For a lot of Dane County homeowners, "downsizing" is the wrong word for what they are actually trying to accomplish.
Maybe the kids are gone and there are bedrooms you rarely walk into anymore. Maybe maintaining the yard is becoming more work than you want. Maybe retirement has changed where you want to spend your time. Or maybe you simply want a home that fits the next 10 or 20 years better than the one that fit the last 20.
That does not necessarily mean trading a longtime family home for a tiny condo. According to the National Association of Realtors' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, sellers over 60 downsized by just 100 square feet, selling for a median of $433,000 and buying for a median of $409,000.
We think that is a useful way to frame the decision: do not start by asking how small you should go. Start by asking what you want your next home - and your next stage of life - to do for you.
That is also how MHB approaches these moves. Rather than beginning with a predetermined answer, we look at your current home, your goals, your finances, your preferred timing, and the Dane County market. From there, we can build a strategy for selling, buying, or coordinating both.
Right-Sizing Is About More Than Square Footage
A 100-square-foot reduction is not a dramatic lifestyle change. It might simply mean replacing square footage you do not use with a layout you use every day.
For one homeowner, that could mean moving from a two-story house in Middleton to a smaller home with a more functional main level. For someone else, it could mean trading a larger property in Waunakee or Verona for a condo that eliminates yard work. Another homeowner may decide the house is not the problem at all - the location is - and prioritize getting closer to children or grandchildren.
That is why one of our first conversations is not about listings. It is about priorities.
MHB's Buyer Questionnaire digs into preferred location and school district, budget, timeline, commute, bedrooms and bathrooms, lot size, garage needs, home style, and dealbreakers before the search gets built. For someone right-sizing after decades in the same home, we add a simpler question: what do you want to have less of, and what are you not willing to give up?
That answer is more useful than an arbitrary square-footage target.
Why Are You Moving in the First Place?
The NAR data reinforces that point. Among buyers over 60, 26% cited being closer to family as their primary reason for purchasing, 13% cited retirement, and 11% specifically identified downsizing.
In other words, the smaller house may be the result of the move - not the reason for it.
We separate those two things early because they lead to different searches. Someone trying to eliminate exterior maintenance evaluates homes differently from someone whose top priority is being ten minutes from grandchildren. Someone planning to travel may care more about a lock-and-leave property than someone who still wants a workshop, yard, and room for family to visit.
Real estate has a tendency to turn every move into a transaction. MHB's client-first approach starts with the life decision and builds the real estate strategy around it.
Your Next Home May Be Closer Than You Think
Nationally, buyers over 60 continue to favor suburban and small-town settings. In NAR's 2025 data, 43% purchased in suburban communities and 25% chose small towns, compared with 11% buying in urban areas.
That creates plenty of possibilities for Dane County homeowners who do not want to leave the area they know. Madison offers everything from single-family neighborhoods to downtown condos, while Middleton, Verona, Fitchburg, Waunakee, Sun Prairie, and DeForest offer different combinations of housing types, lot sizes, amenities, and maintenance responsibilities.
This is where MHB's local experience matters. The team has managed more than 3,000 transactions, and MHB agents average about 40 sales per year compared with roughly six for a traditional agent. That volume gives our agents regular exposure to what is actually happening across the greater Madison market.
MHB also hires full-time career agents, and new agents train under senior agents for at least two years. For a buyer making a move that may need to work for the next decade or two, that depth and consistency matter more than simply setting up a search alert.
Should You Consider Senior-Related Housing?
Maybe. But we would not assume you should simply because you have reached a particular age.
Seventeen percent of buyers over 60 in the cited 2025 data purchased senior-related housing, and 60% of those buyers still selected detached single-family homes.
For buyers who do choose senior-related or planned communities, practical factors can be compelling: proximity to healthcare, community design, amenities, and reduced maintenance. But those benefits have to be evaluated against the actual property. What are the association fees? What maintenance is included? Are there restrictions that matter to you? Does the layout work? How far is it from the people and places you visit regularly?
We would rather help you compare actual options than steer you toward a housing category because it is what someone your age is "supposed" to buy. That is what a client-first real estate firm should do.
Before You List, Know What Your Current Home Is Actually Worth
One of the easiest ways to make a downsizing move more stressful is to fall in love with the next home before understanding the numbers on the current one.
MHB's seller process starts with a no-obligation consultation. Then our team completes a 42-point market analysis unique to MHB and develops a pricing strategy around the home's condition, relevant market data, current competition, and your goals.
That is especially important if you have owned the property for a long time. What you paid decades ago is not particularly relevant to today's buyer. Neither is the number a neighbor says their house is "worth." Updates, condition, location, competing inventory, recent sales, and current buyer behavior all affect how your property should be positioned.
The goal is not to give you the highest number in the kitchen-table conversation. It is to give you a strategy grounded in what today's Dane County market actually supports.
Preparing a Longtime Home for Market Does Not Mean Remodeling Everything
If you have lived somewhere for 20 or 30 years, preparing to sell can feel like a project before the selling process even begins. Our advice is simple: do not start spending money just because you assume buyers expect a completely renovated house.
