Downsizing
Right-sizing: how to work out how much space you actually need
Smaller does not have to mean cramped. Right-sizing is about matching the house to the life you actually live now — not the one you lived in 1994.
"Downsizing" is a blunt word. It suggests loss, and it puts the focus on square metres. "Right-sizing" is closer to what people are really after: a home that costs less to run, takes less looking after, and still does everything they need it to do.
The tricky part is working out what "everything they need" actually is. Here is the process I take people through before they look at a single listing.
Count the rooms you used this week
Not the rooms you own. The rooms you used.
For most people the honest answer is a kitchen, one living space, one bedroom, one bathroom, a laundry and somewhere to put things. Everything beyond that is either occasional or aspirational, and it is worth knowing which is which before you pay to heat it, insure it and clean it.
Do the same exercise for a whole week and write it down. People are often surprised by how much of the house is essentially in storage.
Be honest about the guest room
This is the single biggest sticking point in right-sizing conversations. Almost everyone wants a spare bedroom. Very few need one as often as they think.
Work out how many nights a year you genuinely have people staying. If it is fewer than twenty, a good sofa bed or a study that doubles as a bedroom may serve you better than a room that sits empty for eleven months. If family visit from overseas for weeks at a time, that is a different answer — and a legitimate reason to keep the extra room.
There is no right answer here. There is only your answer, and it is worth reaching it deliberately rather than by default.
Storage is what people get wrong
People shed bedrooms happily and then discover they have nowhere to put the Christmas decorations, the tools, the suitcases or the golf clubs.
When you look at a smaller home, look specifically for: a proper linen cupboard, a hallway or bedroom wardrobe you can actually walk into, somewhere for a vacuum cleaner, a garage or shed with wall space, and an outdoor cupboard for garden gear. Modern townhouses can be beautifully laid out and still have almost no storage, so this is worth checking with a tape measure rather than a glance.
Think in three lists
Write down your must haves, your nice to haves and your no thanks. Be strict about the first list — if it has more than six things on it, it is not a must-have list.
Typical must haves for people I work with: level or near-level entry, a bathroom you can get into easily, off-street parking, sun in the living area, and a walkable distance to a supermarket or bus stop.
Typical no thanks: a second storey, a large lawn, a swimming pool, a long steep driveway, and anything needing immediate renovation.
Outdoor space: garden or courtyard?
Very few people want no outdoor space at all. Almost everyone wants less of it than they currently have.
The question to ask is what you actually do outside. If it is coffee in the morning sun and a few pots of herbs, a courtyard will make you happier than a section. If you genuinely garden — vegetables, roses, propagating things — then losing all of it will hurt, and you should protect a modest patch instead of pretending you will not miss it.
Do not forget the garage
Garaging is one of the most common regrets. It is not only about the car: it is the workbench, the freezer, the bikes, the boxes you have not opened yet. If you are moving from a house with a double garage and a shed to a townhouse with a single carport, that gap has to go somewhere — and paid storage adds up quickly.
An exercise worth doing this weekend
- Walk the house and note every room you used in the last seven days.
- Measure the total floor area you actually live in, ignoring the rest.
- Write your three lists: must have, nice to have, no thanks.
- Add up what you currently spend a year on rates, insurance, heating, lawns and maintenance.
- Now look at listings with those numbers in hand.
People who do this arrive at open homes with a filter. They stop being seduced by an extra bedroom they will never use, and they start noticing whether the laundry works and where the sun lands at four in the afternoon.
The point of the exercise
Right-sizing done well is not a downgrade. It is a house that costs less, asks less of you, and gives you back the time and money the old one was quietly consuming. Getting the size right is what makes that possible.
This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Figures are indicative only and will vary by property and market conditions.
Thinking about your own next move?
Blair is happy to talk it through — no obligation, no sales pitch.