Deciding to Sell Your House?

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
Many of you might have already answered this question. But I'm curious about people's feelings about doing it. I mean obviously it can just be wanting to downsize from too much house and too much yard. It must be hard when you're like my aunt. She and my uncle moved into a smaller home when their son left to get married.

The problem now is my uncle being suddenly disabled and all the stuff they have accumulated. For instance you know folks who turn their house into North Pole Central every year? I mean whole hog from mantle displays, tinsel on the deer heads, huge nativity scenes in the yard, in the house, on the porch, on the roof...

Everything in the house down to the china, air fresheners and toilet paper is all Christmas themed over the top. Now imagine the effort to pack all that plus the regular household stuff. Plus I'm sure she has an emotional attachment to that house. They've been there many years now.

The house we're in is old and falling apart around us. If I had somewhere to relocate to I could have us packed up in a month. This house has too many ghosts, I could walk out and not look back. But it must be really painful when you love your house and have to make the choice to give it up.

Then again some people live in their family home their whole life. Thoughts?
 

Well, I think the first thing she needs to do, if considering moving, is accept the fact that she needs to get rid of stuff she will never use again, like most of the Christmas stuff. There's just no point in moving stuff you won't be using again.

If I had my druthers, I'd move to a smaller place, but this house is paid for and it would cost me a lot of money to bring it up to code to sell, not to mention that our real estate market here is terrible and there are places in my neighborhood that have been on the market for three years and more. So I'll just stay here. BUT, I'm slowly getting rid of a lot of "stuff."

I'm using the logic that we used all the times we moved when in the Army -- if I had to pay overweight household fees to move this thing, would it be worth it to do that?
 
I'm like that with books and clothes at this point. Even knick knacks, you have to weed out the first time...then the second and third until you get to the most basically important. I went through our holiday stuff a few years ago. My son got a box, I saved two boxes and goodwill got the rest. And actually it felt really good. Freeing not to be drowning in boxes ya know?
 

I've moved 12 times in my life. I've gone from apartments to houses, houses to apartments, big to little, little to big, etc... so moving is no big deal for me. The big deal to me is deciding what I can take and what I need to let go. Just like you I go through various "cuts" until I have made peace with myself and come up with a workable plan. I actually like starting fresh every few years and creating new surroundings with a little imagination and elbow grease.

I also understand it can be an emotional roller coaster for someone who has been in one spot for most of their lives. In those situations I think you can only help after all of the emotional and mental baggage is packed, the rest of it is just "stuff".

Good luck!
 
As I get older the question becomes : "what will the kids do with this when I am gone?" If the answer is either toss it or donate it, then why wait? The "kids" are now 53 and 55, they have accumulated their own junk.
 
While I was married, we moved 14 times in 13 years and lived in 28 different places - can't call them all homes, because sometimes we lived in hotels for months on end, even when we had two children.

Now I'm single, I've lived in the same home for 21 years and I'm not prepared to move again. I have a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, single garage, ground floor villa, with a yard big enough for my dog.

I regularly go through all the "stuff" I have accumulated and get rid of heaps of it. Not used in twelve months? It goes.

I offer what I have to my son - he mostly doesn't want it, though he did take the antique silky oak sideboard.
 
My dream was to have a cabin in the woods. The house is small, but it sits on one and third acres-way too much land for me to mow, etc. I fully intend for somebody to find my bones in here. But I've wondered about those, who sign over their home to get a loans. Not for me. I don't understand that. Yet, I wondered if somebody wasn't getting ripped off. I can't understand why banks are lining to supposedly take a huge loss.
 
The "kids" are now 53 and 55, they have accumulated their own junk.

Dang, your "kids" are my age. My oldest boy is 34. But his wife does extreme couponing. Plus she was a bit of a clothes horse before baby. He's always complaining how little space they have in their new smaller apartment. I haven't seen it yet but I can imagine. He used to pull me aside and say " Why does she need a matching purse for each pair of shoes?". I don't know myself;)
 
My house is really more than I need and it will one day be more than I can take care of. I feel like it's home to me and I feel safe here and it's paid for, but not sure how long I can do it. I am kind of stuck between worrying about my future and just living in the day without worrying! I think we all know that things can change very quickly, forcing us to make decisions or other arrangements and when that happens, we must. It is hard to do, it's like leaving part of ourselves behind. Some people might find moving exciting while others may not be able to embrace that sort of change, especially if they're happy with their home and surroundings.

It it sounds like your aunt is one of those people who enjoys Christmas with the decorating and celebrating. Guess it will depend upon space and location, but I hope she can be happy living with some compromise. She will adjust, I'm sure.
 

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