MHB's selling process includes staging and home-preparation guidance because the right improvements depend on the property. Our standard photo-and-showing prep includes practical work such as clearing countertops, removing personal items and excess decor, neutralizing taste-specific paint where appropriate, cleaning landscaping, addressing peeling paint, and preparing each room to photograph well.
Once the home is ready, MHB's in-house photographer handles professional imagery, with the agent briefing the photographer on the property's key selling points. Professional photography, video, and drone imagery then feed the rest of the marketing plan: MLS exposure, internet syndication, social media, and strategic digital advertising.
That is an important distinction in MHB's model: charging differently does not mean doing less.
The $5,000 Selling Strategy Is Proof, Not the Pitch
MHB was built around the idea that the traditional way is not automatically the right way. That applies to service, marketing, negotiations - and compensation.
Instead of charging a listing commission that automatically increases as the value of the home increases, MHB uses one consistent $5,000 Selling Strategy: $500 upfront and $4,500 at closing after a successful sale. The same full-service process applies whether you are selling an entry-level condo or a longtime home that has appreciated substantially.
Pricing strategy, home-prep guidance, professional photo/video/drone marketing, MLS exposure, showing coordination, open houses, offer negotiations, and contract-to-close management are part of the same model.
But the fee is not the reason the process is built this way. It is evidence of the larger philosophy: MHB does not keep doing something simply because the industry has done it for decades. We build the process around the combination of experience, results, transparency, and value we believe serves the client best.
Selling and Buying at the Same Time? Treat It as One Move
For many empty nesters and retirees, the hardest part is not deciding to move. It is figuring out the order of operations.
Do you sell first and risk needing temporary housing? Buy first and carry two properties? Make the next purchase contingent on selling the current home? Try to coordinate two closings? There is no one correct answer.
MHB's buyers and sellers specialists work together to evaluate the entire move instead of treating the sale and purchase as unrelated transactions. We can look at your current home's likely value and marketability, your equity position, what you are hoping to buy, the competitiveness of that segment of the market, and your comfort with different timing scenarios.
If you are competing for the next property, MHB's offer strategy can go well beyond price. Our buyer materials walk through earnest money, closing-date flexibility, inspection and appraisal terms, escalation strategies, post-closing occupancy, and other contingencies that may affect how a seller evaluates an offer.
The objective is not to remove protections automatically. It is to understand what each term means, decide what level of risk you are comfortable with, and build the strongest offer that still makes sense for you.
Experience Matters More When Two Transactions Depend on Each Other
Traditional real estate often revolves around one individual agent. MHB was deliberately built differently.
We are a collaborative firm, and buyers and sellers benefit from the collective experience behind more than 3,000 transactions. Full-time career agents, a two-year training path for new agents, and specialists on both sides of the move create continuity when pricing, timing, financing, inspections, appraisals, and negotiations all have to work together.
You should not have to connect those dots yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions About Downsizing in Dane County
Should I buy my next home or sell my current home first?
It depends on your equity, finances, current-home marketability, the type of property you are trying to buy, and how much uncertainty you are comfortable carrying. MHB can evaluate your current home and next-home criteria together before either transaction is put in motion.
How do I know what my longtime Dane County home is worth?
MHB uses a property-specific 42-point market analysis as part of the pricing process, considering the home, relevant market data, current competition, and your goals before recommending how the property should be positioned.
Do I need to renovate before selling?
Not necessarily. MHB provides staging and home-prep guidance before professional photography so you can focus effort and money where they are most likely to improve the way the home competes and presents.
What if I have not decided where I want to move yet?
That is completely workable. In fact, clarifying priorities such as location, layout, maintenance, budget, lot size, garage space, and dealbreakers is often more useful than immediately searching listings.
What does MHB charge to sell my current home?
MHB's single $5,000 Selling Strategy is $500 upfront and $4,500 at closing after a successful sale. It is a full-service process that includes pricing strategy, home-prep guidance, professional marketing, MLS exposure, showing coordination, negotiations, and contract-to-close management.
You Do Not Need the Whole Move Figured Out Before Talking to Us
A lot of homeowners put off this conversation because they think they need to know exactly where they are going, when they are moving, and what they are buying first. You do not.
The first step in MHB's process is a no-obligation consultation. We learn about your current home, what is prompting the move, and what you would like the next chapter to look like. From there, we can help answer the questions that actually determine the strategy: what could the current home sell for, what should you do - or not do - to prepare it, what would you want to buy next, should you sell or buy first, and how could the two transactions be coordinated?
Maybe the answer is a condo in Madison. Maybe it is a smaller home in Middleton, Verona, or Waunakee. Maybe it is a planned community. Or maybe, after seeing the numbers and options, you decide you are perfectly happy where you are for another few years.
We are okay with that answer too. MHB is not here to push you into a transaction. We are here to give you the experience, information, and strategy to make the right real estate decision for you.
