Digging into downsizing

Yeah, I’ve reached that age. I’m starting to think about downsizing.

Even though my husband and I truly love our house, it’s no longer the best fit for a couple of empty nesters. Things like heating 2,200 square feet, cleaning four bedrooms and mowing a half-acre are starting to seem pointless.

But it’s hard to let go, and I’m not quite ready yet.

Still, Matt Parker has me thinking ahead. Parker is a realty agent in Seattle and the author of “Real Estate Smart,” a book that looks at the ways your home affects your physical and emotional health. His goal in writing it, he explained, was to help people make better, more balanced decisions about where they’ll be spending a big chunk of their lives. Decisions like downsizing.

There are good reasons to consider moving to a smaller home, he said. Using tax information and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, he calculated that owning real estate costs about 32 cents per square foot every month — and that’s not counting a mortgage payments. If you’re leaving 1,000 square feet of a house essentially unused, “that’s $320 a month that you’re wasting,” he said.

Hanging onto a house with excess space also makes it too easy to accumulate stuff, which often gets forgotten in closets, attics and basements. Those excess possessions can turn into anxiety-causing clutter.

And then there are the physical and time demands of homeownership.

So how can homeowners like me get their heads around downsizing?

Start with the obvious: Pare your possessions, Parker said. Make a habit of going through your stuff every year. If you haven’t used it in 12 months, consider selling or donating it.

Take care to choose a new house that meets your new needs, Parker said.