Earlier this year we made the decision to sell our farm and to eventually move into an Over 50's Lifestyle Village on the Mid-North Coast of NSW. Since then, we have reached settlement with the sale of our property, prepared to have an on-line clearing sale in October, and taken out a contract for a house in a newly developing Lifestyle Village, which will not be completed until May of June next year (at this stage). These are some of the aspects of this journey that we have experienced thus far:
Setting "trains" in motion on various "lines"
We found this to be a useful metaphor to use as we juggled the diverse aspects of our downsizing journey, and patiently (or impatiently) waited for processes to rumble along (or sometimes finally move on from stagnation at a "station"). Our "lines" included legal processes around the sale, choosing a house design and colour schemes for our new home and being at the mercy of the delayed developments on the site (they are still doing Civil Works as I write, and slabs now will not begin to go down until at least November, despite originally planned for August), investing proceeds from the sale into Superannuation and Managed Funds (a long process, still not completed, with long delays for appointments), and organising a Clearing Sale.
Decluttering our house
This was mainly my job, as my husband concentrated on outside sheds and machinery etc., and I started it as soon as we had a buyer for our property (our neighbour, as it happens). I chose to begin at one end of the house and work my way through rooms, clearing out cupboards and only leaving the things that we would eventually take with us, whilst also being mindful of keeping anything we would need to use in the meantime (our neighbour has kindly allowed us to stay here for now).
So in some rooms the only things left on shelves are those that are ready to pack, we donated a lot of things to Charities as we went (a good decision as it happens, as now that we are in lock-down we can no longer do this), and other things have gone to recycling or the local Tip. There are a few things requested by our offspring, but these will have to wait to be delivered to them when we are out of lock-down (for our son) or can cross the border into Queensland (for our eldest daughter).
Clearing sheds and preparing for a Clearing Sale
My husband had over 90 years of clutter to sort through, being the third generation of the family who have owned this property. This was both nostalgic and very hard work, turning up old treasures, but also creating a mountain of scrap metal, whilst deciding what could be set out on pallets for the Clearing Sale. Fortunately the Sale had been organised to be on-line, as since the initial date was set, we have gone into lock-down, and the Estate Agent has advised us to port-pone it by another month.
So now we have machinery neatly lined up and odds and sods sitting on pallets outside in the weather, waiting hopefully for eventual buyers, and then coping with the restrictions around them coming to pick up their purchases.
In addition to this he also cleared out our old house, where there were many possessions that, not having made it into our newly built house over 25 years ago, had sat accumulating dust, mud wasp nests and other offerings. Most of this went straight into piles to be burnt or to the local Tip.
Coming to terms with living in a house that we no longer own
We owner-built this house about 28 years ago, choosing and personally laying all the wall and floor tiles, painting walls, attaching the Colourbond roof, installing cladding, doors and windows, and employing relevant trades people at various stages. So we do have quite an attachment, and we still enjoy the beautiful views from our large windows, with the design deliberately chosen for this purpose.
At first it was really difficult to find a way to mentally cope with still living here, but no longer owning it. However I finally processed the situation and changed my perspective, from feeling like an imposter, to seeing us as guests and care-takers until we move out.
Remember: When we finally let go of what no longer serves us, what we're holding, what we know, we make room to invite new wisdom, new choices, new freedom. Tamara Levitt
