But there’s a catch: When you downsize, you lose that extra bedroom closet or storage space, so you simply can’t take everything with you. The biggest challenge is paring down the possessions you’ve accumulated in a larger home to accommodate your new smaller residence. How can you get from point A to B?<\/p>\n
You’ve got a few options depending on your priorities, whether it’s making the process as smooth as possible, moving in a tight timeframe, or saving money to preserve your budget. We\u2019ve laid out each route here, taking those variables into account so you can execute the best way to downsize your home for your individual situation.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got plenty of time to work on downsizing\u2014i.e., you\u2019re not planning on putting your house on the market for several months to a year\u2014then the best way to downsize is to do so in small, manageable chunks<\/b>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to get started.<\/p>\n When you\u2019ve got time on your side, the very first thing to do is inventory what you have.<\/p>\n Why? Because when you know exactly what you have, it\u2019s much easier to see what you can do without.<\/p>\n Start with a single room or storage space. There are a few ways to go about this. One is to create a full inventory of that space, using a template like this one from United Policyholders<\/a>.<\/p>\n These templates are designed to help you after an insurance claim, so they are truly exhaustive. Plus, they offer the added benefit of giving you a full home inventory that can be used to help you decide how much homeowners\u2019 insurance you need, as well as assist in making an insurance claim after a loss.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve completed inventory for the room you\u2019re working on, start crossing off the items you\u2019re ready to part with.<\/p>\n If you prefer entering things on your phone or computer, try an app like Sortly<\/a>, which has been named the top home inventory app overall<\/a> by The Balance, or Nest Egg<\/a>, which was named one of the best home inventory apps<\/a> by Insuramatch. These allow you to create and organize lists of your belongings, as well as take pictures and add notes for each entry.<\/p>\n Another option is to create three separate inventory lists<\/a>:<\/p>\n The Must Haves are things you need to keep; Could Live Withouts are things you could either throw away, donate, or sell; and the Could Replace list will hold things you could replace with something smaller or more manageable\u2014a fancy espresso machine that you only use once every few months, for example.<\/p>\n A good rule of thumb is to begin with the rooms or areas of the home that are least used.<\/p>\n According to professional organizer Buffy Werle, one of Expertise\u2019s Top 11 Personal Organizers in Orlando<\/a>: \u201cA good place to start might be, for example, the closet in the back of the house that gathers nothing but junk.\u201d<\/p>\n Chances are, if it\u2019s a space you hardly visit, most of the stuff in there will be fair game for tossing or donating\u2014which means you\u2019ll be able to get through it all fairly quickly.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll be much more effective if you focus on small, manageable goals<\/a> while downsizing.<\/p>\n If possible, you want to go from start to finish in a single work session. This means you need to:<\/p>\n One of the paradoxes of organizing and downsizing is that often, as you get rid of some items, you find yourself buying others\u2014specifically, boxes, containers, shelves, and other organizational and space-saving tools.<\/p>\n Not only can this seem counterintuitive, but it also can get expensive. And if you\u2019re on a budget because, say, you want to make improvements to your home<\/a> before putting it on the market, you don\u2019t want to be shelling out a hundred bucks for a bunch of storage containers, or giving away valuable items that could fetch a good price.<\/p>\n We recommend this as the best way to downsize if you\u2019re on a budget:<\/p>\n Werle tells clients on a budget to take a look at the containers they have around the house: \u201cFor example, if you clean out a bin or basket and give these items a new home, you will now have another empty bin to create organization somewhere else. They can also use low-cost items from thrift stores or other inexpensive stores.\u201d<\/p>\n Suitcases, laundry baskets, gym bags, backpacks, plastic crates, and reusable grocery bags are all useful for packing up your items, and cheaper than buying new moving boxes. If you find yourself with empty dresser drawers after cleaning out your clothes, you can also remove those from the dresser and pack them with non-fragile items like blankets, scarves, or children\u2019s toys.<\/p>\n Even if you don\u2019t have a fine set of china or other \u201cpremium\u201d items to sell, you can still earn decent money selling items that most people donate.<\/p>\n Clothing, especially if it\u2019s designer, is a great way to earn some extra bucks, and who among us doesn\u2019t have clothing we haven\u2019t worn in years hanging in our closets?<\/p>\n Sites like Poshmark<\/a> and Tradesy<\/a> allow you to sell your gently used, designer clothing directly to other buyers, while consignment sites like ThredUP<\/a> accept clothing on consignment.<\/p>\n There are many other types of household items, however, that fetch good prices on resale websites and at garage and moving sales. Some of those items<\/a> include:<\/p>\n If you\u2019re downsizing your current home to move to something smaller, make sure that the smaller place will ease your monthly expenses.<\/p>\n That could mean going for a less-expensive condo, or making a large down payment to decrease your mortgage<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s not enough to just assume that downsizing will save you money<\/a>. There can be hidden costs, so ask yourself questions like:<\/p>\n In addition, some sellers may not be able to purchase a new home until they\u2019ve sold their old one<\/a>, says Desari Jabbar<\/a>, a top-selling Redan, GA agent with over 20 years of experience, who recently downsized her own home. \u201cIf I\u2019m working with a seller who\u2019s downsizing<\/a>, we\u2019ll have that discussion about the amount they\u2019ll have to put toward a new home,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019ll get an idea of how much they\u2019ll need.