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The ultimate guide to downsizing in Harrow Downsizing can be one of the greatest choices you make in life but can also be an overwhelming and an emotional experience, especially If you have lived in your property for many years. Downsizing or ‘right sizing’ can also be a positive experience that sets you up for your future and fits your lifestyle. Some positives of downsizing include less maintenance, saved costs and a new start! We at Collins Sarwar Estates have put together this guide to help you plan your move step by step and make it as stress free as possible. We hope this helps!
1 Get a free, accurate and up to date valuation of your home. This is a great starting place as it will let you know how much your property is worth in current market conditions and an estimated selling timescale. This will allow you to work out your finances and plan ahead on what you can afford going forward etc.
2 Prepare your home for sale & advertise on the open market. By now your Estate Agent should of shown and talked to you about how to prepare your home for sale on the open market (click here to see our guide on ‘how to prepare your home for sale in Harrow). If advertised well it shouldn’t be long until you start receiving some great offers on your property!
Make a plan!
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Its time to start making a plan about how to move forward and plan ahead for this move. Start making a list of every item in the house and put them into three categories: - ‘Can’t do without’ / ‘Can leave behind’ / ‘Can be replaced’. This activity will help simplify your items into 3 categories where you can now decide on what is most important to you.
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Find your perfect new home. Now you know how much your property should sell for, how many items you have and how much space you will need, it’s the perfect time to start looking for your new home. Register with the Local Estate Agents in the areas you would like to move to, search on the internet especially on Rightmove and Zoopla.
5 Be practical & follow the one year rule! If you’re moving from a 4 bedroom house to a two bedroom, be practical and get rid of any items which will simply not be needed. For example, you wont need four beds and mattresses. If something is beyond repair or you haven’t used it in the last year, the chances are you wont use it again in the next year. If you’re unlikely to use something in the next year then you probably wont use it again!
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Cash in on your clutter. After your property is under offer and you’re closing in on your new home its time to think about what to do with all of your unwanted items! Living in Harrow we have some fantastic local charity shops which would benefit hugely from your donations. Here is a list of a few to call:
St Lukes Hospice have 18 charity shops across Harrow &Brent . Donations can be dropped to their warehouse located at 24 Dalston Gardens, Stanmore, HA7 1BU. If you have any large items or a number of boxes they can be collected free of charge by calling 020 8909 2311. The following items are needed (not limited to): Clothes, Handbags, Shoes, Accessories, Ornaments, Crockery, China, Pictures, Games, Toys, Jewellery and house hold items.
Asha have two charity shops in Harrow. One on Kenton Road and one in North Harrow. ASHA is an arm of World Harvest (UK) registered charity 1071929 established to raise funds for the relief of poverty, oppression and injustice as well as for the promotion of health, education and economic opportunity in the growing world. 253 Kenton Road, Kenton, HA3 0HD, 020 3105 6626 or 1 Broadway/Pinner Road, Harrow, HA2 7SY, 020 8427 8928. You can also use apps like Shpock/Ebay/Gumtree to sell your unwanted items or even give them away on a website called Freecycle.
7 Plan your storage needs. Try to get as rid of much clutter and things you wont ever need or use again. If there are still items you cant let go of and they don’t have a place in your new home then you can always rent a storage unit. These can be rented for as little as one month (if you decide to get rid of the items after you move) up to forever! Prices start from just £40.00 a month.
8 Be Ruthless. There are certain items in life that you would want to hold onto forever. For example your child’s first school uniform, your birth certificate or marriage certificate. However,items like 20 year old jeans or all of your child’s shoes are examples of what you don’t need to keep. They take up a lot of space and will not be used yet alone looked at again. It time to be ruthless and get rid of these items.
Looking for something DIFFERENT? We hope this guide gives you an insight on the main steps involved when downsizing. We at Collins Sarwar are your local property experts and have years of experience in helping families downsize across Harrow.
Successfully selling properties of all shapes and sizes in your local If you are considering downsizing in the futurearea the first step is to receive an accurate valuation of your home by calling us on 020 8945 7797 or clicking here to arrange your free valuation.