how do i prepare to downsize my house

1. Start As Soon As Possible And Pace Yourself. You should start the downsizing process as soon as possible to give yourself time to properly sort through your house without ...
2. Focus On One Room At A Time. The thought of decluttering or organizing your whole home might be daunting, so remember to take it one step at a time.
3. Measure Out Your New Space. In order to properly downsize, you have to know the size of the space you’re aiming to fit into. ...
4. Consider Your New Lifestyle. Aside from inch-by-inch measurements, you should also consider the bigger picture of what you’re hoping to gain from downsizing.
Set Clear Decluttering Ground Rules. Once you start decluttering and combing through items, it could become easy to make exceptions here and there.
Divvy And Offer Up Sentimental Items. There are bound to be some sentimental items that won’t fit into your new space. ...
Sell Or Donate Nonsentimental Items. For those nonsentimental items you don’t plan on bringing into your new space, try selling them to pay for moving costs or new decor ...
Organize And Digitize As You Go. Take the time to leave your space more organized than you found it. ...
Repurpose Or Memorialize Items. There may be certain things in your home that you really want to keep but you realize they won’t fit in your new space.
Bring In Help If Needed. Buying and selling at the same time can be a lot to handle. ...

Full Answer

What do you need to know before downsizing your home?

• Take photos of your home before you downsize. ...
• Keep things you want, use, need, or like to look at. ...
• Don’t over-save for the next generation. ...
• Give with no strings attached. ...
• Create 'safe passage' for the possessions you give away. ...
• Stop acquiring. ...
• Take only the favorites from your collections. ...

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Should you downsize your home or get a reverse mortgage?

In that case, a reverse mortgage might be a better option, as you can receive either a lump sum or regular cash payments from the equity in your home, while you stay put close to the family, friends and services you know and love. (See “Do the math,” below, for a more detailed breakdown of the costs of downsizing vs taking on a reverse mortgage.)

How to adjust to downsizing your home?

• Don’t forget to go through your bathroom cabinets, kitchen and “junk” drawers. ...
• How you dispose of these unnecessary items will depend on how much energy and/or time you have. ...
• Join a Freecycle group to give stuff away (www.freecycle.org)

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How to prepare to downsize your home?

Steps

1. Assess your actual needs. Someday, you may take up exercising, but the treadmill /Stairmaster/Bowflex has been gathering dust for some time.
2. Go through your home, every cabinet, shelf and closet should be cleared. Only put back the things you couldn't live well without.
3. Measure your furniture. ...
4. Assess your new storage areas. ...

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Where do I start when downsizing?

How To Downsize Your Home: 10+ Tips To Help You Declutter And SimplifyStart As Soon As Possible And Pace Yourself. ... Focus On One Room At A Time. ... Measure Out Your New Space. ... Consider Your New Lifestyle. ... Set Clear Decluttering Ground Rules. ... Divvy And Offer Up Sentimental Items. ... Sell Or Donate Nonsentimental Items.More items...•

How do you start the downsizing process?

Tips to make downsizing easierStart early. ... Start small. ... Eliminate rooms you won't have in your new home. ... Get rid of duplicates. ... Only make Yes or No piles — no Maybes. ... Reduce collections creatively. ... Don't be afraid to sell things yourself. ... Allow some time to reminisce.More items...•

What is a good age to downsize?

As adults age into their 50s and 60s, many of them are ready to downsize. That often means purchasing a townhouse to trim maintenance or a smaller one-story home to keep stair climbing to a minimum.

What should I look for when downsizing a house?

Here are 10 things to consider when downsizing to a smaller home.Available amenities. ... Close proximity to neighbors. ... Home office needs. ... The number of people in your household. ... Your need for personal space. ... Future visitors. ... Your storage needs. ... Your financial goals.More items...•

What to get rid of when you downsize?

