Downsizing Without Regret

Start with the days, not the square footage

Before you think about how big the next home should be, write down what a good ordinary week looks like. Who do you see? What do you walk to? Where do the grandchildren sleep when they visit? A home that fits that week is the right size, whatever the number on the listing says.

It is a more useful starting point than a budget, because it tells you what you need to keep close, and that is usually location rather than space.

Sort in three passes

Sorting a lifetime of belongings goes better as three passes than as one heroic weekend. First pass: what you obviously keep and what you obviously do not. Second: what family might want, offered to them early and without pressure. Third: the hard middle, the things you cannot decide about.

For that third pile, give yourself a rule. Photograph it, keep one representative piece, and let the rest go. Most people find the photograph does more work than the object ever did.

Choose the place for its surroundings

A smaller home in the right neighbourhood beats a bigger one in the wrong one. Walk the streets around each place you visit. Look at the grocery store, the pharmacy, the bus stop, the nearest place to sit and the route to the nearest hospital.

Think, too, about stairs, lighting, and how the place will suit you in ten years, not only today. It is easier to choose a step-free entrance now than to retrofit one later.

Give yourself a trial run

If you can, rent a place in the area for a month before you sell. Live in it the way you would live in it for real. If you cannot, spend a long weekend somewhere similar in size and see how the mornings feel.

Bring family in early, too. Nobody enjoys being told about a decision at the last minute, and people who have been part of it tend to help with the move instead of worrying about it.

Do not let the calendar decide

The regret people mention most is having moved too quickly, because a house sold fast or a friend’s advice created a deadline. Where you can, set the timeline yourself. It is fine to make the move in stages, to store some things for a season, and to change your mind.