From Sale to Sold: Less Stress and More Success

Are you an older adult who’s ready to sell your house — but your house may not be quite ready to be sold? Or maybe you’re ready for the possibilities of a more carefree future at a senior living community — but you’re not quite ready to let go of a houseful of memories.

Either way, both situations are completely reasonable, and common! If you’ve lived in your home for decades, it may not be in the best shape for prospective buyers. There may be some areas that need to be updated. And if you’ve accumulated decades’ worth of personal belongings, you may need some time to downsize, which includes going through the process of saying goodbye to many of your belongings.

 

Seller’s Secrets: Maximizing Value and Minimizing Stress

Is an older adult in your life thinking about selling his or her home? Are you thinking of downsizing? Selling a home later in life can be an overwhelming task. For many families, the biggest challenge is figuring out where to start.

Consider these tips to help you get ready for a move. You will find suggestions on what to do before you list your home, how to choose a real estate agent, and how to make your home appealing to prospective buyers.

 

Tip #1: Get your adult children to declutter

It’s the home you raised your kids in. Now they’re adult children with kids of their own. While they may have left your home, they probably left a lot of their things behind: toys, boxes of knickknacks, high school trophies, clothes, and more.

Give your kids the chance to reclaim anything that belongs to them, then let them know what they don’t take is either being donated or thrown away.

 

Tip #2: Now get yourself to declutter

Once your kids have done their part, it’s time for you to do yours. A good real estate agent will tell you decluttered homes show much better than a house full of “stuff.” Either pack up or let go of knickknacks that currently sit on your mantle and your coffee table. Get rid of or box up kitchen appliances that take up counter space.

If you’re moving from your home into a senior living community, kitchens are a great place to start thinking of what you’ll really use once you move in. If you’ll be enjoying three delicious meals every day and you don’t plan to cook or bake much, do you really need all your countertop appliances, gadgets, pots and pans?

 

Tip #3: This is also the time to downsize

If you’re moving to a place with less square footage than you currently have, all your furniture and belongings that won’t make the move have to go somewhere. You don’t want to rent a storage unit just to hold all the things you couldn’t decide what to do with.

As you start decluttering each room, think about what you want to take with you. You know you’ll take your bedroom furniture, but will you have room for all of it? Look at the pieces of furniture in your house that have big footprints, like credenzas, cabinets and chests: What will fit and what won’t? Then work your way down to smaller items, like lamps and side tables.

 

Tip #4: Decide what to do with what gets downsized

In each room, mark or move all your items into three piles: donate, sell or discard. There may be several nonprofit organizations in your area that will accept donations of furniture, clothing, appliances and dishware. If your belongings have value and you’d like to make a bit of money, consider selling them online or through what’s known as a living estate sale. Then there are things nobody wants or can use, so it’s time to put those items out for the trash collector.

 

Tip #5: Find the right real estate agent

Some home sellers choose to go FSBO, which means for sale by owner. Sometimes this makes sense — you’re not in a hurry to sell your home, you don’t want to pay commission fees, or you’re in a high-demand market. However, a real estate agent will help you price, stage and market your property, show it off to prospective buyers, and negotiate offers for you as part of their commission. The right real estate agent should know your local market well, so they can help ensure your house is priced properly, which may earn you thousands of dollars more in the sale. Ask family or friends for a good referral and interview a few agents before choosing one.

 

Tip #6: Get your home ready to show

A good listing agent knows how to market your home. Typically, they’ll walk through your house and give you suggestions on what you can do to make it more attractive before the for-sale sign goes in your yard. Even if you’ve already decluttered, they may suggest a staging professional who can help your home look more appealing. Your agent may suggest you paint a room or two, add a fresh coat of stain to your deck or put flowers in your flower box to enhance curb appeal.

If potential buyers notice that small repairs are needed around the house, it can make them wonder if more significant maintenance has been neglected. Before showing off your home, take care of that leaky faucet, broken doorknob, or other fix-it needs. Even little things reassure a buyer that they’re looking at something solid.

If you’ve lived in your house for many years, consider paying for your own home inspection before you list your home. A home inspector may catch issues like faulty plumbing or may suggest updating some of your older electrical outlets to safer outlets. Fixing some things at this stage can reduce some of the problems a homebuyer’s home inspection may catch when repairs could delay your closing date.

 

Tip #7: Set a timeline for your move but give yourself some grace

If you’re planning a move to a senior living community, you may need to join a waitlist to get the residence you want. That gives you a built-in timeline to sell your home and make your move.

So take your time as you work through the emotions involved in downsizing, prepping and listing your home. It can be difficult mentally, physically and emotionally. Give yourself permission to grieve if you need to — after all, you’re saying goodbye to your family home. Just remember the reasons why you’re selling your house and remind yourself of all the benefits waiting for you.

The process of listing, showing and closing on your home can be difficult and time-consuming, as well as extremely emotional particularly for older adults who have spent decades in their homes. Keep in mind that your goal is simplifying your life.

 

Looking for more tips on downsizing and getting your home ready to sell?

If you’d like more tips on downsizing and getting your home ready to sell, take a listen to our latest podcast episodes where we sit down with Real Estate Agent and Downsizing Expert, Denise Swick. Denise walks you through what it takes to sell your house and how you can maximize your value.  From getting your home ready to sell to the selling and moving processes, helpful tricks for decluttering and simplifying our lives, and how to navigate downsizing with your family and friends, each episode has the expert tips and tricks you need to hear.  Listen here: https://omcoh.org/our-blog/senior-living-today-podcast/

 

 

If you or your loved one is considering moving to a senior living community, be sure to take a tour of one of The Ohio Masonic Communities. With three senior living communities across the state of Ohio – Browning Masonic Community in Waterville, Ohio, Springfield Masonic Community in Springfield, Ohio, and Western Reserve Masonic Community in Medina, Ohio – each offers premier living options with exceptional experiences so residents can live their best lives. If you are interested in learning more about one of our communities, give us a call at 1-877-881-1623. We will be happy to answer all your questions and be a trusted resource in the search for the right community for you!