Tips to Make Downsizing & Liquidation Easier
1. Start early.
Give yourself plenty of time for this process, because it will inevitably take longer than you expect. Take your time, and don’t try to sort through your entire house in one day or weekend. A couple of weeks to a month is a more realistic timeline. Take it one room at a time, and take breaks throughout. If you aren’t rushed, you’ll find downsizing to be much less stressful.
Go through each item one by one. It’s important to give everything you own your attention for at least a second or two. It will also help you develop a great decision-making system because you’re learning how to focus and then choose.
2. Start small.
You probably already have things you want to get rid of in the kitchen or garage, but avoid diving into such a big room at the very beginning. You have years and years of things to sort through. Start in an area with little emotional attachment. The laundry room or linen closet are good options. Understand your needs. If you’re moving into a two-bedroom house, four sets of sheets should be plenty. The rest can go.
Garages/attics/basements are notorious for being the hardest rooms to tackle. These rooms tend to accumulate all the old hobbies, boxes, old holiday decorations, and clutter. They’re also known to be rather uncomfortable spaces. In the summer it’s too hot, winter it’s too cold, and in the springtime, it can be too humid.
3. Eliminate rooms you won’t have in your new home.
If you’re moving to an apartment or townhome, you might not have a garage or office space. Nearly everything in those spaces will need to be sold, donated, tossed, or relocated to other rooms. These areas might also be good items for consignment or garage sales; nice office furniture and outdoor tools are more valuable than old sofas or mattresses.
Try to organize backwards. Sound funny, but a common mistake is to pick out the stuff you don’t want and pack the rest. Try the opposite — pack the keepers. What’s left can be looked at and most can be sold or donated.
4. Get rid of duplicates.
You’ll find this is especially true in your kitchen. You have two or three spatulas and ladles, a couple of oversized stock pots, and four different sized cookie sheets. Now’s the time to reduce the clutter. If you’re feeling wary of handing off that second roasting pan because you use it every Christmas (but at no other time during the year), consider giving it to a child or grandchild who can bring it over for the holiday and take it home when they leave.
5. Only make Yes or No piles — no Maybes.
When you’re going through years of belongings, some things are going to tug at your heartstrings, and you’ll be tempted to make a third pile of things to keep if you have space. Don’t fall for it. You’ll end up with a "Maybe" pile that’s bigger than either of the other two. When that happens, you haven’t really made any progress in sorting, just moved it across the room.
Take a hard look at every item you pick up. If you use it regularly, keep it. But it’s time to let something go if it’s been sitting in a closet or on a shelf for a year or more.
If you already weren’t using it, or didn’t like it, why on earth would you want to pack it up and move it to your next house? I know it sounds silly, but people do it all the time. Moving isn’t cheap, either; do you really want to pay extra to move stuff you don’t even want? Don’t delude yourself by telling yourself you’ll deal with it at your next destination. No, you won’t!
6. Reduce collections creatively.
It can be hard to let go of a lifetime collection of porcelain dolls or snow globes from all your vacations, but they will eat up a lot of space or end up stored in a box where you’ll never see them.
Instead, pick a couple to keep and take high-resolution photos of the rest, then have them made into a photo book that can sit on your coffee table or mantle. You and guests will be able to enjoy them without the clutter. There are also tech tools or websites such as Fotobridge.com that will convert those boxes of photo negatives to digital.
7. Hire a professional liquidator to sell your items, if you are unable to sell things yourself.
With Craigslist, eBay, numerous smartphone apps, yard sales, and an abundance of consignment shops, selling your belongings has never been easier. You probably won’t make a ton of money on most items, so consider how much time you want to invest.
Garage sales are usually faster, but items won’t sell for as much. Craigslist has its drawbacks, but you’ll have a much wider audience and can probably get more for your stuff. Consignment is a good option for high-end furniture, handbags, and other accessories; prices are reasonable, and they’ll sometimes pick up heavy furniture for you.
But, in the end if that all sounds like more than you care to deal with, or if there is too much stuff for you to deal with, hiring a professional to assess value and to liquidate your estate might be your best bet, like Googie Down. Call us 303.906.5133 or 303.506.7268 for a free onsite consultation.
8. Consider legacy gifts early.
Is there an antique clock in your foyer that you plan to one day leave to your son? Maybe a china collection your granddaughter adores? If there are certain heirlooms or pieces you plan to leave to your family in your will, consider giving those gifts now.
This has two benefits: you’ll get the items out of our way, and you’ll be able to enjoy the feeling of giving those items to your loved ones now. While you’re at it, find out if there are any items your children want that you don’t know about — you might find an easy way to make them happy and lighten your load.
9. Allow some time to reminisce.
While you’re cleaning and sorting, there will be some days when you want to stop emptying the kids’ bedrooms and just look through the kindergarten drawings, soccer trophies, and once-prized stuffed animals. It’s OK to pause and let the nostalgia take over for a bit. Cry if you need to, or move on to another room and come back. This is why you started early — just don’t let it prevent you from eventually getting the job done.
If an item brings up any negative feelings, let it go. If it brings happiness of course it stays! The idea here is to only be surrounded by things you absolutely love. Isn’t that a great goal?”
10. Use this as a chance to bond.
Invite the kids and grandkids over for the weekend. Talk to the young ones about where you bought your favorite trinkets. Tell them about your family’s heirlooms. Let them help pack, ask questions, and spend time with you. Get help posting items for sale online.
It can be one more moment your family shares together in the house you’ve loved — before you start making those memories together in your next home. Remember that it’s your family that’s important for the memories you cherish, not the stuff around you.
Downsizing, Liquidation & Where to Start
Most seniors know that there will come a day when they’ll have to downsize, either to simplify their lifestyle, to cut costs, to be closer to grandchildren, or to address medical needs. Inevitably, most people will struggle a bit with nostalgia when they’ve reached a point where it’s time to downsize. It’s often a stressful and tolling process — both emotionally and physically.
"Change is hard for everyone, but the older we get, the more accustomed we are to our surroundings and our ‘stuff,’ even if all that stuff threatens to strangle us,” says Kathy, our mom, who recently went through downsizing after forty years in her home. "A lot of these negative feelings come from both sadness and fear," which is why Kathy recommends making a downsize as early as possible when it’s easier to adjust to a new environment. "Your downsize and estate liquidation doesn’t have to be stressful, sad, or scary. Stay positive, hire a professional, and get excited about a simpler life in a new place with less clutter."
For downsizing information or assistance, call us 303.906.5133 or 303.506.7268 for a free onsite consultation.