Tips For Downsizing Your Home

There are many reasons why you might opt to downsize your home. Whether its because your kids have grown up and moved out, you need to finance your retirement by tapping into your home equity, or some other reason, you may come to the point where it feels right to move into something that is a more appropriate size for your situation.

While there is no one way to go about things, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some good strategies for downsizing your home in as stress-free a manner as possible. One step that will sure make your home downsizing strategy is successful is to make use of home storage solutions—after all, you need some place to keep your extra stuff. What follows are 3 tips for downsizing your home. Number 2 will focus on why home storage solutions really are a logical choice.

1. Write a ListYour first order of business should be to create a list of what you absolutely must take with you. Over the years, most everyone accumulates a host of things that they don’t really need. The great thing about writing a list is that you’ll come to grips with how much you actually have, and this will make it easier to thin the proverbial herd as far as parting with some of your possessions. If you’re downsizing, you simply can’t take everything with you, so go through your stuff and decide what to take—then part ways with the other stuff.
2. Storage SolutionsHome storage solutions are a great option if you’re in the process of downsizing. Think of it this way: after you write your list of things you absolutely must take with you, you might find that your new living space cannot accommodate all of your must-haves. That’s where home storage solutions come in handy. You can rent a self-storage space that will give you a secure area—you can choose how big or how small a space you want—to put stuff that you don’t have room for in your new home. Depending on which service provider you choose, you can get climate controlled storage units, alarmed units and round-the-clock access.
3. Dispose of What You Won’t TakeOnce you have your list and have decided what you’ll put into storage, your next job is to actually start to get rid of the things you won’t be taking with you. Don’t wait until the last minute to complete this step because you’ll likely bring more stress upon yourself than necessary. Whether you give it away, sell it, or junk it, do it sooner rather than later.

Yes, downsizing your home will take some planning if you want to do it right. There are a number of reasons why you might want to downsize, and everything can go off without a hitch if you follow the three steps above. Good luck!