Tips for Downsizing or Clearing a Home

Don't Surprise Your Heirs With This!

Recently an elderly lady in our neighborhood passed away. She had lived in her home for over 30 years and the task of clearing our her possessions has been a huge and daunting task for family and friends left behind. Today I found this article in our local newspaper.

"Whether you are downsizing your own house or clearing the family home, these tips from Julie Hall, author of "Boomer Burden:Dealing with your Parents' Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff, " may help.

• Don't Panic: Anxiety will subside as you take stock, call on others to help, and bring in an appraiser or estate sales agent to evaluate what should be sold.
• Divide Heirlooms: Encourage your parents to divide beloved heirlooms and sentimental keepsakes now. At the very least parents should write down who should get what. Then hold a sibling only meeting to discuss the division of property ahead.
• Clear the House: If you are doing this yourself, designate one room for donations, another for things to keep and a third for sale. The average job requires 30 to 50 cardboard boxes, six rolls of packing tape, and at least 100 large plastic bags and markers for labeling. If possible, work in pairs so one can pull objects and the other can run them to the appropriate room. Take time to share important memories.
• Check for Treasures: As you go, search nooks and crannies for jewelry and cash that may have been hidden beneath floorboards, in rafters, the icebox, sugar canister and inside rolled up socks. Some people hide money in books, or inside picture frames, between the picture and the paper backing. (If you do not hide money and other valuables around your house, tell your heirs in advance of your departure.) This will save them endless hours of searching in vain.
  
• Recycle: If it is plastic or paper recycle it, but shred old checks and financial papers first. Some commercial shredding companies make house calls. Books can be donated to libraries. Send clothes to homeless shelters or other charities.
  
• Spare Your Heirs: Get your affairs in order, organize your paperwork, and declutter your own house. In 1974 the average house measured 1695 square feet, today it is 2500 sqare feet and apparently that is still not big enough. Self-storage facilities have become a $22 billion business."

Thinking about these things as we proceed in our lives is a good idea. I have helped prepare several homes of people in their 80's for sale. It is an horrendous job if they wait until it is time to move to declutter and get organized. One of the nicest things you can leave your children is an organized decluttered home! When they have their grief to deal with they don't need this added burden of weeks of clearing out the house as well.