There are many reasons why people want to downsize and move into smaller homes. Maybe you want to cut costs and save more money. Maybe you don’t want to have such expensive air conditioning and heating bills. Maybe you don’t want to spend so much time cleaning. Maybe you’ve realized you don’t need so much space, especially if you’ve suddenly become an empty nester. Or maybe you’re a young millennial couple who has decided that instead of starting a family, you’d rather travel and have adventures.
Whatever the reason, selling your house and moving into a smaller one may be the smartest move for you. It can feel overwhelming, however, especially when you have a lot of stuff, and one of the reasons you are downsizing is to get rid of some of your stuff and live a simpler, more minimalist lifestyle.
Here are 4 tips that will help you when you decide to downsize:
1. Take One Room at a Time
It may be too overwhelming to look at your entire house. All the junk drawers, the closets, the garage, everything. You may be tempted to just say, “never mind.” You’re more likely to complete the entire project if you break it down into smaller steps. Take one room at a time. And then within each room, take each drawer, each closet, each shelf one at a time. Have a bag for trash and a bag for items to donate.
2. Don’t Save a Lot of Stuff for Future Generations
A lot of people don’t want to let go of that antique dining room set or all that great furniture in the study because one day the grandchildren might want it. So then they pay to put it in storage. It would be much better to save that money you would be paying to store things and give the grandchildren the money so they can buy the furniture and dining room set they want. Trust me, they aren’t going to want your old furniture. It would be a much better idea to hang on to sentimental items like jewelry or watches for future generations.
3. Bring Only Your Favorites
If you collect coffee mugs, for example, you’ve likely been gifted a ton of coffee mugs over the years. Pick your favorite mugs, and let go of the others. This isn’t the time to hold onto those “guilt gifts” or things you feel like you have to keep.
4. Don’t Bring Anything That Doesn’t Have a Spot in Your New Home
If it doesn’t have a place you can unpack it in your new home, don’t bring it. Otherwise, you will just have a lot of useless clutter around, and that’s no way to start out in your new home.
If you’re interested in selling your house to downsize, and you don’t want to go through the headache and the long process of working with a real estate agent, reach out to Crawford Home Buyers today.