Downsizing to Garden Homes

Ron Lee Homes in St. Tammany Parish builds many new homes for couples that are considered baby boomer “empty nesters.” What this means is that we build many garden homes that have less square footage and either minimal or no maintenance on lots that either have a landscaping contract in place or are so small and built out with their own amenities that they don’t require much yardwork at all.  Some of these decorative amenities that we build on our garden homes are private courtyards, storage buildings, detached garages, and even fountains.

Building new garden homes is an art because the floorplan requires an economy in efficiency – utilizing every square inch of a floorplan to maximize the home’s space and usability.  We have built many custom garden homes throughout the 20+ years we have been in business, so if you have an idea of a floorplan or simply need a recommendation, we can design or modify an existing floorplan to suit your home buying needs.

When downsizing from a much larger home to a smaller, less maintenance garden home, you have to know what to do with all of the “stuff” you have accumulated throughout your lifetime.  There are several avenues to take – some include being able to sell valuable pieces while others include handing down the personal items that have family value.  Whichever option you decide, you should follow the tips below when deciding on how to dispose of belongings that will not fit in your new space:

Value Your Valuables: For those items you are interested in selling, you will want to either hire an appraiser or use the Internet to find out what the “going rate” is for your pieces. An experienced appraiser that you trust will be able to give you incredible insight in a timely efficient manner while doing it yourself may take more time.

Appraiser Efficiency: If you do decide to use an appraiser, you will want to accommodate them as much as possible by getting everything ready in advance.  Many appraisers charge by the hour, so you don’t want them to have to go “digging” through your stuff to find the items you want appraised.  Make sure your items are on display (out of boxes) in good light and accessible.

Photo Documentation: Once the appraiser has given you a list to work with for a sale, you will want to take pictures of the items showing them at their best for online viewing of Internet sales.

Inherited Items: If you decide that you want to gift some of your belongings to your children immediately, then you can go ahead and disperse these items.  If there are items that are going to be handed down later, at the time of your appraisal would be a very good time to put in writing those items that are going to be given to specific family relatives.

Giveaways: If there are personal items or important items that you cannot bear to see sold, you may be able to post the pictures of these items to close friends or acquaintances to see if they would like to have them.  Giving your belongings a “good home” with someone you trust will give you much peace of mind.

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