Once the kids starting heading off to college or getting married and live separate lives, you’ll quickly realize just how much larger your home is and how much empty space you have to deal with now that your children are all gone.
This also makes this the perfect time to downsize and start planning how you plan to live your remaining decades as a couple.
If you are an empty nester, or a soon-to-be one, you’ll find a couple of downsizing tips below to help you do it the right way.
1. Make a Plan First
Everything is always easier if you have a plan.
Your house is big right now because you had kids for years, but now it’s just the two of you, you need to reassess your life and think about the kind of life you want to live going forward.
Are you planning on travelling most of the year? Do you want less work? Do you want to move further from the city now that there’s no reason for you to be so close to work or schools anymore?
It’s up to you, so plan carefully.
2. Declutter Now
You’d be amazed as to how much stuff there really is inside your house, and if you don’t start decluttering as soon as your kids move out, then you’re going to have to take care of a lot of stuff once you do decide what you’re going to do next.
The earlier you start to declutter your stuff, the more time you’ll have once you’re ready to take next step.
3. Start giving away family heirlooms
Try asking which of your kids want to get a family heirloom or two.
Be prepared, however. Not all of your kids will want to take family heirlooms. So, you can try your relatives and other close friends. But, either way, what’s important is that you start giving away family heirlooms sooner rather than later.
It’d be a shame if you ended up selling them in a rush, or giving them away to someone you’re not really close with, or they end up being stuck in storage, just because you didn’t start giving them away earlier.
4. Take Photos of your Stuff
Letting go of your stuff doesn’t mean that you want to totally forget about them. Sometimes, it’s great to reminisce and remember all of the memories that come with the stuff that you have inside your house.
Snap a photo or two, ideally with you, of your stuff before letting them go. Better yet, snap a photo of your stuff with you and the new owners, so you can remember who you gave them to when you start looking back later on.
There are many things that you can do once your kids have moved on and it’s only just you and your spouse.
One of the most drastic things that you can do is to sell house fast.
It may make for a really emotional moment, but think about it, what reason do you have to hold on to it anymore? If your kids don’t want it, and you’re better off living somewhere smaller and cheaper, why not sell it, right?
If you do make the decision to sell it, make sure to contact cash buyers like us. We buy houses for cash and make fair valuations so you get a reasonable amount of money for your property without really doing any work because we buy houses NJ as is.
