Whether you’re downsizing because the kids have moved out, you want to move locations, or you’re feeling too burdened by a large house, downsizing the family home can be challenging.
While it is difficult to leave a home where many memories were made, there are many benefits. Home maintenance will fall drastically, accessibility will improve, and property taxes, utility costs, and insurance will decrease (in most cases).
Once you’ve decided to downsize your home, we have a guide to help you with this transition:
- One Room at a Time
- Family Help
- Changing Needs
- Accessibility
- Additional Supports
One Room at a Time
Whether the whole family is helping or just you, the same approach applies: clean and declutter one room at a time. Give yourself plenty of time to sort through your belongings and only take what you’re using regularly or items that bring great happiness.
Decluttering allows you to focus on what matters. Fewer things to worry about reduces stress and increases freedom. You can consider digitizing photos, family videos, cards and other similar keepsakes to save space.
Family Help
If your family is helping you, this is an opportunity to pass along items that you want to keep in the family and sort through things that have been collected over the years. If the home has been in the family for a while, it can also be helpful to collectively process the transition.
If you’re on the fence about something, consider if someone else could make better (and more) use of something you rarely use. If so, donate it to the Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul, or a consignment store. After you’ve sorted, decluttered, and passed on what you could to family and donation centres, you might want to hold a garage sale for the items that won’t work in your new place. You certainly don’t want to take any unnecessary articles to your new home.
Changing Needs
Evaluate your current and future mobility and how much responsibility you want (and can handle) before deciding what type of home to target as your next residence. What daily routines need to be accommodated (coffee with a view in the morning)? What aspects of home ownership add to your enjoyment and what detract? What do you want your life at home to look like for the next decade? Would a bungalow with a small yard work well? Or would a condo where all the maintenance is taken care of be more appropriate? How close would you like to be to shopping, transit, family, etc? Take your time considering what your day to day is like now and where you see yourself in the future.
Accessibility
Depending on your existing mobility, evaluate the current state of the property and whether some small renovations might be necessary for the new home (and how easy the home will be to modify). These could include additions such as bathroom grab bars, space to move around with mobility devices, ramps instead of steps, better lighting, and smart devices for convenience and safety. Keep in mind however, there is evidence that being active helps increase your longevity so be mindful not to eliminate barriers too soon.
Additional Supports
Downsizing a family home or making a big transition can take a lot of energy, time and emotion. Having support with sorting, packing, planning, moving, and determining the best real estate strategy can go a long way to give you more space to digest the process. Ensuring that every partner vendor is experienced and well versed in supporting families with this phase is essential. While changing homes after many years of living in one place can be difficult, physically and emotionally, with the right plan and support you can help to reduce the inherent stress that comes with major change.
Are you ready to move to the next stage? Let’s chat. Send me an email (hillary@hillarylane.ca) or text/phone (416-882-4707).
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
