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Downsizing your home?

FLDVCFamily

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Subscribing to this thread. We still have a young family, but someday I think we'll want a smaller place. This one is bigger than I ever though I'd own anyways. My folks are in this position. They bought a BIGGER house once we were grown, and yes it's filled. They know they need to downsize because just caring for that house is overwhelming, but it's so hard now because they're there and they have all the stuff...

I disagree about not "saving heirlooms for the kids" though, but I think I've grown more sentimental with age? At least ask the kids if they want any of it before selling it or donating it. My sister has my grandmother's dining room table and side hutch and honestly I love seeing it in her house. If I had a place for my old bedroom set (that was my father's before me) I'd totally take it and put it in my house. I have the piano that my father bought me as a child, and I've moved it something like eight times (yes, for real lol...crazy). My daughter is going to start taking lessons on my childhood piano and that means something to me. You can't write everyone from this generation off as unsentimental...some of us want some of the heirloom items in our houses.
 

klpca

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Subscribing to this thread. We still have a young family, but someday I think we'll want a smaller place. This one is bigger than I ever though I'd own anyways. My folks are in this position. They bought a BIGGER house once we were grown, and yes it's filled. They know they need to downsize because just caring for that house is overwhelming, but it's so hard now because they're there and they have all the stuff...

I disagree about not "saving heirlooms for the kids" though, but I think I've grown more sentimental with age? At least ask the kids if they want any of it before selling it or donating it. My sister has my grandmother's dining room table and side hutch and honestly I love seeing it in her house. If I had a place for my old bedroom set (that was my father's before me) I'd totally take it and put it in my house. I have the piano that my father bought me as a child, and I've moved it something like eight times (yes, for real lol...crazy). My daughter is going to start taking lessons on my childhood piano and that means something to me. You can't write everyone from this generation off as unsentimental...some of us want some of the heirloom items in our houses.

One of my favorite "things" is my grandmother's china from the 1930's. No one except me wanted it when she was downsizing in the 1980's. There weren't a lot of pieces left after 50 years of use, but we are able use it most years for Mother's Day brunch. I have no idea if any of my girls will want it. Not my problem at that point. :D
 

amycurl

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We get a lot of "leftovers" from estate sales at the thrift store, and it is still is a ton of stuff. People's collections of tea cups, romance novels, thimbles, owls, bells, figurines, Lennox items, Belleek items, Christmas ornaments etc. Lots and LOTS of Christmas stuff. Beautiful sets of expensive China and crystal sell for pennies on the dollar. .

Before you sell it for "pennies on the dollar," the next time the thrift store gets nice things--Lennox items, blown glass Christmas ornaments, the expensive china and crystal sets--place a call to 1-800-REPLACEMENTS and see if they will buy it back. You'd be surprised at what some things go for, because other people will spend good money for them. If they buy it back, they will help you arrange how to ship it to them. You could make more money for the nonprofit that runs the thrift store (and I would explain that to them when you call; they are extremely community-minded as a company.)

For example, the everyday glassware that we got when we registered was about $4- $5 a stem *cough* nearly 20 years ago *cough*. Today, it's been discontinued. Replacements is now selling them for between $25- $45 a stem. You read that right. I can sell pieces back from them at about half that. That's a pretty good return on investment. In real world terms, it means I try to be more intentional about making sure my ten year pays careful attention when she uses those glasses, LOL!

The most valuable china my mother owns isn't the gold-rimmed Noritake. It is the no-name stuff she got free when she purchased her "lifetime" cookware. Because it was never available on the mass market, not as much of it was made....so it's rare, and in *very high* demand. The most valuable china they sell was originally offered free piece by piece when you sent it the box tops of some kind of cleaning soda in the 50s. So, the value of some of the stuff may surprise you.

Plus, it will free up space in the thrift store. It's a win-win! :D
 

FLDVCFamily

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My mom and I like to go to estate sales for fun, and I can never understand why there is so much glass and china. Often there is an entire room full in just one house. I just don't get it. Was that a big trend at one point? Did they inherit other people's china and they couldn't part with it? I agree about replacements.com, although the idea of shipping china seems scary to me so maybe that's why most thrift stores don't do it? When I go to estate sales I think about my own mortality and how I never want my kids to have to go through a house full of china and bric-a-brac when I'm gone.
 

