Do you live in a large(r) home where you raised a family but now all of your kids are grown and gone?  Perhaps you now have more space than you need and more space than you want to continue to maintain?

Many homeowners eventually find themselves needing to downsize... but sometimes delay taking practical steps towards that goal because they're not quite ready yet, or they aren't sure if they should downsize.

Well, if downsizing is in your near(ish) future here are three things you can be (should be?) doing now to prepare...

Do you have the resources to buy your next home before selling your current home?  

Will you have to sell your current home before buying your next home?  

Can you tap into the equity in your current home to help make the financial parts of the transition move more smoothly?

These are all questions you can explore and research now, even if you won't be ready to downsize for a few more years.

Where will you live next? 

Are you downsizing to a smaller home or to a retirement community?

Consider driving through neighborhoods where you might want to buy a smaller home -- or we can go view homes for sale when they are listed in those neighborhoods.

If you might move to a retirement community start researching your options and consider joining their interest list.

If you live in a large(r) house - and if you have for quite a few years - you have likely accumulated some "stuff" over the years.  Perhaps it is scattered throughout your home, or perhaps it is a storage area or areas.  It takes time to work through those belongings and decide what to keep, what to offer to a family member, what to donate and what to discard.  Start the process now as this can take a while.

You can certainly wait until you are actually ready to downsize to start working on these three areas outlined above -- but if you start focusing on them now, taking your time to work through them you will likely find your eventual downsizing process to be a lot more enjoyable and less stressful.

If I can assist you with thinking through or working through any or all of these areas, just let me know!