Same thing you do with anything else you are not bringing to your new residence. We told our kids to come and get what they wanted, their stuff and stuff we did not want to move, before offering it up to other folks we knew. We had a dumpster the size of a big tour bus that we filled with things we did not want to take. That’s with taking far more than most sane people world, far more than we can attractively and comfortably accommodate in the new dwelling.
Because of Covid, donating, yard sales , were not viable options. Nor was selling the stuff, which I had no time or desire to do.
The closer to the city, the more expensive the property or the rental. Towns like Brookline, Wellesley, and Newton will be higher than those beyond Rt 128. Look at towns on the 495 corridor or nearby, e.g., Westford, Acton, Boxboro, Stow, Hopkinton, Holliston, Westboro or Northboro. You can get more for your money. Have you decided on a general area–North Shore suburbs, South Shore, Metro-west??
We had a living estate auction. We took out all the furniture and “stuff” we wanted to keep and then the auction people came and packed up the rest and took it to their auction site. They also offered on-site auctions, but I didn’t want that. Their cut for on-site was a slightly lower rate than their cut for packing and hauling it away to their location. I think they took 23% of the take for their fee? If we’d done it on-site, I think it was 18%?? The actual auction was about a month after they packed everything up and took it away. Super easy and everything goes. They had a detailed list of every single item and what it went for. We did sell our piano separately. I could have made more money selling some items myself, but I didn’t want to exert the effort. Much of our furniture was around 16 years old anyway. They sold lots of the “stuff” my mother had collected for years that I had held onto for far too long.
Our latest idea is to do an extended stay hotel in the area we are considering moving to (not sure for how long or when). Spend that time getting to know the various towns to see where we would like to live. Then buy in that town when something we like comes up (townhouse or condo, can be 55+). No selling of our current home until we have a new one lined up.
Check our Airbnb in the towns where you think you want to live, you might be able to rent a house for a month. You’re more likely to have neighbors and meet local folks than you would at a hotel. Just a thought.
I help the owner of my seasonal rental rent the place for the rest of the year. The most frequent kind of tenant coming in after me is a person(s) looking for a house, and wanting to get to know the area first. They usually rent for 6 months. We did this too when we first came to town in 1990. There are lots of short-term rentals and sublets as well as airbnb’s. Zillow and Craiglist are good resources.
@cypresspat You guys need to get a reverse mortgage on that house to help pay MILs bills and maintenance. She’s 92, it’s not going to eat up much of the equity
Whenever I mention the idea of moving to my wife (ie, selling our 4 br house) she counters with how much work it is going to take to clean up the house, make repairs, get rid of junk, and generally prepare the house for selling. That is about as far as the conversation gets.
@Hoggirl I like your solution (for that part of the problem). We have a beautiful piano that I would be willing to part with (wife doesn’t play), but I didn’t think there was much of a market for old pianos. We have owned it for 35 years and it is 100 yrs old!
When I had to go through my whole house and purge to get ready for a remodel last year I decided it was time to get rid of the piano. I was told it was worth $1,000 but would take forever to find a buyer. I did not want to have to try to get it out of the house myself and drag it somewhere. So I put it up on our local Nextdoor and got really lucky. A young Navy family wanted the piano for a daughter learning piano. I said ‘how are you going to move this thing every time you get stationed somewhere?” Don’t worry, the Navy pays for the moves.
I made them pay for the moving and tuning. It had to be taken apart to get out the door!!
They were so grateful, I received cute thank you notes from the little girl.
It took three years to clear out my house, do repairs and a couple of big jobs (collapsing retaining wall, roof). Funny, my then 88 year old mother did hers in one year, but she sold “as is.”
I gave my piano to a conservatory student in need, my doll collection to a family with three girls, and my son’s large collection of Legos to a 4 year old recently adopted from Korea.
The hardest thing to give up was books. I had a lot of books. I found that making a doc with a list of the books I was giving up, helped. The library got most of mine but I sold a few.
We donated a family baby grand piano to a retirement community. They placed it in their chapel. Love attending concerts there occasionally. It is played by far better musicians than us!
I live in Texas and I don’t know the laws in every state, but I have kept my home because here it Texas, it is protected from creditors or if a judgement is made against you in a lawsuit - they can’t force you to sell your house to pay. Something to consider, and look up the laws in your state.