Some people find that after their children have grown up and left home, that their big house is no longer practical for them. They may want somewhere to retire peacefully in a home that is smaller and easier to manage.
If you are in this position, then trying to decide how and when to downsize can be a tough decision. However, there are a few tips you can try to make the decision a little easier.
Assess What You Need
Before you begin packing up your things and moving out, you need to think about what you want from your new home. The things you want now, might not be practical later on, so you should think carefully about your needs.
How much stuff will you be taking with you? You will obviously be getting rid of a lot of things, but if you have old furniture that is big and you want to keep it, then you will need somewhere big enough to fit it in.
As we get older, we may become less mobile, so choosing a top floor apartment might be ok for now, but may not be a good idea later on. Making a note of what you want will help you to choose later.
Decide How You Want to Sell
There are a couple of options available to you when it comes to selling your existing home. Firms like Mrs. Property Solutions offer cash for houses in Los Angeles and other cities so that could be an option.
The other alternative is selling through a real estate agent; however, this can take a lot longer to complete.
Clear Out All the Cupboards and Shelves
When it comes to clearing out your house, start planning it early. You can begin by going through the attic and garage to see what you no longer need. You should also go through your cupboards and shelves to make sure anything you don’t want can be removed.
You don’t want to be taking anything with you that you no longer want, so throw out or give to charity all your unwanted stuff. You could also start to sell things on auctions sites to generate some additional money that you can use in your new home.
That will mean that when it comes time to pack up the house, you won’t need to waste time sorting through it all.
Assess Your Storage Needs
Once you have sorted through all your old things, you should have a better idea of what storage you will need in your new home. It means that when you are looking at new properties, you can easily judge if there will be enough room or not.
It might be that there is not enough storage in the new house already, but if there is plenty of space for additional storage, you can always add some later.
Things like the number of rooms, how much storage and the location, are all important things to remember when you are thinking about downsizing.
