Thinking about trading in your home for a smaller one? Whether you are an empty nester, retiring, or just looking for a smaller, more manageable space – there are many reasons and benefits to downsizing. If your lifestyle no longer requires a lot of square footage, here’s a 3 step plan to help you transition into that perfect smaller home.
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Minimize your belongings. Downsizing your home will require you to minimize your belongings. And you will want to start early. Focus on keeping what is necessary and begin purging items that you will no longer need. Think about the layout of your new home and the rooms sizes to determine which pieces of furniture will fit best in your new space; this will help you decide what items to keep. Here are a few steps to minimizing items.
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Start decluttering months before the move. Don’t underestimate how much “stuff” you have, and you may be surprised. The sooner you start, the less overwhelmed you will feel when it’s time to make the move.
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Go Paperless. Time to clean out and digitalize all that paperwork in those file cabinets. Scan important documents like tax reports, warranty papers, and real estate files onto your computer.
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Focus on decluttering one room at a time.
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List your home: Selling your home can be a complex process; team up with one of our professional real estate agents. A knowledgeable agent can guide you through every step of the selling process. Below is a list of steps to get your house ready for sale.
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Find a seller’s agent.
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Determine the estimated value of your home: Your agent will use Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) or a comparable sales report “comps” to determine the fair market value (FMV). This analysis will compare your house with other similar houses that have sold in your area.
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Prepare your home to sell: Your agent will evaluate your home and provide you with a checklist to ensure your home is ready to hit the market. Tasks you can expect on a checklist may include repairs, yard maintenance, cleaning, decluttering, and freshening up the interior and/or exterior.
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Put the house up for sale: Now it’s time to put your house on the market. Your agent will now advertise and list your property.
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Buy a smaller home: Once your older-bigger home is sold, it’s time to shop for your new home. Our team of buyer agents can help you with the buying process, making the downsizing transition as seamless as possible.
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Decide how much space you want: How many bedrooms will you need? Will you need a garage? Maybe one of the downsizing reasons was to get rid of the stressful yard work, and now you need low or no lawn maintenance. Consider your new lifestyle to determine the square footage and criteria that will now work best for you.
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Get pre-approved: To get pre-approved, you will partner with a lender and fill out an application. The application will collect all of your financial information and check your credit score. Once you are pre-approved, you will know how much you can borrow and what price range home you should search for.
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Find a buyer agent
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Shop for your new home
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Apply for your loan
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Close on home/move in
Downsizing may require some sacrifice, but the benefits can be very rewarding. If you are ready to begin the journey, we’re here to help.
Blanchard and Calhoun Real Estate: 706.863.8953, 706.868.1000 or 706.722.7331