10 Things You Need To Discard To Downsize Your Life SpaceClothes you don't wear. ... Books. ... CDs and DVDs. ... Sports and musical equipment. ... Bags and baggage. ... Kitchen gadgets. ... Items from the past. ... Decorative knick-knacks.More items...

What to do with your stuff when you downsize?

7 Most Effective Downsizing and Decluttering TipsTake Inventory of Your Belongings. ... Sort Through Items Room-by-Room and Minimize Duplicates. ... Create a Plan to Get Rid of Unwanted Items. ... Go Digital When Possible. ... Make the Most of Your Storage Spaces. ... Measure Furniture and Wait to Buy New Things. ... Give Yourself Plenty of Time.

Is house downsizing worth it?

In reality, however, they often reap far less profit than they might have hoped. Done right, downsizing can still be a good idea. You might not just walk away with more money but also simplify your life and reduce your home-maintenance and utility costs for years to come.

Do I pay tax if I downsize my house?

For most people downsizing from a larger, more expensive property to a smaller, less expensive one is exempt from Capital Gains Tax if it is your main residence. That means all the equity that is released by downsizing your home is tax-free and can be used to do what you want with.

What are the pros and cons of downsizing?

Key Takeaways. Downsizing can increase your cash flow, lower your utility bills, and reduce the time you spend on maintenance and upkeep. The downsides to downsizing include having less room for guests and having to get rid of belongings to fit into a smaller space.

What are the disadvantages of downsizing?

Cons of downsizingThe work. Any move is a lot of work. ... Hidden costs. Moving into a smaller home can cost you a lot of unexpected money. ... Less privacy. Unless you live alone, a smaller house means you'll have to get used to sharing your space. ... Not enough space to entertain. ... Less storage.

Why is it so hard to downsize?

Downsizing and moving is often accompanied by the anxiety of the unknown. Anxiety when downsizing often comes from the prospect of discarding possessions and deciding which possessions to take with you. When you've spent a great deal of time in one home, a lot of stuff accumulates.

How much should you downsize?

Typically, mortgage lenders want you to put 20 percent down on a home purchase because it lowers their lending risk. It's also a “rule” that most programs charge mortgage insurance if you put less than 20 percent down (though some loans avoid this).

What steps should employers who are downsizing do?

An important task while planning for any downsizing is to carefully analyze your talent pool. Identify key skills the company will need after the layoffs. Consider how to help remaining employees impacted by the downsizing acclimate new roles and functions as the organization moves forward.

How do I downsize my small business?

5 Downsizing Tips for Keeping Your Small Business SmallOffer Fewer Products and Services. One way to scale back is to limit the number of products and services your business offers. ... Outsource Jobs that are Outside Your Area of Expertise. ... Reduce Your Business Hours. ... Turn Away Some of Your Clients. ... Reduce Staff.

How do you downsize employees?

Downsizing business: How to manage downsizing employeesBe transparent. ... Ease fears and establish new goals and new responsibilities. ... Have a vision and a plan. ... Focus on the important stuff. ... Give back and make sacrifices for your employees. ... Be empathetic.

How do you write a downsizing letter?

Dear [Employee Name]: I regret to inform you that you are being laid off from your position as [position name] effective [date layoff goes into effect]. This layoff should be considered permanent. A recent [restructuring, economic downturn, buyout, etc] requires that [company name] lays off [number] employees.

How to downsize a room?

In order to properly downsize, you have to know the size of the space you’re aiming to fit into. Ideally, you’ll know the square footage and shape of each room. This will help you figure out which large furniture pieces you should get rid of before the move. If you don’t have the exact measurements of your new place or don’t have a new place selected yet, focus on decluttering and getting rid of items you know you won’t need. Once you get more specifics, you can dig into those items that you were on the fence about.

What to consider when downsizing?

You should be considering not just what will fit physically but what items fit in what you want out of your new space. Downsizing is a chance to reset and revamp – so take advantage of that!

Why do people downsize?