VacationForever

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My mom and I like to go to estate sales for fun, and I can never understand why there is so much glass and china. Often there is an entire room full in just one house. I just don't get it. Was that a big trend at one point? Did they inherit other people's china and they couldn't part with it? I agree about replacements.com, although the idea of shipping china seems scary to me so maybe that's why most thrift stores don't do it? When I go to estate sales I think about my own mortality and how I never want my kids to have to go through a house full of china and bric-a-brac when I'm gone.

We have 1 very extensive set of "fine china" - Wedgewood, for the special occasion. The company stop producing that line and that's when I stumbled upon replacements.com. We only ordered the new pieces that were not used. We have Waterford for glassware. We used to hold formal dinners with our neighbors a couple of times a year in our previous home and we would use these, together with a more expensive/higher quality set of cutlery. After we moved, we have yet to use them even when we have guests over. On hindsight, it was stupid of us to even have spent all that money.

Then we have Corelle for everyday use - with 2 full sets for 2 homes. My son took the ones from our old house to his new home.

My current home has quite a bit of collection of stuff - Turkish vases etc that we have several display cases to hold them. Then there is artwork. I dread the day that if my husband goes before I do, and if I want to move back to be with my son (either another home or into his) and what am I supposed to with all these stuff. Or if I remain at this place until I die, my son will probably just sell the home fully furnished - including artwork and collectibles. He is not into "fluff".
 

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After we moved, we have yet to use them even when we have guests over. On hindsight, it was stupid of us to even have spent all that money.

So, rather than spend all that money at replacements.com to complete a set, wouldn't it be better to sell those incomplete sets to replacement.com? And then use the money to buy new complete sets? Just a thought...
 

VacationForever

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So, rather than spend all that money at replacements.com to complete a set, wouldn't it be better to sell those incomplete sets to replacement.com? And then use the money to buy new complete sets? Just a thought...

My set was complete as they were but we were looking and bought items like taureen, accent serving plates, large serving plates, pasta plates/bowls... We poured more money into it, that was before we moved. Bought the china at Macys initially. But I love online shopping, so we added and added...
 

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Replacements doesn't pay as much as one might expect. I lived near them and used to visit their showroom and wander the warehouse. I've taken quite a few things to be sold there and was offered only about 20-30% of what they are going to sell them for at that time, depending upon their inventory needs and the rarity of the item. I sold some things to them but those I didn't I sold though a local auction house. Quite a few of them I should have sold to to Replacements as I didn't get even as much the low price they offered. People are moving away from wanting to be burdened with fine china, sterling and crystal. Antiques in general as well.

As to downsizing, we sold a 5,000 sq ft house in 2002 and purchased two homes in two states. The main home was 3500 sq ft and the weekend/vacation home 1170. The rest of the "stuff" got stored in the basement of the main home. Out of sight out of mind. Then when my husband retired in 2011, we sold the main home and bought a 3,000 sq ft house in CHS and rent out the 1170 in CHS. We did get rid of a LOT of furniture, dishes, crystal and art then. I don't really miss anything at all. In fact, I want to get rid of even more.

Now thinking seriously of moving to a condo all on one level and about 2400 sq ft. Just want to lock the door and walk away to travel. However, my 95 year old mother lives with us and we have two dogs, 14 and 7, so we are still restricted on travel. On the one hand, I really don't want to leave CHS's historic district and our walking to shop and dine lifestyle. But if we stay downtown our options are limited and very expensive plus most condos downtown are older and need renovation. We are tired of the upkeep of old houses and of renovating as we've not had great experiences with that. Brand new looks good to us but isn't available yet downtown. So we've been looking in the surrounding areas but just can't decide whether move across one of the rivers, stick with our current house, or bite the bullet and pay the price to stay down here in a condo. Decisions decisions!!!!
 

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And the only time I tried to sell some china to replacements, they rejected it because the large plates had some surface blemishes. This was a discontinued pattern of nice quality but not china, and we did put it in the dishwasher. It was not even worth paying to have it returned. It would have been better to buy 8 new plates, and keep it. It was a pattern I really liked!
 

