Streamlining Your Life and Living Space

It can be a welcomed relief to downsize a home and simplify life for retirement. Clearing out and/or selling the family house does not merely represent the end of a chapter; it also marks the beginning of a fresh adventure.

You may be cutting expenses or addressing logistical challenges, such as stairs or long driveways. Besides, if you also move location, you might settle closer to family or to superior medical facilities. You might even trade up for kinder weather: say goodbye to bone-chilling winters. Yet there are various considerations.

Selling your house

Start by weighing the pros and cons of a big move and include your spouse and family in the discussion. On the plus side, a successful sale should hopefully generate a cash infusion, which will bump up your savings nest egg for a more comfortable retirement. At the same time, downsizing can be instrumental for paring expenses, such as:

Reduced mortgage payments (or none left to pay).

Lower cleaning, repairs and maintenance costs.

Smaller utility bills.

Be aware that your property taxes might not necessarily shrink, because location and other external factors play a bigger tax role than the size of the property itself.

Next, you need a realistic estimate of the marketable value of your current home. Start by visiting our website! From there one of our DSA agents can produce a more targeted appraisal with comparable sales.

We encourage you to  spruce up the yard for curb appeal and declutter to receive top dollar. However, major renovations can be a pricey headache and may not justify the effort or expense. As you calculate an eventual price, do not forget closing costs and taxes. However, if you are selling a primary residence where you have lived for two of the past five years, some tax exclusions apply: $500,000 for couples and $250,000 for singles are deductible from gains.

Be ruthless with clutter

Most families have been accumulating their clutter for decades. Retirement is the perfect prompt to sort through superfluous belongings that have outlived their functions. Storage units are expensive, running about $53 to $350 per month, so better to weed out now, before storage bills mount.

Some candidates for tossing:

Kitchen gadgets.

Exercise and sports equipment — take up lots of space.

Your adult kids' castaways.

Furniture — sell, gift or donate it.

Books and magazines — local libraries may accept some.

Old files.

Holiday decorations.

Fine china and silverware — be honest, will you ever use it again?

Obsolete electronics, such as VCRs and ancient computers.

Film projectors and sewing machines.

Duplicates of anything!

Give yourself six months or longer, tackling one room at a time. It is easiest to begin with areas like spare bedrooms, basements and attics. As you go, take photos of rooms and write down furniture dimensions.

Powerful memories

Downsizing is an emotional exercise that brings back both joys and unresolved conflicts. Take the time to enjoy happy memories as you sort. You can recruit a friend, family member or even a professional organizer to help you. Enlist your children, too! Their participation can ward off later resentment and conflict.

Treat the entire experience positively. Focus on the benefits of a more manageable lifestyle, fewer tiresome chores and discovering a new community of friends. Talk to your professional team of legal and financial advisers well in advance for tips on making a smooth transition.