No matter how much you love your home, you probably won’t love, or suit, the same house, forever. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to turn your head and attract you to a new property, like an extra bedroom, a bigger kitchen, or a new conservatory. It can be tough to know when it’s time to move on, but there are some signs that now is the time to start the hunt for a new home.
By Team Savant
Image: Derick McKinney
Homeowners usually start to the urge to move on after a few years of living in the same home and even sometimes start thinking about their next home not all that long after they’ve moved into their current one. Even if you don’t think you’re going to move just yet, there are some tell-tale signs that it’s time to find somewhere new to live.
Your Home Feels Likes It’s Shrinking Or Growing
There are two sides to this problem that can occur here. You might find that it feels as though every scrap of storage space is bursting with stuff, or you feel like your children are multiplying and needing more bedrooms by the hour. The opposite can also happen in your home when you feel like you have too many rooms that you never use and just feel moody about having to clean. Either way, if you feel like your house isn’t big enough for you or that it’s too big, then it’s time to find another house for sale.
You Spend Your Free Time Scrolling Property Websites
Sure, there’s no harm in just browsing. But if you find that your browsing quickly becomes an hour of studying floorplans and working out what your commute would be like, then you aren’t just browsing. You know you want to buy a new home, and you’re on the hunt for that home.
You Aren’t Cleaning And Tidying As Much As You Used To
You always work hard to keep your home clean and tidy, but you’re letting things slip now and have a list of DIY projects that is just getting longer but don’t seem important anymore. This suggests that you’ve fallen out of love with your home. After all, why would you keep it clean and in good repair if you don’t love it anymore?
“The Problem With My House Is”...
Are you always talking to anyone who will listen to you about all the things wrong with your home? No house is perfect, but if your list of complaints is getting longer maybe you should find a somewhere you do love. If you can’t stop telling people that your house is too small, too far from where you work, too close to loud neighbors, then it might be a sign it’s time to sell up and look for a home without these issues.
Your home might have been ideal for you when you bought it, but maybe your needs have changed now. Perhaps you bought it before you owned a car, and now you have one and need a garage. Maybe you live on a busy road but are dreaming of owning a cat. Maybe you didn’t host much, but now need a spare room for guests.
You’ve Stopped Throwing Dinner Parties
If you usually love to have people over, but lately don’t feel good about having people see you home, then you might have outgrown your house. Maybe you don’t feel your house is suitable for entertaining anymore, or you don’t have space to squeeze in all your friends anymore. Maybe you find yourself eating out every night because you just don’t like being at home as much as you used to anymore.
Your Home Is Too Perfect
Built the conservatory extension you always dreamed of? Fitted a new kitchen? Changed the windows? Had new doors and carpets? If you love DIY and doing up your home, and have run out of things to improve, your only option is to seek out a new project. That usually means a new house.
You Start Buying Things For Your Next Place
When you first moved into your house, you loved it and couldn’t stop buying accessories for it. Maybe it was new curtains, new towels, or endless pot plants. Maybe recently, you’ve stopped buying those kinds of bits for your home. Instead, you’re still picking up all kinds of little homeware treats, like picture frames or new bedding, but never taking them out of their packaging. Instead, you’ve tucked them away, saving them for a house that you don’t have yet. Start looking for that house.