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If You Haven’t Sold a Home in Many Years, Here are Some Reminders of What You May Have Forgotten
The process has moved from paper to online, but the work of selling your home hasn’t gotten easier.
My brother is a moving expert. He has moved over half a dozen times in the past decade. He heard we were planning to move and needed to get rid of excess stuff. This was his advice. “There are three stages of unloading your things: first, you try to sell it, next you try to give it away, and finally you pay someone to take it off your hands.”
We are building a new house, moving from our present home, and downsizing while our new home nears completion. Yes, we decided to do both simultaneously. (Read this for more details on why we chose to undertake this in our 70s.)
Up to now, we have given away a piano to neighbors with children learning to play, donated a truckload of things to the Salvation Army, and given a huge massage chair to our cleaning woman. I sold some fishing stuff on eBay and placed furniture in storage.
It's surprising how well life functions without the excess possessions I assumed I could not live without. My wife hunted for packed cake pans, but a neighbor lent her two. Ultimately, we learned that much of what we own is not…
