subject: Downsizing: From Two To One Smaller House [print this page] My husband and I (just turning 60 and with all our children grown and gifting us with grandchildren) decided to sell our large Pennsylvania home in Bucks County two years ago. We moved to our much smaller home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Our option to sell our primary home was based on a number of factors which included financial, responsibility for two homes and our love for the Massachusetts house.
We are a bit of a collectors, OK, he's a big collector. Picture 50 coffee cans of nails, separated by size and type; five thousand antique lead miniature soldiers, along with two years of WWII and Civil War Magazines; holiday ornaments, many from his childhood; or accumulated artwork stacked a mile high because there wasn't any more wall space. I too have contributed with my 40 year pewter collection; antique glass pitchers; crocks; shoes and a lot more. By now, you'll be getting a picture of how much "stuff" has been accumulated.
We realized that we really had to do it - rid ourselves of two thirds of our "things" after we signed the sales agreement on the Bucks County house. That was probably our YIKES moment. It almost seemed impossible, not just from a sentimental standpoint, but from a practical one. But, the time had come, so we set about making downsizing happen, very painfully. We shed a few tears and sometimes argued over whether to keep it or get rid of it, and moved things back and forth from the giveaway or sell pile to the keep pile.
But in the end, we did let go of a surprising three quarters of our things, and here's how we did it:
* We gave the important family things to our adult children and their families.
We told our children, nicely, that we didn't want any more gifts. For those that insisted, we suggested gift certificates to Amazon or Barnes & Noble or contributions to our favorite charities. It actually made their lives easier they later told us.
Since it was near the holiday, we filled up five huge boxes with Christmas decor and paraphernalia and mailed them to our grandchildren. They loved it! We hosted a friends and extended family (invitation only) giveaway day where we provided lunch. It turned into a great party and we were happy to see friends appreciate and use our things!
* Threw away a ton (I mean it, really, a TON) of stuff either in trash or recycle bins.
* Sold a bunch more stuff on e-bay - someone in Texas bought and paid the shipping for a 40 lb leaf blower!
4. Consigned some larger items to an auction house.
In hindsight, this was a mistake, because the earnings were very slight and later we wished we had given these things to friends and family as well.
We also gave another ton of stuff to the local thrift shop. If you plan to do this, call ahead to make sure the thrift shop you have in mind has room for what you are bringing. Our first choice did not have adequate storage, so we found another.
* Drove a U-Haul to Cape Cod and filled up two pods in a storage warehouse.
These were things we just couldn't make a decision about so we put them in storage to go through slowly later.
* Brought a few boxes to the Cape and unloaded and integrated them in our home there.
We considered holding a yard sale, but decided against doing this as our home was too far out in the country and we were likely to get few customers. We decided it wasn't worth our time to set up and price everything.
We've been in the smaller house (70% smaller!) for the last two years, and we've re-discovered something we already knew. Most of our stuff isn't missed. Some of it had the sentimental value of our having lived with it for so long, but we will always have those memories, regardless of whether we still have Grandma's end table.
Certainly, once in a while I miss the green and yellow throw I got at Pottery Barn that wouldn't go with our decor here. My husband occasionally laments the antique hutch we auctioned because it wouldn't fit through the front door of the Cape house, much less in it. They were things that served us then.
Homeowner Story by Debra Gilroy, on exploring alternatives to home ownership.
by: Tina Gleisner
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