Downsizing your home can be an exciting time; however, the process can be stressful and even emotional. Maybe your children have recently moved out to live on their own so you are now empty nesters, or perhaps you are merely looking to simplify your life by reducing or eliminating the time and effort needed to maintain and upkeep a larger home, both inside and outside. Or sometimes it just makes sense financially to move into a smaller living space to reduce monthly living expenses and perhaps put cash in your savings account when you sell your larger home.
With all the wonderful things that come with downsizing, the preparation and transition period can still be very stressful and emotional for homeowners, especially if it’s been a family home you’ve spent much of your life in. In this article, we’re going to share with you some tips on preparing to downsize and how you can make the looming responsibility of selling your family home much less daunting.
Preparing to Downsize
Prior to downsizing, you should give yourself time to sort through all your belongings to make informed decisions about what you want to take with you to your new, smaller home. We recommend pacing yourself in this stage so that you do not impulsively keep unnecessary items or throw away things that you will want to have later. A general rule of thumb is to give yourself three months to complete this process. This is also an excellent opportunity to declutter your home.
The thought of sorting through and decluttering your entire home all at once is overwhelming, so try and focus on one room at a time over a period of time. In fact, you can create a schedule that breaks the work into a room-by-room schedule so you can track your progress against the plan, checking off room by room.
Remember that the items you choose to keep not only need to fit into your new home but also need to fit into your new lifestyle. As you sort through everything, consistently remind yourself of the intentions behind your move to downsize. This will help you make informed decisions about what you should keep and what isn’t going to fit well into the new lifestyle you’ve designed for yourself.
If you have trouble letting go of your belongings, try writing out a clear set of criteria for what you should keep and what should be thrown out, donated, or sold. You can also pass items of sentimental value on to other members of your family to keep in their homes where you can still enjoy them from time to time. For many, downsizing preparation can be emotional, particularly for those who have been in the home for many years, even decades. We’ve all experienced the often-difficult task of letting items go as we make space for the “new.” It can often help to enlist a family member to sort through your belongings with you and offer advice for ways to get sentimental or valuable items to family members who will appreciate having them.
When moving, there is always a risk of items getting lost or damaged in the process. For sentimental documents and photos, we recommend scanning these into your computer and digitizing them in case they are lost or damaged in the shuffle of moving. While this can take some time and you may have to ask a family member or friend for help, once you are done with this, you will then be able to access them anytime in their digital form. On top of that, once these sentimental documents and photos are digitized, you’ll be able to easily share them with your loved ones.
Selling Your Home
Once you’ve prepared to downsize, you’ll need to consider how you’d like to sell your home. If you are considering selling your home through a traditional real estate listing, this will likely add a whole new layer of stress as you have to get the home prepared to list and show. The “to-do” list can be long with all the touch-ups, minor repairs, cleaning, and decluttering that your agent will suggest you do in preparation for the listing’s photo shoot. Having worked with many, many customers who were downsizing, we know that many who are downsizing just desire to get to their new home faster, without all the time, effort, and money needed to list on the market
The good news is that there’s another option to a traditional listing. You can explore selling your home directly to a real estate investor which essentially eliminates the “to-do” list and makes your home sale easier, simpler, and faster. In fact, another benefit to this home sale route is the ability to leave behind items you don’t wish to take with you. This is especially convenient when downsizing as it takes away the responsibility of discarding unwanted items so you can spend more time focusing on your next chapter.
Downsize with Homestead Road
Homestead Road is a trusted real estate investor in the regions of Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Tampa. We have been buying homes from homeowners just like you for over ten years. In that time, our compassionate team has earned an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and countless positive reviews from satisfied clients. One of the most common reasons clients work with us is that they are downsizing, so we have years of experience in the best practices when it comes to downsizing your home.
We understand that your family home holds sentimental value for you. We’ve worked with many folks whom are downsizing, and we know the home typically has a lot of sentimental value to them. If you choose, we offer a custom, hand-painted watercolor painting of your home to bring back fond memories and commemorate your former home.
If you’d like to learn more about whether Homestead Road could be right for your situation and could take the hassles of selling off your hands, please click here to visit our homepage.