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I moved into DW's house a few years after our respective divorces. I thought it was good timing becuz her kids were grown and out of the house. But they weren't really gone. She had all their baby-stuff, and not just baby pictures. I'm talking high chairs, strollers and clothes. "They might need 'em for their kids." -- 17 years later, still no grandkids.
I know she's not doing this for rational reasons but in case logic will convince her, the stuff WILL be outdated by the time her kids have kids (if they have kids). Unless the items have some historic value or true sentimental value, they do not have practical value. When it comes to kids supplies, newer is nearly always better. Almost always, the newer kids stuff is safer, cleaner, stronger, etc. Kind of like cars, the newer stuff is better designed and tested for safety.

I know people who save stuff from their fist kid to the last kid. But things change and a lot of times that stuff isn't safe anymore. You have to check recall lists. If there's plastic then the life on it is generally only 5-10 years. Here are some basic no-nos:
- no cribs with drop down sides, too dangerous, baby can get head caught and die
- no crib bumper pads, too dangerous, cause
suffocation
- no car seats that have been in accidents, the damage may not be visible
- no car seats more than 5 years old (except 1 or two very expensive brands that have a lifespan of 10 years), the plastic wears down and will not be protective in an accident
- no bumbo chairs, if baby can't sit up it's dangerous to position them this way in a bumbo chair
- crib tents, strangulation hazard

http://www.babygaga.com/15-typical-nursery-items-that-are-actually-dangerous/

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/13-dangerous-baby-products-to-avoid/index.htm


I'm mostly worried about the possibility of earthquake. Not locally, as we're pretty far from a fault and on cut land, not fill. But if LA (60-90 miles away) gets hit and 10 million people come looking for a place to stay, they'll either have fistfuls of money, or guns. Don't want to find out which.

Well, you could consider Baton Rouge after Katrina. People flooded Baton Rouge needing places to stay. Overall I don't think the crime rate increased so dramatically. I think it was a lot more money that came to Baton Rouge after the storm than violence. And NOLA is a pretty violent place, more violent in general than LA. So I would not worry too much that earthquakes may bring violence to your neighborhood. I would think from past experiences elsewhere that natural disasters are more likely to provide a small boom of economic prosperity to neighboring areas. That said, Baton Rouge was then hit with flooding. So... my point is that it's more rational to fear natural disasters than human violence because the natural disaster is more statistically likely.
 

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@isisdave Are you intending to rent in the same area or move to a different city / state? The big one may not come in your lifetime but I do get it. I lost about $200K in the sale of my home in June of this year. I could have held on to it for another year and most likely it would sell it for another 50K+ more. But I would rather have the house sold and have the money in my hands than to hold on to it. That former home cost $20K a year to run, not including costs to fix anything that might break. No mortgage on it. It all has to do with how badly you want to sell your home and then price it to attract buyers.
 
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pwrshift

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I'm going through the consideration of downsizing now too, but in Toronto the problem is that a 1700 sq Ft condo is over a million dollars. While my 4400 sq Ft house is too much work and costly for 2 people (kids gone) I might get more for my house but the problem is these condos are selling overnight when put up for sale...far faster than the house would sell.

How do you finance a million dollars when you don't know if and when and what your house will sell for? Scary.

Brian
 

VacationForever

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I'm going through the consideration of downsizing now too, but in Toronto the problem is that a 1700 sq Ft condo is over a million dollars. While my 4400 sq Ft house is too much work and costly for 2 people (kids gone) I might get more for my house but the problem is these condos are selling overnight when put up for sale...far faster than the house would sell.

How do you finance a million dollars when you don't know if and when and what your house will sell for? Scary.

Brian

Why don't you sell your home before you buy the condo? It will be inconvenient with 2 moves - get stuff to storage, stay in a rental until you buy a condo. Alternatively you can put an offer on a condo with a contingency to sell your home but most sellers won't accept this.

When I sold my last home, I had 2 contingent offers (have to sell their homes first), third one removed the contingency - their bank agreed to lend them the money for the house so they would have 2 mortgages as an interim since they wanted to be competitive and be considered, and the 4th was an all cash deal as is and closed within 10 days. I took the all cash deal.
 

pwrshift

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Curious to know if you staged your home or sold it empty?
 