\u201d<\/p>\n If this is the situation you\u2019re in, it\u2019s even more critical to consider all the potential hidden costs of downsizing.<\/p>\n Of course, there can be major financial benefits to buying a home that\u2019s smaller and less expensive. \u201cA lot of times, sellers will have enough equity in their homes<\/a> to either pay cash for their new place, or put down enough that they\u2019ll have a smaller mortgage,\u201d Jabbar says. \u201cSo they\u2019ll have much less debt to pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n While moving an entire house full of decades\u2019 worth of items yourself sounds like a total nightmare, once you\u2019ve effectively combed through and gotten rid of a lot, DIY moving<\/a> starts to look a whole lot more feasible.<\/p>\n We recommend these tips to get you started:<\/p>\n Start early. <\/b> Recruit help from friends and family.<\/b> Gather the supplies you\u2019ll need.<\/b> Schedule your moving truck in advance.<\/b> Move during the off-season to save money.<\/b> If you\u2019re on a short timeline and need to get rid of lots of items quickly<\/a>\u2014say, you\u2019re moving across the country or across an ocean\u2014there\u2019s no need to panic.<\/p>\n Here are a couple of good options for dumping those items and downsizing fast.<\/p>\n Although this is definitely not something to count on, it never hurts to ask your buyers if they want to keep any of your furniture that you plan to get rid of.<\/p>\n However, you don\u2019t have to wait to get a buyer locked in before you start offering items for sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once your house is on the market, top-selling Denver real estate agent Ali Van Westenberg<\/a> recommends putting small \u201cFor Sale\u201d signs on any furniture or other items you\u2019re not planning on keeping. Showings and open houses may then result in buyers for your household items, as well as your house.<\/p>\n You can also call your open house a \u201cmoving sale,\u201d<\/a> so visitors can come in both to shop and to take a look at your home.<\/p>\n There are plenty of charities, from Habitat for Humanity, to local women\u2019s shelters and homeless shelters, that have moving vans they use for picking up large donations. If your items are in decent shape, you could put them to good use by donating them to an organization you care about.<\/p>\n If your downsizing timeline is still up in the air and you\u2019re not ready to make a big move yet, simply decluttering your current home can be a great way to feel success early in the process.<\/p>\n Remember the least-used areas of the house we mentioned earlier? Maybe the guest room closet, for instance? Get yourself situated in front of it (beverage of choice in hand), find a great podcast to keep things interesting, and let the decluttering begin!<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a quick step-by-step you can follow through:<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/best-way-to-downsize-ipad.jpg\")
<\/a>Priority #1: Downsizing is a huge life decision, and you want to give each piece of the project the attention it deserves.<\/h2>\n
Take an inventory<\/h3>\n
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Go from the least-used areas of your house to the most-used<\/h3>\n
Start small by tackling a single drawer, shelf, or surface at a time<\/h3>\n
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\nA junk drawer can go from cluttered to organized in 30 minutes<\/a>.<\/li>\n
\nPut items you\u2019re donating or throwing away straight into them.<\/li>\n
\nThese are easy candidates for your donate or throw-away boxes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/best-way-to-downsize-suitcase.jpg\")
<\/a>Priority #2: You\u2019re on a budget and don\u2019t have the money to buy out The Container Store.<\/h2>\n
Get creative by using containers you already own to pack up<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t toss or donate: Sell these valuable items!<\/h3>\n
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Make sure your next home is going to help you cut expenses<\/h3>\n
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Use DIY moving tricks to save money<\/h3>\n
\nWerle recommends that her clients start preparing two months in advance. \u201cI recommend 6-8 weeks for an organized move,\u201d she says. \u201cI would suggest starting with storage areas and items that are rarely used. Little by little, start downsizing items that no longer fit or function in your life and pack things you love as you go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAsk loved ones to help you, especially that friend with the pickup truck!<\/p>\n
\nGather together the items you\u2019ll need to make packing smooth and productive\u2014a hand truck or dolly, furniture sliders, bubble wrap or packing paper, heavy-duty boxes, packing tape dispensers, and dish foam for packing dishes are a few of the most essential. Your best bet is to make a supplies checklist<\/a> so you have to make as few trips to the hardware store as possible.<\/p>\n
\nYou\u2019ll need a U-Haul or other truck rental to move your items, and while there\u2019s no hard-and-fast rule as to how far in advance you need to reserve your truck, it\u2019s best to do it as soon as you know when you\u2019ll be moving.<\/p>\n
\nIf you can move during the colder months, you can save a significant amount of money on professional movers or truck rentals. Most Americans move during the months of April-September<\/a>, so competition for trucks and moving services is higher and you\u2019re less likely to get a deal. If you do decide to hire professional movers to do the actual lifting and transporting, make sure you get at least three quotes<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Chairs](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/leather-seats-2412068_1920-775x525.jpg\")
<\/a>Priority #3: You\u2019re on a time crunch and need to downsize fast.<\/h2>\n
See if your buyers want to assume any of your furniture<\/h3>\n
Donate to charities in bulk<\/h3>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/best-way-to-downsize-drawer.jpg\")
<\/a>Still not sure where to start? Declutter one room at a time.<\/h3>\n