Many people make the decision to downsize – sometimes after kids move out of the house, after they’ve lived in a too-big house for too long, or even after discovering that they could get more enjoyment from a smaller home (and sometimes a smaller mortgage payment). If you’ve decided to downsize, you need to know that there’s no one-size-fits-all way to do it… but these five tips can help you along the way.

5 Downsizing Tips From the Pros

If you’re looking for a smaller home in DC Ranch – such as a single-family home for sale in Desert Camp Village or a bungalow for sale in Desert Parks Village – you’re in luck. These five tips can help streamline the process:

Start preparing early
Take stock of all your belongings
Sort your items, then donate or sell what you’re not keeping
Pack with a smaller home in mind
Take your time

Here’s a closer look at each.

Downsizing Tip #1: Start Preparing Early

Know that downsizing is a process, and it’s one that you have to put some thought into. The last thing you want to do is get rid of items you’d really like to keep – or hang on to items that you could’ve done without.

As soon as you decide that you need to look for a smaller home, you should start the downsizing process. That includes mentally preparing yourself to sift through all your belongings and part with those that won’t make the cut for your new home; it also includes actually going through your things and choosing what to get rid of and what to keep.

Downsizing Tip #2: Take Stock of All Your Belongings

You don’t have to compile a complete inventory sheet for everything you own, but you should have a good idea of what you have – including in storage – that you’ll have to make decisions about before you downsize. If you’re like many people, you’ll have a lot of items that you forgot you owned; you might have a few things that are broken and unusable, and you may even have doubles of some items that you’ve purchased over the years.

Downsizing Tip #3: Sort Your Items, and Donate or Sell Things That Don’t Meet Your Vision

A good way to get a feel for how many moving boxes you’ll need – and how much you’re really going to downsize – is to sort your items. Set up separate boxes for the things you’re planning to donate to charity, sell or give to someone specific. (The things you’re keeping can stay put for now.)

Pro Tip: If you have sentimental items, such as photos and kids’ schoolwork, you may want to consider scanning them (or having them professionally scanned at a copy shop) into a digital format. Then you can upload them to the cloud, where you can access them at any time.

Downsizing Tip #4: Pack With a Smaller Home in Mind

Because you’ll be moving to a smaller home, keep that in mind as you pack. You may need to do another round of sorting through your belongings to figure out what you should keep and what you should donate, sell or give away.

Downsizing Tip #5: Take Your Time

You didn’t collect all your belongings in a few days – so it’s unreasonable to think you can go through everything in that amount of time. In Tip #1, we advised you to start early; that way, you have ample time to make decisions that will make you happy after you’ve moved into your new, downsized home.

Are You Selling a Home in DC Ranch?

Thinking about selling your home in DC Ranch? Call us at 480-360-0281 to find out how we’ll market it to all the right buyers. If you’re also looking for a new home, we’d love show you any listing in the community. Let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll be happy to search for something that’s a perfect match for your needs.

While you’re here, check out our:

Don Matheson
Realtor | Founder
The Matheson Team
RE/MAX Fine Properties
21000 N. Pima Rd., #100, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
866-613-8356
don@scottsdalerealestate.com