Luanne

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Curious to know if you staged your home or sold it empty?
I'm not the one you asked but, we've never had a home staged. I don't think it was "the thing" when we were selling. We did rent some furniture for one home we sold for the living room so I guess you could say that was staged. The last home we sold got emptier as time when on as I was selling all of the stuff we wouldn't be taking with us when we moved. So several rooms were empty by the time we sold.

And interestingly enough, the last four places I've purchased were all empty. I found it much easier to envision what they would look like with my things in them.
 

VacationForever

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Curious to know if you staged your home or sold it empty?
We had a huge home which was originally a model home, upgrade itself was 650K, and home was originally listed by developer for 1.4M. The interior decor itself was 200K by itself. We added another 200K to the house - all season sunroom which holds an Endless indoor pool, full solar etc etc. We thought it was going to be our forever home. When we moved, we left much of the furniture, artwork and wall decor behind. Unfortunately it was a beautiful home in the suburbs and built at the height of the market. 12 developers were there and those who got out early were lucky. We bought it when it was not done crashing. We could have held on for another couple of years to get back what we paid but we just wanted to move on. We bought a single level condo that is 2800+ sq ft in another state 3 years ago and furnished it so we did not need much of the beautiful furnishings in the home that we just sold. It was the most beautiful and expensive home in that development.

3 of the buyers just bought their homes in a new development closeby and when they were shown this home, they wanted to sell theirs to buy this. I took the cash offer with quick closing so that I was done with it.
 

rickandcindy23

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One of my favorite "things" is my grandmother's china from the 1930's. No one except me wanted it when she was downsizing in the 1980's. There weren't a lot of pieces left after 50 years of use, but we are able use it most years for Mother's Day brunch. I have no idea if any of my girls will want it. Not my problem at that point. :D
I can relate to that. My grandma's china, service for 12, went to me 30 years ago, when she died. It was a service for 12, now I have collected many more pieces and could easily feed 36 with my china. I have all of the serving pieces, too. My china cabinet is absolutely stuffed with her dishes and the additional ebay and Craig's List finds. I am hopeless. My daughter is always telling me how nuts that is. When I die, those dishes will be given to the Goodwill, and no one will have a clue how valuable they are, especially all of the covered and uncovered vegetable dishes, the sugar and creamer sets (3) and the salt and pepper shakers (5 sets) and the gravy boats.

Yes, I am a dish collector now.
 

DaveNV

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I can relate to that. My grandma's china, service for 12, went to me 30 years ago, when she died. It was a service for 12, now I have collected many more pieces and could easily feed 36 with my china. I have all of the serving pieces, too. My china cabinet is absolutely stuffed with her dishes and the additional ebay and Craig's List finds. I am hopeless. My daughter is always telling me how nuts that is. When I die, those dishes will be given to the Goodwill, and no one will have a clue how valuable they are, especially all of the covered and uncovered vegetable dishes, the sugar and creamer sets (3) and the salt and pepper shakers (5 sets) and the gravy boats.

Yes, I am a dish collector now.


When my Mother died in 1996, most of her crystal was sold, but her fine china went to my sister's house. She and I have traded the several boxes of it back and forth numerous times since then, with comments of "Your turn to hang on to it." and "You store it for awhile. It's in the way!" I think we've used it maybe one time in more than 20 years. We just don't entertain like Mom did. All her fine dishware, linen tablecloths and napkins, and all the other holiday finery just doesn't suit anybody left alive. We don't want to get rid of it, because it was our Mother's, but nobody really wants it either. I feel strangely ungrateful, but what can I do? Oh yeah - downsize. ;)

Dave
 

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We don't want to get rid of it, because it was our Mother's, but nobody really wants it either. I feel strangely ungrateful, but what can I do? Oh yeah - downsize.
We have faced this dilemma too. I had my crystal (manly stuff), 130 y.o. English china. Paula had gold flatware, bone china cups, pre-war Japanese china. The kids don't want it, and if you see it in a china shop or at an estate sale, it goes for pennies. So we've made the command decision. USE IT! There is none of it that's too good to use. And the value is NEVER coming back. The big houses with dining rooms meant for big family holiday meals and entertaining are simply relics from a bygone era. So get out the china and crystal. A craft beer tastes just fine from a crystal stem. Mac & cheese tastes just as good on fine china as on Corelle.

