Downsizing For Dummies

Organize, declutter, donate—downsize and simplify your life

Downsizing For Dummies provides you with strategies to downsize your life by moving to a smaller home, decluttering, simplifying your budget, and saving more money. You’ll find tips to help decrease your cost of living, lower your home maintenance costs, protect and leverage your assets, and decide whether downsizing is right for you and your family. After downsizing your life, you’ll save time on household chores and gain the freedom and flexibility that come with having fewer possessions. What will you do with all the time you save? Downsizing For Dummies will help you understand the benefits of living simply!

• Discover ways to declutter and simplify every corner of your life
• Weight the pros and cons of moving to a smaller home
• Save time and money by cutting down on your chores and home maintenance
• Experience a reduced stress level when you create space at home and work

This book is for anyone who is ready to live clutter-free and to downsize. It’s the perfect Dummies guide for homeowners looking to save money, plus real estate brokers who are working with clients who are downsizing, and designers and builders of new homes who want to stay on top of the downsizing trend.

Ralph R. Roberts is a real estate expert, investor, and author of more than a dozen books, including Flipping Houses For Dummies and Foreclosure Investing For Dummies. As a real estate agent, he sold more than 10,000 homes, with a focus on helping his clients find the perfect living arrangements for their situation.

Facing retirement and an empty nest, Ralph and his wife, Kathleen, recently downsized from a 7,000-square-foot home to a condo less than half its size. In Downsizing For Dummies, they share the tips and tricks they discovered through their downsizing journey.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Downsizing 7

