Selling Stuff And Downsizing

[old frog]

My suggestion is to think beyond moving onto the boat & to plan for life after the boat. Plan an exit stratagy from the boat. Considerations include, but are not limited to: Injury, illness or death to you or your husband. The boat "dream" does not turn out the envisioned way. Assume some years sailing, what then? Apartment? senior living? assisted living? Move in with a child or relative? Etc. My suggestion is to thoughtfully plan for these contingencies, retain ownership of some amount of personal property, furnishings, kitchen goods, etc., so that moving back ashore is easy, painless, & inexpensive. Good luck with the down sizing. It is frequently easier said then done.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by arsenelupiga

excellent ! As I always say, there is no better boost to economy than money printing.

Trouble is all the western countries have been doing it at the same time, oh and Japan for about 30 years.

7% commission on selling a house, yikes it's 1.25% - 1.5% in England, London is about 3%. What size of gin palaces do these Relators motor about in?

Pete

[Time2Go]

Having just sold off the "Family Holiday House"
after it being ours for over 50 years,
( i am gen two gen 3 had no interest )
1, ask your family members if they want anything
2, engage an auction or estate sale company to
sell everything at one go, these companies
know how to advertise and have mailing lists
of known buyers. By going this route you have
use of everything until a week before the sale
date, then it's
all done quickly and you just get a
check
good luck
cheers
Neil

[OS2Dude]

No one does anything for 'FREE'. The apps will likely charge a percent, ebay does, estate sale (unless you do it yourself) will, everything.

If you get a good agent, they will earn their commission. We recently sold my wife's house and it was a royal pain to keep up with the house and the showings and all the minutiae that go along with it, especially since we lived almost 2 hours away. Make sure you and they both know what to expect from one another, and be a little wary.

For all the stuff, just build in a little extra to cover the commissions and be glad to get rid of the stuff...

[Cheechako]

Some good comments above. I'll add:
-Estate sales work well, you wont get rid of everything, but can bring in a lot of cash fast. When selling everything, you cant "go meet everyone on Craigs List."
-You will have a ton of stuff left after your sale or two. Donate the minor stuff.
-At some point decide if you have family stuff to save, furniture, photos etc etc. A storage unit isn't that expensive in the scheme of things. We filled one to the top with stuff and family heirloom furniture.
-Don't presume the live aboard life is for you. Many people I know whose dream was to sail the world lasted 6 months -3 years. It's OK! Do what feels right, only for as long as it does.
-Another consideration is that you will be "out of the market" while you are gone. (real estate) If you are in the market your value goes up as the market goes up. If you are not, be prepared for sticker shock when you come back. Are you able to absorb the cost to get back in?
-Real estate fees: What market are you in? I could see you selling yourself, if for instance, you are in Seattle and know how to organize it all etc. Houses are selling the day of listing. But if in a slow market you are going to need help. Do you have Zillow locally?

[Stemci]

Our last move we gave away anything anyone needed or wanted and it still took us 1/2 a year to whittle it down to only the stuff that we could store. What worked for us was starting early and committing to a plan. If we were moving aboard and needed to build cruising kitty we might not have been as generous and would have taken longer.
We paid 6% and to be honest in our market(Alabama) took us almost 2 years and was worth every penny.

[Covey]

List for less had our home sold in 3 months. Told the kids to come get what they wanted and put the rest in a great consignment shop. We also rented a climate controlled storage unit for paintings, etc. We have been aboard 3 years and love this life!

[canman]

We're literally in the same boat too. Our home goes on the market this spring, and We are in the process of donating, selling and giving our things to our kids and siblings. We have a lot in common with the tiny house folks (that's us too! - Surf N Turf) . There are some good books and videos about downsizing and minimalism. All that said it isn't easy and we are experiencing lots of second thoughts, which is one reason why this is still a relatively rare way to live! Best wishes

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Stemci

Our last move we gave away anything anyone needed or wanted and it still took us 1/2 a year to whittle it down to only the stuff that we could store. What worked for us was starting early and committing to a plan. If we were moving aboard and needed to build cruising kitty we might not have been as generous and would have taken longer.
We paid 6% and to be honest in our market(Alabama) took us almost 2 years and was worth every penny.

Good advice! Start early.

[woodguy]

We have sold two homes ourselves. We made sure the place was neat, clean and tidy at all times. We fixed everything that needed it beforehand. We decluttered extensively, putting away personal items like photos and hiding our meds. After getting proposals from three real estate agents we set a price near the upper end but not at the top.
We had open houses and advertised in the newspapers. Both houses sold in a few days at asking price or just below.

[Covey]

We used the company, List for Less. Great experience and they use the nation wide multi listing site so all brokers can see your home. Ours sold within 3 months. We told our kids to come get what they wanted. Sold large furniture items to the new owner for reasonable prices. Granted, easy way to dump things without the hassle of moving them. We have a heated/cooled storage unit for keepsake paintings, photos, etc. It's fun torealized when your down size from a 3600 sq. To a 46' boat, just what you could do without!

[Hudson Force]

We've never "downsized" because we've never had a home ashore as adults, but I would say to those that get rid of all their excess stuff in order to move aboard, "It's a never ending discipline."

We're constantly turning down, giving away or discarding items that many might think of saving.

We don't have anything in a dock box; no storage boxes on deck and the trunk of our car is empty.

There's a great freedom in non-ownership!

[Cadence]

Depending on your tax situation you may do better taking a tax write-off for household items. You can get a list of what the IRS will take as a value by item donated to charity. Best of luck. PS get a receipt specifying the item you can then put in the none questioned value.

