Sending Your Youngest Off to College and Wanting to Downsize Your Home? Here Are a Few Things to Consider
Sending your youngest child off to college can definitely be a bittersweet experience. On one hand, you're thankful to have gotten them through this far. On the other hand, you start experiencing empty-nest syndrome. Sometimes, it's during this stage that parents realize that they no longer need a large home and, therefore, they consider downsizing to a smaller house or to an apartment. If this sounds like where you are headed, read on.
Will you sell the house or rent it out?
The first thing to figure out is if you will sell your house or rent it out to someone. If finances are first and foremost on your mind, you'll need to take a close look at the housing market in your area to determine how likely it is that your house will sell and how quickly you'll be able to close. If you sell, will you remain in the house while it's on the market, or will you move beforehand? This may largely depend on your ability to make house payments on the house you are moving from and the home you are moving to, whether you are buying a smaller house or renting an apartment.
One advantage of renting your big house out is that you can move back into the house in the future. Perhaps one determining factor is that your college student won't be in college forever and, therefore, will probably want and need to return home after they complete their education. After all, about half of college students expect to be financially supported by their parents for two years after graduation. If you want to have a tenant, it's a good idea to go through a property-management firm to find applicants who won't leave you hanging from one month to the next with late rent payments.
Will the appliances stay in the house?
Whether you choose to sell the house or rent it out, you'll need to decide if the appliances that are in the home will stay there. If you are buying a smaller house, you may want to take the appliances with you. However, that would mean that your buyers will need to purchase new appliances, which may not be feasible for people who are purchasing a starter home and using every bit of their savings and credit to buy a house.
Whether you choose to sell the house or rent the house out, it may be better to keep the appliances in the house. That way, you won't lose potential buyers or tenants if they prefer to not have to purchase new appliances themselves. You can always hire a residential moving service to move the appliances out of the house at a later date if your buyer or tenant doesn't want or need the appliances.
Will you move everything or get a storage unit?
One huge factor to consider is that, regardless of whether you sell the house or find a tenant, you probably have a lot of furniture and things, which may not all fit into your smaller home. The next thing you'll need to determine is whether or not you will move everything to your new home, get a storage unit, or move some things and put others in storage.
Ideally, your college student and your older children who have already flown the coop should go through all of their things and decide on what they want to take with them and what can be moved to a storage unit or into your new home. If they are not available to do this before you move, but there is a lot of their stuff to deal with, consider having your moving service put all of their things into a smaller storage unit which they will be able to easily sort through later when they are able to.
If one of your considerations in deciding what to do is the cost of moving, contact residential movers such as Bekins Van Lines Inc in your area to get some quotes.
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