrealty.com/downsizing