If you are like Bunny and me, you have a lot of stuff. We’ve been in the same house for close to thirty years. And yes, we have accumulated a lot. And when we move we will have the same problem that most people have when they move into an adult community.
Where will I put all of my stuff?
You see, most people, when they move into an active adult community, are moving into a smaller house. We don’t need a 3,000 square foot, four bedroom colonial with a basement. We need 2 bedrooms and maybe 2,000 square foot. Or less.
As an aside – we had a couple who wanted to sell their four bedroom 2,500 square foot colonial and get something smaller. They ended up with three bedrooms, three baths and 3,400 + square feet. Go figure.
Anyway, when we move into a smaller home, we will have a problem with finding a place for our stuff. Bunny and I have started to address this issue in a few ways. We started in the basement. I sent all four of our kids an email that said they had one week to remove anything of theirs that was in our basement. Anything left went in the dumpster. I was amazed! They finally decided that they no longer need their trophies from recreation basketball and soccer, among other things.
We then went through all of the stuff that we brought to our house that was our parent’s stuff. Most of that went into the dumpster. Sorry Mon and Dad, but all the vacation keepsakes and photos were your memories. Not ours.
We are still working on the rest of the house, closet by closet. In one closet I found my daughter’s wedding dress (the second one), her husband’s tux, and various other clothing of theirs. On another closet I found her first wedding dress. And more. Now that daughter lives ten homes away, and has the same house we do. Which means she has the same amount of room. When she came home from work that day, all of her stuff was in her foyer.
My advice to you? Be merciless. Make three piles:
- I don’t need this. Then throw it out.
- I may need this. No you won’t. Throw it out.
- I need this. Okay. Keep this. But one year after you move, if you haven’t opened a box, throw it out without looking inside in.
Here’s the commercial – visit us online at at www.BunnyandArt.com www.55PlusInOcean.com www.55PlusinMonmouth.com. Of call us if you need the services of a Realtor – Bunny and Art Reiman – 732-598-7700