I am in the process of downsizing. Same size house, but no basement. 20 years accumulation needs to go.
Exactly. The trouble with not downsizing when becoming an empty nester is that it gives you more room to store things you never use. ;-)
“I am in the process of downsizing. Same size house, but no basement. 20 years accumulation needs to go.”
We just had our second retro fit in the same home. We will be carried out feet first when our time is due. No basement but a high quality shed in the car port and the lockable storage areas in the car port were emptied. Also, our home has a lot of large closets through out the home.
Kayaks were given away to the work crew, one was sold with its trailer. The shed was dismantled and hauled away and most of the stuff in the carport storage areas was given away or thrown away.
Our city has great curb side new ownership for good but no longer wanted items. Just put them by the curb and a free sign.
Anything that isn’t picked up via the curbside free method goes to Good Will or the garbage people will haul it away for free.
Our future heirs have put their names on the backs of paintings and furniture. Anything of value left over will go into an estate sale. A younger friend will handle that. She and her daughter are furniture stagers for selling homes.
We moved to a starter house in the next county 10 yrs ago, 71 yr old geezers don’t need on a 2 story roof hanging his Ham Antenna or fixing a few shingles. Fell twice, van was robbed, man walking dog in the early morning 1 block over murdered. I’d had enough of Memphis, double taxation, wheel tax. Everything they annexed went to pot. Drugs, gangs, rundown neighborhoods. We moved to the next Conservative county. 40 yrs of accumulated 4 families junk to be disposed of. The excess furniture went to Alpha Omega House for Veterans. We didn’t move far enough to suit me, but we needed the medical from Memphis. Our new little town has a pop of 7K. All insurances were lower. Taxes lower. Paid it off in 6 yrs on a VA 3.5% loan.
Take the stuff you want then turn the rest over to a reputable firm that does 'estate sales/yard sales. If you're anxious - be the first at your yard sale and buy back anything you'll miss.
We cleared out the partially-floored attic of EVERYTHING except the HVAC unit. Had new insulation blown in.
Now, it’s just a big, beautiful, pristine...empty cavern. We’ll never put anything up there again.