People downsize for many reasons. The most common ones we hear from our clients who downsize are to save money and to get rid of unused space. Downsizing your home can be the right move at any stage of life depending on your goals.

How to donate clothes after 6 months?

Closet-Hanger Method: Face all closet hanger hooks away from you. Once you wear an item, turn the hanger hook toward you. After 6 months, donate any clothes that are still facing away.

How to avoid collecting clutter?

Be very picky about new purchases to avoid collecting clutter. Some people live by the rule that if something new comes into their home, something else must go. This will help keep clutter to a minimum and keep you from spending unnecessarily. If you’re really on the fence about a purchase or have poor spending habits, give yourself a 48-hour cool-off period to see if you truly need the item or if you just got caught up in the thrill of an impulse buy.

What happens when you start decluttering?

Before you know it, all you’ve done is taken items from one place and moved them to another, instead of determining where they actually belong.

What to do when you miss something in your new home?

If you know you’re going to miss the item, but it has no place in your new home, take a photo of it and add any relevant details (where it came from, what it signifies). Create your own “treasure” photobook or work the photos into an album. Some additional ways to memorialize items and memories include:

How to organize a small space?

Organize your space as you unpack. Utilize closet and cupboard storage solutions as you unpack. This way, more can be stored in these tight spaces and you will be setting a precedent for how your new, smaller space will be used. Don’t fall back into lazy habits or your downsized place will get you down.

What to do with a large number of items?

For a large number of items, have a yard sale (or a series of yard sales), or if you have a lot to sell quickly, consider a service to take care of it for you (e.g., Google liquidation estate content sales).

What do you keep without using?

Consider that most of the stuff people keep without using is a tribute to an unmet goal. The most common example is probably exercise machines that we always say we'll use, but don't. Then there are those books we intend to read, that table we eventually want to have dinners and brunches on, etc. We keep things around "just in case", or hoping that their presence will eventually encourage us to use them. But let's be realistic, if seeing that treadmill get a coating of dust hasn't inspired you yet, what makes you think it ever will? Make room for the things you'll actually use.

How to keep stuff from accumulating in a small space?

Once you're in your new small space, enact a rule to keep your stuff from accumulating: Every time something comes in, something has to go. The item (s) you get rid of should be about the same size as the one you brought in.

How to decide what you really need?

Wouldn’t a good pair of walking/running shoes be more useful and take up significantly less space? Does anyone actually sit in the chair in the corner? How often do you eat at the table? When was the last time you used your stereo? Deciding what you really need requires a good long look at how you live your life daily and prioritizing the activities and items that are already a part of your actual lifestyle- -not those activities or items that you want to be part of your lifestyle, but haven't gotten around to yet.

What to do when you are in economic straits?

The longer you try to hang on to a lifestyle you can no longer support, the deeper the pit you’ll be digging. Take your cue from business strategy - restructure.

How to get a promised dresser?

Call up your friends and relatives and see what they need . You may be able to enlist their help in the move for a promised dresser/bed/armchair!

What is the hardest part of downsizing?

2. Family heirlooms. Emotional attachment is one of the most difficult parts of the process when you’re figuring out how to prepare to downsize your home. However, be careful not to go overboard when it comes to sentimental family heirlooms, or you may end up experiencing rearview-mirror remorse.

What is the best furniture to downsize?

If it serves multiple functions, that’s even better. Murphy beds, ottomans that double as storage, and multipurpose furniture like futons or sleeper sofas are the downsizer’s best friend.

How to get a leg up on staging the kitchen?

Decluttering countertops (by removing items such as mail baskets, banana hammocks, paper towel holders, and bread boxes from surfaces) will also help you get a leg up on staging the kitchen for buyers when you put your house on the market. Since one of the top complaints from potential buyers is that the kitchen is too small, you’ll want to achieve a minimalist look in this space rather than give off hoarder vibes.

How to pare down kitchen clutter?

