Moving to a luxury residential park home has many advantages – lower maintenance, secure and gated environment and the opportunity to become part of a community. Downsizing enables you to free up equity and enjoy the finer things in life, including going on well deserved holidays during your retirement. Relocating to a smaller home also allows you to get rid of unused items and declutter. Park homes at Red Deer Village, an over 50’s residential village in Glasgow, come fully furnished with equipped kitchens, meaning you can get rid of the biggest furniture pieces!

We know downsizing can be tricky. A lifetime’s collection of trinkets can be difficult to part with if you’re trying to move into a smaller home. To help you out we’ve created a list of tips to help you downsize, making your move to park home living even easier!

Tip 1 – Make a checklist

When deciding to downsize, one of the easiest steps is to list and categorise your items. Go through everything and decide what’s worth keeping, binning, donating or selling. Although this may seem a daunting task, breaking it down into manageable steps or rooms of the house can make it more manageable. Separate what you want to keep from what you need to keep, and remember that everything is simply just “stuff”. Another helpful hint is to email friends and family members a list of any items you are considering binning. Therefore,  they can find a new home rather than a trash bag!

Tip 2 – Reduce identical items

If you have many of the same thing, you have to ask yourself is it necessary? The kitchen is a prime example of where identical items lay, which means it’s possibly the best place to start when beginning to downsize. Is it really necessary to have multiple spatulas or pot lids with no matching size pots? Unless you have dinner guests regularly, you may not need all of those extra glasses, cutlery or plates. Get rid of any food, spices or ingredients that you can’t remember the last time you even used it, or have passed their expiry date! You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can cut down on unnecessary items.

Tip 3 – Give things away!

If you have items that are only worth anything to you and not worth advertising on a resale site, just put them outside on the curb with a sign saying “Free!”. Depending on where you live, you’ll probably find that these items will be gone by the next morning. This is often helpful for getting rid of books, cabinets and most types of furniture.

Tip 4 – Sell, sell, sell!

Always remember – your trash could be someone else’s treasure! Throw a yard sale or attend a car boot sale if you have furniture, clothing, power tools and lawn equipment to sell. Whatever you don’t sell, you can put on an online selling site such as eBay, Craigslist or Schpock. There are also a few specific item websites; OfferUp allows you to sell furniture to local buyers; Poshmark and Depop are helpful for selling old clothes from fashion brands and Audiogon are great for selling audio equipment such as records or vintage stereos. If you aren’t willing to negotiate on price, Craigslist or eBay are probably the way to go. eBay also has an auction style feature, potentially allowing you to increase the selling price!

Tip 5 – Start moving in before you totally downsize

Sometimes, you can get carried away with downsizing and get rid of things that you do actually need. To avoid this, you can try moving your most necessary items, such as clothing, shoes or towels into your new home’s cupboards or wardrobes. If you have lots of leftover items that aren’t in great condition after doing this or they simply don’t fit, you know you can afford to downsize more and get rid. This same process can apply to tools, electronic equipment and books. Make sure you have enough storage space for your favourite items first!

Tip 6 – Get a tape measure

Park homes at Red Deer Village come fully furnished. Curtains, carpets, sofas, beds and wardrobes are all included, so you can leave all of your old furniture behind and start from scratch with something brand new! But, if you really do want to bring some items of your old furniture with you, it’s a great idea to measure it first to make sure it will fit in your new home before you move it!

The advantages of downsizing

Although moving to Red Deer Village does involve having to downsize, there is lots of storage space in your new park home. With many cupboards, fully fitted wardrobes, lofts, outside storage buildings and walk-in wardrobes in certain homes, you can still bring your favourite items with you. Built-in shelves, shoe racks, coat pegs and the space under your bed are all prime examples of maximising on your storage space.

Downsizing to a smaller home has a number of advantages including saving you time, money and space. But potentially most important is that it allows you to take management of your belongings and get rid of unnecessary rubbish that is taking up room in your home and in your life. To find out more about park home living at Red Deer Village, please contact us to find out more.