5 Tips for Preparing You and Your Home for Downsizing
1. Organize: It’s like eating an elephant, one bite at a time.
Begin with a small extra bedroom or even one closet. Create three piles; keep, gift away, and discard. Box and label the “keep”, deliver the gift away and arrange for pickup of “discards”. Don’t move on to another room or closet until you have finished what you started, even if it takes a while.
2. Repair: Get help determining what must be done, and don’t worry what does not need to be done.
You are planning to move, so don’t do these repairs for yourself, do them for the purpose of selling. It can be difficult to see the forest through the trees, so ask for help from an expert.
3. Ligthen and brighten: Let the light shine in.
Buyers want to feel happy when they are looking for their next home. The best way to make sure your home shows well is to remove heavy window treatements, allowing the light in, and lightening any dark walls. This is often a very easy and inexpensive way to create a very inviting environmwent.
4. Gift things away: This is the time to give your niece the Hummel collection that she loves.
It can be a wonderful time to connect with people who love you and who you love. After enjoying the collections or even antiques for years, you may not need them as you downsize. If you know someone who has always admired a special “something” of ours, now is the time to give it to them.
5. Filing: The paper trail
Although this could fall into the organizing category, it is usually an animal all its own. Years of tax returns and bank statements have a daunting look to them when it’s time to move. Remember, you only need 7 years so safely discarding any documents with sensitive information is the way to go. Begin by assembling the last 7 years into a box of 2 and no more. Any retirement fund, investment or life insurance information should be updated annually. Trust and homeowner documents should be collected as well as any other documents pertaining to the home. Once you have these safely boxed, it’s time to shred. There are shredding services that will come right to your door.
PRESTO® is the first and only one-stop senior transition service. We can help you pack, move and resettle your belongings then clean out repair and sell your home. Our goal is to make this a worry-free experience for you and your loved ones. Let us cusotmize a plan for you! Call 630-755-6499 for a free consultation!