Chapter 1: Downsizing in a Nutshell 9

Downsizing: Who, What, When, Where, and Why? 10

Who? 10

What? 11

When? 12

Where? 12

Why? 13

Envisioning Your Future 14

Navigating a Major Lifestyle Transition 14

Getting All Your Ducks in a Row 16

Choosing a lifestyle and housing 16

Establishing your timeline 18

Creating to-do lists 18

Drafting a budget 19

Protecting and Leveraging Your Assets 20

Decluttering Basics 20

Moving Out and Moving On 22

Addressing your changing priorities 22

Selling your home 23

Buying a new home 23

Exploring other living arrangements 24

Our Downsizing Experience 25

Chapter 2: Deciding Whether Downsizing Is Right for You (or Your Parents) 29

Recognizing Common Reasons People Downsize 30

Weighing the Pros and Cons of Downsizing 32

Potential benefits of downsizing 32

Potential downsizing drawbacks 33

Analyzing Your Situation and Mindset 34

Examining your situation 34

Taking stock of your thoughts and feelings 36

Considering Your Loved Ones 37

Making sure you’re on the same page as your spouse (or siblings) 38

Listening to your kids’ opinions 39

Letting close friends and neighbors in on it 41

Making the Tough Call for an Aging Loved One 42

Settling a Major Dilemma: To Sell or Not to Sell Your Home 43

Chapter 3: Envisioning Your Future: Lifestyle and Location 45

Building Your Vision 46

Complete our lifestyle questionnaire 46

List your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and please-no’s 48

Build a vision board 48

Gather more details in vision folders 49

Choosing a Location: Factors to Consider 51

Settled or nomadic 51

Foreign or domestic 53

Terrain 55

Climate 55

Size/population 56

Affordability 57

Employment opportunities 57

Health care 58

Proximity to friends and family 59

Activities, entertainment, and restaurants 59

Getting around 60

Crime rates 61

Public amenities and cultural centers 61

School system 62

Existing property or new construction 62

Opting for a Nomadic Existence 64

Researching Locations 65

Test-Driving a Location or Lifestyle 65

Chapter 4: Laying the Groundwork 67

Developing a Positive Mindset 68

Consulting with Family Members (or Not) 69

Teaming up with your partner 69

Deciding how much input you want and from whom 70

Getting everyone else on the same page 73

Tabulating Your Net Worth and Monthly Income 74

Distinguishing between Essentials and Extras 76

Drawing Up Preliminary Plans 77

Drafting a budget 77

Creating a packing list 79

Making a to-do list 79

Scheduling activities 80

Delegating duties 81

Chapter 5: Rallying the Troops 83

Tapping Your Family for Help 84

Knowing the type of help family members can provide 84

Recognizing the type of help you don’t want 85

Getting a Little Help from Your Friends 85

Hiring Professionals 86

A financial advisor 87

A certified public accountant 87

Attorneys 88

Appraisers 89

Real estate agents 89

A bank, mortgage company, or loan officer 90

A title company 91

A home inspector or builder 91

Downsizing pros 92

Movers 92

An interior designer 92

Health-care professionals 93

Delegating and Coordinating with Team Members 94

Motivating Your Crew 95

Helping a Loved One Downsize 95

Just talk about it 96

Ease the transition 97

Start downsizing the least-used areas 98

Provide emotional support 98

Make it fun 99

Part 2: Protecting and Leveraging Your Assets 101

Chapter 6: Getting a Handle on Your Finances 103

Calculating Your Net Worth 104

Gauging Your Cash Flow 107

Tabulating your monthly and annual income 108

Estimating your monthly and annual expenses 110

Calculating your cash flow 112

Leveraging the power of debt to help finance your dreams 112

Accounting for Medical Insurance and Health-care Costs 113

Planning to Live on a Fixed Income 116

Exploring ways to trim expenses 117

Exploring ways to generate additional income 121

Chapter 7: Planning Your Estate 125

Getting up to Speed on Estate Planning Basics 126

Step 1: Preparing Your Will(s) 127

Writing a simple will 129

Writing a joint will 130

Writing a living will 131

Knowing when to use a testamentary trust will 132

Step 2: Keeping Your Valuable Assets Out of Probate 132

Steering clear of probate without a trust 133

Using a trust to protect your assets 135

Deciding how to take title when buying property 137

Step 3: Creating a Power of Attorney 139

Step 4: Ensuring You Have Some Control over Medical Decisions 141

Step 5: Planning Your Business Succession 141

Step 6: Buying Life Insurance (or Not) 142

Step 7: Documenting Your End-of-Life Plan 143

Step 8: Gathering and Organizing Essential Documents 144

Step 9: Completing an Estate Planning Checklist 145

Chapter 8: Using Your Home to Generate Income 149

Leasing Your Home (or a Part of It) 150

Taking on the role of landlord 151

Using a property management company 152

Running your own bed and breakfast 153

Selling Your Home 154

Borrowing Against Your Home to Cash Out Equity 155

Making the Most of a Reverse Mortgage 157

Part 3: Decluttering: Sell It, Give It Away, or Trash It 161

Chapter 9: Sorting Your Belongings 163

Mastering Decluttering Basics 164

Stop Cluttering 166

Decluttering One Room at a Time 167

Bedrooms 167

Bathrooms 170

Kitchen 171

Living room 172

Office 173

Laundry room 174

Garage/shed 176

Sorting Your Stuff into Six Categories 178

Keep 179

Store 179

Sell 180

Give away 181

Donate 181

Toss 182

Chapter 10: Digitizing Photos, Videos, and Documentation 183

Exploring Your Digital Storage Options 184

Internal drives 185

External drives 185

Cloud storage 186

Social media storage 188

Photo processor storage 189

Eliminating Unnecessary Documents, Photos, and Videos 189

Downsizing your document collection 189

Deciding which photos to keep 191

Paring down your video collection 192

Scanning Photos and Documents 192

Do it yourself 192

Hire it out 194

Transforming Photos into Memorabilia 195

