Questions from our Downsizers Panel

Our panel last week led to a robust discussion about senior moves and downsizing!

Last week we were so pleased to join the Compass Parkside team and Real Estate attorney Morgan Laird to discuss the challenges clients face when they are selling a large home or apartment and downsizing into something smaller.

Attendees had a lot of great questions. I let the attorney and the brokers handle the questions about the real estate market today and how to mitigate capital gains taxes. Below are the questions and answers I fielded:

Question: I have a lot of valuable things I’d like to sell. How do I do this?

Answer: This question always breaks my heart because the truth is that it has become harder and harder to sell things. There is, sadly, a lot of good used furniture, china, books, and clothes, available for free or for almost-free, so people don’t need to pay much for these items. But we do sell things of value for clients and it is always possible you have something of value. Here are some cateogries of things we sell all the time for our clients: sterling silver, gold, jewelry (both fine jewelry and some costume jewelry), mid-century modern furniture, fine art. We work with a number of auction houses and dealers and can help you sell these types of things. And if you have these kinds of things and want to try, we encourage you to find an auction house that may be interested and reach out to them. If you have trouble, we can always be hired to help.

Question: I have a lot of books, kitchenware, and clothes. I don’t want these to go in the landfill. What can I do with them?

Answer: We don’t want them to go in the landfill either! For things we cannot sell, we make a lot of donations. There are organizations in New York City who need all of these things. The only issue with making donations is that someone needs to pack up all the books, bag up all the clothes and box up all the kitchenware and household goods. The reason is that the donation centers simply don’t have the staff or time to do the packing. This is one reason people hire companies like ours. We handle all the packing and logistics of making donations. But if you have time, you can absolutely do this on your own (just remember: books and other heavy items must be packed in small boxes!).

Question: I may be downsizing and selling in a few years but I’m just not sure. When should I start on this process?

Answer: Start now! Seriously, the process of downsizing is hard and takes time. If you have a move potentially in your future, today is a great day to start going through your closets, bookshelves, and junk drawers. You have things you no longer need, I’m guessing! Since it takes time to sell or donate things, you should start soon and not wait. Also, the process of making all the decisions about what to keep is stressful and you don’t want to rush yourself though this.

Question: My kids say they don’t want anything from our house, but I know that they will want it at some point. Is it worth putting into storage until they change their mind?

Answer: This is a sensitive area for a lot of us. I’m afraid what we are finding as we work with clients (for more than fifteen years!) is that when a child or grandchild does not express strong interest in taking things from a client’s home, they are not likely to change their mind down the road. And if they do change their mind, it could be quite some time from now. So first assess how much it will cost you to put things in storage, and then have an honest conversation with them. To find out how much storage will cost, you can call a good moving company that provides storage and ask them how much space they would need (and what the rate would be) to store things. Or call a storage site and ask them the same question.

We had a great time on the panel. Let us know if you want to be invited to the next one!