Jim
 

klpca

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We have faced this dilemma too. I had my crystal (manly stuff), 130 y.o. English china. Paula had gold flatware, bone china cups, pre-war Japanese china. The kids don't want it, and if you see it in a china shop or at an estate sale, it goes for pennies. So we've made the command decision. USE IT! There is none of it that's too good to use. And the value is NEVER coming back. The big houses with dining rooms meant for big family holiday meals and entertaining are simply relics from a bygone era. So get out the china and crystal. A craft beer tastes just fine from a crystal stem. Mac & cheese tastes just as good on fine china as on Corelle.

Jim

Exactly. We don't use it every day, but birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Day...there are many opportunities. The value is in the memories.

Funny story - I checked out Replacements.com The biggest surprise? The Christopher Radko Christmas dishes that I bought on clearance after Christmas about 15 years ago from Target. I probably paid less than $50 for everything. Now each plate sells for $20 on their site. I am pretty sure that my girls won't care about my china but I'll bet they fight over the Christmas dishes. Memories. ;)
 
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Luanne

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I think I may have already mentioned this. I got my mom's china. It's probably worth quite a bit since it's all stamped "Made in occupied Japan". But, I don't like it. I never have. I wouldn't use it. So my older daughter now has it, as she wanted it. :)
 

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This has been interesting to follow. We also downsized and resized, but not in the same area. We are not extremely attached to stuff. Neither of us are really sentimental and everything we have can be replaced so that makes it easier.

We took early retirement – husband in 1999 and me in 2002. When I retired, we sold our 3600 sf house that was on 5 acres just outside of Topeka, KS and moved into our 1500 sf condo at Lake of the Ozarks. We got rid of tons of stuff because we owned furniture, etc at both places. Our kids were just out of college and one just getting married, so they happily took furniture, appliances, pots, and pans, dishes and linens. I sold or gave away much of what they did not want. We only kept DH tools and a few things that were very special to us because we wanted to buy new furniture for the condo living room and office furniture that we were going to put in one of the bedrooms to use as an office. We had a new MBR set to take to the condo and kept one for the guest room. Five years later, someone offered to by our condo, boat, lift, and storage garage for a really good price. We took it and moved to Goodyear, AZ. One of our sons lived in Phoenix and wanted us to try it. We rented a 2700 sf house for the first year to see if we liked the area and did. In 2008, we bought a 3800 sf foreclosure house for a house in a cul-de-sac with a ½ acre lot at ½ of the original 2006 price. Once we bought a home, our other son decided to move from KC and now lives 3 blocks from us.

We have purchased more furniture, but I am not a collector of knick-knacks and have always been of the mindset that if I did not use something in the past 6 months, I sell it or give it away. (Exception – Seasonal items like Christmas ornaments & Lennox Christmas dishes get a 12 month time span.) The larger home has worked well for us as I host a Women’s Bible Study twice a week with 20-25 gals at each one. That ½ acre graveled back yard makes a great parking lot.

All said, we have recently discussed that in 5 more years when we turn 77 & 75, we will sell our home and rent one in the neighborhood. Our investments have provided great income and we hope that continues, but the equity we have in our home would pay for housing for many years and we would have cash in the bank. The advantage to renting is that someone else would be responsible for repairs and upkeep of the home.
 
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After reading pittle's post, I have to mention a pet peeve. We are in our seventies, we don't want more things. We have a friend that wants to exchange birthday and Christmas presents. My birthday is dec 23. I get Christmas items from them on the 23rd and then on the evening of the 25 th. Not edible, but Christmas knick knacks. I am probably being re gifted, but I don't want these things. We all eat out together frequently, restaurant gift card, golf balls, anything but another Christmas decoration in a small home with no basement or attic storage.


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Feb 24, 2016
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San Juan Capistrano, CA
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Worldmark
My parents' wedding anniversary is Dec. 26, Dad's birthday is Dec. 27, I was born Dec. 30. Thirty years ago I moved my birth celebration to June 30 on my half birthday, and 12/30 feels just like any other day. In fact I got to 5PM one December 30th and never realized it was my real birthday until I had to date a check I was writing.
 
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