Downsizing
Of all the reasons to sell the Four Ds dominate. The four Ds are Death in a family, too much Debt, Downsizing after the kids leave home, and Divorce.
We hadn’t thought too much about downsizing until a friend’s mother decided to sell the big house after her husband died. People accumulate “stuff” over 30 to 40 years. When the house just becomes too big or maintenance overwhelms, a smaller place is logical.
It’s not just the elderly, but 80 million boomers will retire over the next eight and a half years. Many will want to move to warmer weather and smaller quarters. It can be painful to worry about all the collectibles, the furniture, and clothes in the smaller space.
Here in Omaha, the popularity of Tiny Homes caught our attention. “Definitions vary, but some say a tiny house is anything smaller than 400 square feet. Advocates tout the environmental and financial perks of tiny living.” A couple, from Pittsburgh, had been considering a major downsize for years. It could free them from the mortgage on their three-bedroom home. They tried living in a tiny house. In the end it bolstered their decision to downsize.
For more on downsizing, WikiHow has 12 steps to downsize your house or move into a smaller house. They include:
- Assess your needs – Deciding what you really need requires a good long look at how you live your life daily and prioritizing the activities and items that arealready 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.
- Go through your home, every cabinet, shelf and closet should be cleared.
- Measure your furniture. – You will need to know how your furniture will (or won’t) fit into your new space – particularly large items such as your sofa and your bed – so measure everything.
- Assess your new storage areas. – Yes the house or apartment is gorgeous and the views are terrific, but assessing exactly how much of the new space is dedicated to storage will give you an idea of the volume of items you need to dispose of before moving in.
- Sell your stuff.
- Move large items first. – Move your furnitureinto your new home first. You will have the most energy for this task at the beginning of the move and it will also give you a better indication of where the smaller things will go.
- 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.
If you have downsized already, and your new home feels small, try hiring an interior designer for ways to make your house look and feel bigger.
If you are looking to downsize, by selling your house, call us. Once you have made the decision to sell, you may want to move quickly. We buy houses as-is for cash.
Styl Properties, Inc. is here to help homeowners out of any kind of distressed situation. As investors, we are in business to make a modest profit on any deal, however we can help homeowners out of just about any situation, no matter what! There are no fees, upfront costs, commissions, or anything else. Just the simple honest truth about your home and how we can help you sell it fast to resolve any situation.
Give us a call today at 402.909.0686 to let us know what YOU need help with!