Digitizing Your Video Collection 196

Do it yourself 196

Hire a pro 197

Chapter 11: Selling Stuff You No Longer Want or Need 199

Finding Out How Much Something Is Worth 200

Exploring Ways to Sell Your Belongings 203

Estate auction 203

Estate sale 204

Garage/yard sale 206

Online listing 206

Hiring someone to sell your stuff 207

Selling Your Belongings Online 209

Hosting an Estate Sale 211

Before 211

During 213

After 214

Conducting a Garage Sale 214

Chapter 12: Giving Away Some Stuff 217

Returning Items to Your “Kids” 218

Being Prepared for Disappointment 219

Deciding Which Family Member Gets the Family’s Treasures 220

Offering Your Belongings to Family Members and Others 221

Donating Items to Nonprofits 222

Salvation Army 222

Vietnam Veterans of America 223

AMVETS 224

Goodwill Industries 225

Habitat for Humanity 226

The Arc 226

Local nonprofit groups 227

Pushing It to the Curb 227

Chapter 13: Storing Stuff You Can’t Part With 229

Reconsidering: Will You Really Ever Need This Item? 230

Exploring Your Storage Options 231

Friends or relatives 231

Portable storage containers 232

Self-storage units 233

Peer-to-peer storage options 234

Protecting Your Valuables 235

Home safes 236

Safety-deposit boxes 237

Insuring Your Valuables 238

Chapter 14: Disposing of Your Remaining Belongings 239

Recycling as Much as Possible 239

Having Your Junk Hauled Off in Dumpster 241

Disposing of Toxic Items 243

Hiring a Company to Haul Away Your Junk 244

Part 4: Moving Out and Moving In 245

Chapter 15: Gimme Shelter: Choosing a Home 247

Finding Your Place in the World: Location, Location, Location 248

Deciding Whether to Buy or Rent 249

Deciding Whether to Build or Buy 250

Estimating the Living Space You’ll Need 252

Total square footage 253

Rooms and room sizes 254

Living room and dining room or office/den? 255

Entertainment areas 255

Office space 256

Outdoor living areas — porches, decks, balconies 256

Pool or hot tub (or both) 257

Basement (or not) 257

Garage/parking 258

Storage space 258

Considering Mobility and Accessibility 259

Exploring Your Housing Options 261

Traditional house 261

Apartment 262

Condo 263

Granny pod (aka mother-in-law cottage) 264

Tiny home 264

Mobile home 265

RV or van 265

55-and-older community 265

Barndominium 266

Shipping container home 266

Houseboat or cruise ship 267

Assisted living facility 268

Accounting for Additional Costs 268

Utilities 268

Maintenance and repairs 269

Homeowner or condo association fees 269

Property taxes 270

Chapter 16: Buying and Selling a Home 271

Deciding Whether to Sell or Keep Your Current Home as a Rental 272

Deciding Whether to Buy First or Sell First 273

Keeping your finger on the pulse of the housing market 273

Keeping an eye on interest rates 274

Buying before selling 274

Selling before buying 276

Choosing Whether to Pay Cash or Finance Your Purchase 278

Advantages of paying cash 278

Advantages of financing the purchase 279

Picking the Right Real Estate Agents for You 279

Timing the Market (or Not) 281

Getting a Home Equity Line of Credit (Just in Case) 283

Accounting for Taxes on the Sale of Your Home 284

Capital gains tax 285

Property tax 286

Real estate transfer tax 286

Chapter 17: Packing Your Belongings 287

Taking the Easy Way Out: Hiring a Professional 288

Recognizing the advantages of hiring a moving company 288

Choosing a reputable moving company 289

Teaming up with your moving company for best results 290

Doing the Packing Yourself 292

Gathering your moving supplies and equipment 292

Packing room by room 294

Labeling boxes 309

Chapter 18: Executing a Successful Move 311

Changing Your Mailing Address 312

Avoiding hurt feelings 312

Notifying the postal service of your change in address 313

Changing your address on all your accounts 314

Sending change of address notifications to everyone you know 315

Arranging Transportation: Trucks or Portable Containers? 316

Scheduling movers 317

Being available on moving day 318

Switching Your Utilities 319

Unpacking: Decluttering, Round 2 321

Kitchen 322

Bedrooms 322

Bathrooms 323

Living room 323

Dining room 324

Garage/basement 324

Part 5: The Part of Tens 325

Chapter 19: Ten Good Reasons to Downsize 327

Reduce Your Cost of Living 328

Spend Time and Money on What Really Matters 328

Save Time and Effort Cleaning, Maintaining, and Repairing Property 328

Become More Mobile and Flexible 329

Reduce Stress 329

Spend More Time with Loved Ones 330

Alleviate the Future Burden on Loved Ones 330

Optimize Your Health and Fitness 330

Focus on Quality Over Quantity 331

Work Less 331

Chapter 20: Ten Tips to Make Downsizing Less Stressful 333

Focus on What to Keep, Not What to Get Rid Of 334

Follow the One-Year Rule 334

Downsize One Room at a Time 335

Set a Manageable Deadline and Milestones 335

Follow the OHIO Rule 335

Host a Sorting/Packing Party 336

Pack an Essentials Box 336

Have Your Adult Children Clear Out Their Belongings 337

Create a Yes and No Pile (No Maybe Pile) 337

Opt for Amenities Over Square Footage 338

Chapter 21: Ten (or So) Ways to Reduce Your Living Expenses 339

Slash Your Insurance Costs 340

Reduce Cable TV, Internet, and Phone Costs 340

Cancel Subscriptions 341

Reduce or Eliminate Vehicle Expenses 341

Clear Out Your Storage Unit 342

Take Better Care of Yourself 342

Shed Your Consumer Debt 342

Use Cash-Back Credit Cards 343

Buy Your Groceries Online 343

Set Spending Caps 344

Ask About Senior Discounts 344

Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Supplement Your Income 345

Find a Part-Time Job 346

Manage Property 346

Start a Business 347

Watch Other People’s Pets 347

House-Sit 348

Sell Your Crafts 348

Tutor or Substitute Teach 349

Become a Driver 349

Build a Career as a Social Media Influencer 350

Become a Virtual Assistant 350

Index 353

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