[bruce v]

Don't be scared or worried. The task is easier than you might think as you have given yourself plenty of time to get it done. Selling the house will, obviously, be your biggest task. Do some homework about what is available as you will get multiple suggestions but all depends on your own situation and needs and your location. If you truly have an estate, perhaps an estate sale is a good thing. Being realistic about what you have and it's value is tantamount to successful sales. Your sentiments and personal valuation will have little to do with the market value of anything you wish to sell. Yard sales and garage sales are good in many areas but to do so, find the values based on the market area and put price tags on everything. Know that people want to haggle for a bargain and be willing to dicker or be firm on prices - things that are firm priced need to be marked as such. You can also sell on eBay and Craig's list (make sure you are well informed about scammers - especially those offering to by at full price after you pre-pay shippers they will provide- don't do it! You can also list your sales, including garage and yard or estate sales in the local paper.

My wife and I sold our California home when I retired 6 years ago and downsized to go full time RVing. We kept a 10x10 storage garage for the first couple of years and found it difficult to keep while traveling w/o feeling tied to the unit. We moved the location of storage several times and over several hundred miles before we realized we were hauling a lot of unneeded things. We continued to sell valuable items (at least they were to us LOL) and we recovered about $20,000 dollars over a 5 year period. We also downsized from a 10x10x10 chuck full to a 5x10 and finally a 5x5. Then the hard part! We purchased our boat for traveling the Great Loop and realized we would never use the remaining stored "goodies" we so cherished. If you have stored anything more than 2 years and not needed it, you probably won't ever use it (yes there are some exceptions but I would think you should have them with you). I took about $6000 worth of fishing and golf repair items from my "golf business" and several loads to the Goodwill store. I can tell you that I struggled with it while letting go but have no regrets now. I no longer do the golf business and still have what I need for fresh and salt water fishing so most of what was there was superfluous and had not seen the light of day in 6 years. I think my wife had a harder time separating than did I. She is an avid photographer, an artist and fantastic crafts person. She, too, sold some of her arts, craftwork and photography but there were 6 boxes of things she was unable to let go. Funny thing as we too have 4 kids, 11 grown grandkids and 4.5 (one more on the way) Great grand kids. Much was sentimentally tied to the family - someone might want to have them. Simple solution. If they want it send it to them or take it when we visit this time. If not wanted, they can discard it w/o the sentimental ties and your job has been done). The Great grand kids and even some of their parents have loved the craft goods and the China and Silverware were passed to our kids who wanted it - yes, and we even turned the table with a few thing we now store with them LOL. Some paintings and a couple of "special chests" reside with our kids.

Finally, now that we are ready to set sail and motor over our Loop for the next couple of years, we've had a stumbling block tossed in our way. Nan was informed that she has a cancerous growth in her breast so we are getting that treated with high anticipation of quick recovery and a Spring return to our plans. I tell you this only to let you know it is not a good thing to make your plans with stop gaps based on contingent problems. Regardless of your best laid plans, there will be unexpected problem that arise. We are rapidly approaching 70 and eager to enjoy the travels we so love, especially being on the water. Sell it all and don't look back. Life is an adventure that is only as exciting as you allow. I used to live to work and now I don't work unless I want to and want to enjoy life to its fullest. Fair winds and following seas. Bruce V

[SeeMonstrEd]

I have to agree with Hudson, there is great freedom in not owning stuff.
Someone else told me once "The things you own end up owning you." You have the big house and all the stuff you ever wanted, now you have to maintain it, clean it protect it, move it. In many cases finance it.
We bought a boat in Mar 2015 and moved into immediately. It was definitely the life for us. We had 2 houses and 4 vehicles, jetski, ATV, all kinds of household stuff. We spent all spring and summer selling, Craigs list, estate sales, giving away to family and trashing. We even hired a company to do a professional estate sale for us. The last couple of weeks before the last house sold I made several truckload runs to the dump. Finally everything except a small storage unit at the marina was gone, and that was mostly boat stuff.

I was divorced, so I had been through this before giving up nearly everything to the spouse. My girl now had lived in her house and raised her kids in it for more than 20 years. She had trouble letting go at first. At the end she was happy to say just take it to the dump we don't need it. Actually living on the boat with everything we really needed helped. She realized that she really did not need all that stuff and didn't want it in the end.

We have been living on the boat for almost 2 years now and loving it. So much easier and more simple. She used to spend days every week just trying to keep her house clean. Now once a week we clean the whole boat in about 2 hours. Our boat has more bathrooms (heads) than both our houses had and it is still easier to clean. Nearly everything is smaller and easier. Best of all our "house" now takes us to all the beautiful places we used to go for vacation.

We live in the Caribbean and our only regret is that we did not do it sooner.

So my advice is start now. Craig list or ebay for collectibles the more weird the better. Consignment for high end clothes, donate the rest. Estate sales for everything else. See if your neighbors want to schedule a neighborhood sale. Start with putting as much as you can in the garage. The rule anything that goes to the garage does not come back in. It either sells, gets donated, or the junk.

Pretend you are living on a boat, what do you really need? What do you really have space for? Get rid of the rest. It will just slow you down.

We actually found food in the pantry and the freezer that was more than 10 years old. Why did we keep it? We found 5 bumpers for 1968-1970 GTOs in the garage attic. Those were worth some bucks to the right people on Craig's List.

Good luck, just start chipping away at it. It will get easier.