You’ll be able to pare down your kitchen clutter drastically by getting rid of assorted gadgets that you don’t need or regularly use. When you’re downsizing your space, these should be among the first casualties of your minimized lifestyle.

What to do if you haven't worn a suit in 6 months?

For the most part, if you haven’t worn an item in the last six months, you won’t need it going forward (but hang onto your funeral wear, swimsuits, and job interview power suit).

What happens when you move and sell your house?

Amid the chaos of moving and selling the house, stuff gets lost and you could accidentally toss something you regret in the rush to get packed in time. Mistakes will happen in any move. But these are the items you don’t want to trash or give away in a haste.

How to downsize a box?

How to Downsize: Use the OHI O Rule. The OHIO rule stands for "Only Handle it Once" and is a device that will save you time as you sort items into piles. The OHIO rule eliminates any hemming and hawing over placing an item in the garbage pile or into the donation pile. As you sort make sure each pile and box is labeled so they don't get mixed up. ...

What does downsizing mean?

Downsizing means less space and while that concept might resonate, you might need visual evidence of what it will look like. Go ahead and take a look at the layout of your new place by using a handy site like planyourroom.com, which allows you to adjust the dimensions of a room and place common furniture options (which are also adjustable) into the room. You'll find out quickly how many recliners you can fit into the living room. Or go the old-fashioned route and just measure everything with a tape measure.

How to reduce paper in house?

Paper piles up around the house quicker than you can blink. These days most bills can be paid online or through automatic withdrawal to reduce paper. But there’s still plenty of other paper documents that you keep around. You only need to keep seven years of tax records so go ahead and prepare a pile to send to the shredder. If you don’t have a shredder at home you can take a box of papers to a Staples store to get shredded or if you’ve got more than that, try calling a mobile shredder. Try setting up a compact office in your new place. Photo: Courtesy of Amazon

Is there a maybe in downsizing?

There is no maybe in downsizing. That maybe pile is probably going to follow you to your new, smaller place. Eliminate the maybe pile and make the hard decisions right away. Frame the decision as a need versus a want, if that helps. Just make sure you stick to a yes or no decision.

Is it a good idea to make a list of items to move?

Making a move is always a good time to create a list of items you own. It'll help with homeowner's insurance and renter's insurance if you ever need to make a claim. An inventory will also help for any future estate concerns. Once it's inventoried, figure out the best way to pack it up with these tips. MetLife and other insurance companies have a helpful checklist you can print off and fill out.

Do you need to keep photos for moving?

Photos are keepsakes but unless you're regularly thumbing through books of them, there's not much reason to keep a physical copy of them. Save yourself some additional moving items by digitizing those photos. Do the same with any movies or CDs you've got sitting around collecting dust. For any remaining CDs or DVDs, make a wall cabinet to save on space and put those old CD bins to use as a twine dispenser.

How to downsize a house quickly?

If your goal is to liquidate nearly everything in your home, one traditional way to downsize quickly is to hire an estate sale firm to come in and price the items on your behalf, then sell what they can for you.

How long does it take for a house to sell?

In hot seller’s markets, homes will sell in as few as 36 days on average. The truth is your house could get snatched up in a half hour if it’s in good condition and priced correctly.

Is selling your home fast a blessing?

Selling your home fast is a blessing (even though it might feel like a curse), so roll with the punches and thank your lucky stars that you’re not sitting on the market for months. And no matter how tired you are, don’t forget to take a minute and celebrate your downsizing victory.

What are the benefits of downsizing your home?

Benefit 2: Reduced Effort on Upkeep. Not only are you downsizing your home to save money, but you are also saving time and energy you usually invest in maintaining your large home. No longer will you spend hours cleaning rooms you barely use and doing tedious yard work.

HOW CAN YOU KNOW IF IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO DOWNSIZE?

Since it is primarily a lifestyle decision, determining when you should downsize your home is all about evaluating how your space complements the lifestyle you desire for yourself.

