One of the hurdles my clients often need to overcome before listing their homes is the overwhelm of how to deal with everything that they have accumulated over the years of living in their home.
I want to assure you that as hard and as daunting as downsizing your stuff may seem, I have been there with many of my clients and I can help you plan and even have some solutions to help take things off your plate.
Step 1 – Set a Goal
As with any daunting task, one of the first steps needs to be to set a goal. In real estate, this often is dictated by external factors, such as the time of the year or the current real estate market. We usually start by discussing what will be the best time to sell in your circumstances.
If you are waiting for the probate to clear, we may have some time. If we are a few weeks from Christmas, we’ll be picking a date in early January or February to take advantage of the spring market. If there is a crisis and you need to move yesterday, I need to know that and will offer solutions to help get you there.
Dreaming of downsizing your home? Check out these related blogs for more advice!
Step 2 – Create a Plan (Break it into Chunks)
As I always say, “Follow the 6 P’s: Prior proper planning prevents poor performance”. To hit our goal we need to work backwards from that date and create a plan. One of the reasons we get so overwhelmed with downsizing our items is that we become paralyzed by the sheer volume of stuff or the size of the tasks. To make it more manageable, break it into chunks.
One example of chunking most of my clients have used is to divide the home by room and assign a timeframe for each room. Depending on how long you have to hit your goal, it could look like 1 room per week or 2 weeks or 2 days. I can be your accountability partner to help you stay on track. When sorting through things, typically my clients will divide items into several categories (keep, gift, sell, donate, discard).
Keep: For items being kept, if you won’t use it in the short term, pack it for storage, now you have gotten ahead on your future move. You can try applying our rule for our staging inventory: If no one has used it in the past year, it needs to go into another pile.
Gift: Identify the recipients of your gifts and make arrangements for pickup within a timeframe. let people know what will happen if they aren’t picked up on time, and follow through.
Sell: There are lots of ways you can sell items today. Facebook marketplace is popular and well-used, an old-fashioned garage sale and many of my clients love the ease of using an online auction site like MaxSold because they can take care of nearly everything.
Donate: Value Village will take almost any items (call ahead to make sure). Additionally, there are shelters who have lists of commonly required items, and Facebook Marketplace has freecycle groups.
Discard: if you have a lot to discard, ordering a bin may be the way, or plan on extra trips to the dump
I can help you identify what supplies you will need and I even supply moving kits with boxes, tape, wrap and tape so you don’t have to worry about that part.
Step 3 – Know Your Resources & Options
Is this something you need to do alone or are there friends and/or family that can help? If you are someone who tends to walk down memory lane when you declutter, it might be good to have someone help who can take on some of the decluttering tasks so you don’t get stalled on your progress.
I had a client with physical disabilities which made packing and decluttering a large challenge for him, his family lived out of town. I was happy to help arrange a packer/organizer for him so that we could help him prepare for his move and clear out the apartment for staging. I also used my network to find him a cost-effective mover who could bring his items to his new city and he was able to take advantage of my discount.
Step 4 – Plan for Contingencies
Have a backup plan for contingencies. Sometimes your help isn’t reliable and doesn’t show up. Sometimes people you are gifting items to don’t attend on your schedule. What if it is taking longer to sort through items than you thought? Sometimes, it is just burnout that is getting in the way. I am always available for my clients to help solve problems and overcome hurdles.
My client Audrey was struggling to sort through her parent’s items when she was disposing of her mother’s items after her mother passed. Her father was a furniture craftsman and she had pieces of his that she wanted to sell as she didn’t have room for them. Unfortunately, the sales weren’t going as quickly as she liked. To expedite the sale, we assisted her with getting those items into a storage unit so that she could sell them at her convenience and not impact the timing of her sale.
Helping your parents downsize? Explore these related blogs for more advice!
Step 5 – Get Going
Once you have a plan, get going, don’t procrastinate. Things always take longer than you will anticipate and the sooner you start, the better you’ll be able to assess if you need to take any alternate intervention.
Having a professional realtor with access to a strong support network is invaluable and will save you so much time and stress.
In speaking with my clients, this topic was the number one reason many wouldn’t consider moving. Having a professional helping provide solutions to support organization and packing and moving for them, was a game changer for them. The support I provide for my clients reduces the stress of moving and prepares the home for a quick and painless sale. This, along with my complimentary full staging ensures our clients will net the highest possible dollar amount.
Looking for a Senior Real Estate Specialist to guide your home sale? I can help! Call 647.283.2127 or email me at stuart@stuartnodell.com to get in touch.
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