10 Tips to Help You With Downsizing

Have the kids all left home now and you are living in a house that is too big and requires too much work for you to maintain? Downsizing can be a tough thing to accept for people who have lived in their house for 40 years and now must sell because they are no longer able to look after it. You need help with the yardwork and It is too much to keep clean. Paying somebody to cut the lawn, rake the leaves, or clean the house can can get expensive after a while. Or maybe you just don’t want to live in the big house anymore.

And after many years you have acquired a lot of stuff- your house is probably pretty full. Things that are not ready for to be thrown out but are really of no use to any of your relatives because most people already have their own stuff. Garden tools, hand tools, furniture, dishes, housewares, that kind of thing. What do you do with it?

If what I am saying applies to you and you are overwhelmed by the thought getting your house ready to sell, here are some tips to help you along.

1. Start early. Beginning months or even a year before you are ready to move can relieve much of the stress involved.
2. Give stuff away online. Place ads in the Free section of websites like Facebook or Kijiji.
3. Ask for help from outside charitable agencies. Salvation Army, churches etc.
4. Contact the nearby Secondary School. Ask them if helping a neighbourhood senior qualifies toward a student’s mandatory community hours.
5. Have a garage sale with the sole purpose of getting rid of stuff, NOT making money. Price things aggressively so they sell.

6. Place stuff at the end of your driveway. You would be surprised what gets picked up by people driving by.
7. Throw away things. I know the trend these days is to be Green and recycle, but sometimes this is just the easiest way. Once it is gone, two days later you won’t even remember that you had it.
8. Call in a professional. There are companies that will help you with your move. Just Google Senior Move Managers in your area.
9. Do not get a rental storage unit! These are just collecting spots that cost you money  where people put stuff that will probably never be used again.
10. Consider moving while you physically still can. Don’t wait until you have to ask for help with the chore of moving.  

Now this is not necessarily a sad time for some people. This can also be a fun and exciting time for people. You are getting rid of the burden of the big house giving you more time for other leisure activities. And also probably freeing up some equity in your house allowing you to maybe buy a winter place in a warm climate. Imagine, no more Canadian winters!