WHAT IS THE DOWNSIDE TO DOWNSIZING?

The main disadvantage downsizing could pose is discontent if the timing is not right. Heavy emotional attachment to things, stressful life events, financial burdens, and other factors may indicate right now is not the best time to be thinking about making a lifestyle overhaul. It can feel overwhelming. Here are a few downsides to downsizing for you to consider.

What are the challenges of decluttering?

Decluttering difficulties: It can be challenging to let go of family heirlooms that no longer fit or get rid of a closet full of clothing you used to love wearing. It can be heart-wrenching to finally sell that collection you acquired from years of travelling., or throw out the small knickknacks you or a loved one has grown accustomed to hoarding.

Why do people downsize?

One of the primary reasons people consider home downsizing is to save money. Smaller homes ensure a smaller mortgage, lower utility costs, less maintenance expense, and lower property insurance. If you are selling your old home, you can use the profits to buy your new place in cash, eliminating your mortgage payment entirely .

Why do empty nesters need a smaller home?

Empty-nesters may consider a smaller home to suit their child-free routines. Retirees may want to spend less time and money maintaining a larger home. Individuals on whom age is taking its toll — and their families — may find themselves searching for extra assistance in a care facility.

How to pack up a house?

Pack up the house: Pack items into well-labeled boxes, and keep a running inventory list of what the boxes contain and the rooms they belong in.

Why are seniors downsizing?

Seniors who are downsizing are especially concerned with the " safe passage " of the possessions they give away — that is, they want to ensure that the new owners appreciate the value and significance of the items.

What percentage of baby boomers are downsizing?

Forty-six percent of baby boomers who sold homes in 2017 were in the process of downsizing, according to a Zillow report, and a full 12% of the home buyers between 45 and 64 were doing the same, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Why is it important to find a smaller place to live?

Whether it's because of retirement, kids leaving home, a drop in income, divorce, or another reason, it often makes financial sense to find a smaller and more economical place to live.

Do Americans downsize?

Americans are increasingly looking to downsize their homes. Although downsizing can be liberating, there are several things you need to do before you can move into a smaller home. We spoke to an expert who told us 11 things everyone should do before they downsize. The number of Americans downsizing their homes is skyrocketing.

How to downsize a collection?

If you're a collector looking to downsize, invest in a display case that fits your new space, limit your collections to what fits inside of it, and donate the rest. In doing so, you'll avoid finding your new home littered with tchotchkes that you eventually have to cull.

What is the hardest thing about downsizing?

One of the hardest things about downsizing? Not knowing what to expect. If you're worried about how the process may affect you, discuss it with some friends who've done the same in the past. While it may seem like a scary prospect at first, when you hear others tell you how much happier they are in a smaller space, you might find yourself inspired to follow their lead.

How to keep your new home organized?

Looking to keep your new home organized when you move in? Figure out what storage containers will fit in your cabinets and closets, and only allow yourself to fill up those boxes. This will ensure that you're not carrying clutter into your new home.

What to know before starting a real estate search?

Before you decide to start your search for a smaller place in the same locale, make sure you know the historical trends in the real estate market— if things keep getting more expensive in your area, you might want to broaden your search.

When to think big about going small?

Think big about going small. By Sarah Crow. June 4, 2019. By Sarah Crow. June 4, 2019. While that sprawling house you bought as your family grew may have suited you at one point, many people find themselves with too much space on their hands by the time they hit middle age.

Is it a good idea to downsize to one in one out?

Shutterstock. If you're downsizing, there's no better time to adopt a "one in, one out" policy. So, for every item you buy, you have to get rid of another item of the same type. And yes, that applies to everything, from office supplies to clothing.

Is it easier to move to a smaller space?

But for many, getting the ball rolling on a move to a smaller space is easier said than done, especially because of all the things that can't come with you. If you find yourself saddled with too much square footage—and too much stuff—read on to discover some easy ways to effortlessly downsize. 1.