One of the most common challenges that most home buyers deal with is the task of moving or relocating. Whether you’ve moved homes in the past or have packed and relocated to an entirely new state for a better lifestyle, there’s a high chance you know what it means to plan a move. Despite being a different kind of relocation, downsizing to a retirement living community requires a similar level of effort and planning.
Downsizing to a retirement living community can be different from a regular home move in a way that requires you to transition into a different environment you haven’t experienced in years. Despite the senior living community being most suitable for your needs, it’s never easy to leave a home you’ve lived in all your life, especially because of the valuable possessions you’ve gathered and the memories you’ve created over the years.
It’s safe to say that downsizing to a retirement living community comes with its share of physical and emotional challenges that can often leave you overwhelmed with everything you need to pack, take, and discard throughout the process. If you’re getting reading to relocate to a retirement living community soon, here are some tips for downsizing to a retirement living community to keep in mind for a seamless transition.
Plan the Move Beforehand
Downsizing to a retirement living community can never be a last-minute task, no matter how much you want it to be. In fact, the process usually involves packing your entire home in a few bags and being ready to efficiently move into a smaller home within an adult living community. Therefore, it’s never a good idea to delay the planning process and use the available time before your moving date to plan the move beforehand.
Starting early will not only keep the downsizing process easy but will also prevent you from getting exhausted at any stage of sorting, decluttering, packing, and eventually moving.
Take One Step At a Time
One of the biggest mistakes active adults make when downsizing to a retirement living community is turning the whole place upside down to make the packing process faster and more efficient. However, there’s a significantly low chance of this practice working out for you, especially if you’re not an experienced home mover.
It’s important to start small and take one step at a time instead of juggling too many things at once. For instance, if you think the wardrobe will be the most challenging to go through, consider starting with different sections of your wardrobe and pack what you’ll need the most when living in a senior living community.
Declutter As Much As Possible
An incredibly important thing to always remember when downsizing to a retirement living community is that your new living situation won’t be as spacious and big as your existing home. It’s because the houses in the senior living communities are designed to cater to your needs as an active adult.
Therefore, it’s impossible to take everything with you because you won’t have sufficient space to store those things efficiently. Downsizing to a retirement living community always means decluttering as much as possible, especially when you come across things that are of no use to you.
Don’t Hang On to What You’re Unsure About
It’s also never a good idea to keep things you’re unsure about. You should always have two options when planning a move. Either you want to keep something, or you need to discard it.
In other words, there’s no room for ‘maybes’ when you’re downsizing to a retirement living community. It’s one of the best ways to make packing easier without struggling to manage all the things you bring with you once you move into the adult living community.
Think of the Moving Costs
Moving or relocating to a new place isn’t the most affordable process. The costs of relocation increase according to the number of items you’re bringing to the new property. Therefore, it’s important to think of the moving costs when downsizing to a retirement living community. The approach towards your packing and sorting practices should involve careful consideration of whether taking some things with you is worth the high costs of moving.
For instance, if you have a set of crockery that’s old, outdated, and isn’t likely to be used by you anytime soon, you might want to get rid of it instead of letting it unnecessarily occupy the room within the limited space in your new home.
Downsize According to the Rooms
Another important thing to keep in mind while downsizing to a retirement living community is that your new home might not have a separate guest room, dining room, spacious kitchen, large patio, or backyard like your existing place. This means you should consider packing according to the space in your new home.
When you let the new rooms and amount of available space guide you, it becomes significantly easier to downsize without feeling guilty about all the things you’re letting go of.
Be Creative With Sentimental Items
When you’re going through different things to eventually downsize to a retirement living community, there might be some sentimental items that you may come across. These include old photos with loved ones, gifts by family members, letters from people you value, and other accessories that are close to your heart.
There’s a high chance you’ll want to keep those things with you. When downsizing to a retirement living community, it’s better to be creative with these items. For example, if you have a lot of photos to take with you, consider buying a large album that you can keep and take with you.
Divide Tasks According to Your Comfort
Downsizing to a retirement living community is surely a time-consuming and overwhelming job. Therefore, it’s not only good to start small but also to get much help as you need. This means if you have a few family members helping you clean, sort, pack, and discard, you can further expedite the process by dividing the task.
Ask Community Members to Guide You
It’s always a good idea to mingle with other community members residing in a senior living community before you make the big move. You can even ask them for guidance and tips that you can use to plan your move beforehand.
At California 55 Plus Homes, we’ll be more than happy to help you find the right active adult community that you can easily move into. Our experts know what it takes to move into and downsize to a retirement living community that caters to your lifestyle, comfort, and need for proper care and assistance, and can help you go through a wide range of adult living community options in California. Check out some of our adult retirement communities here or contact us to learn more today!
