How to Get a Fresh Start After a Loved One’s Passing

 

When a loved one passes, it can be incredibly difficult to remain inside the home you once shared. The house is full of memories, and you are constantly reminded that your loved one is no longer there. If your loved one died while inside the home, the emotional pain may be even more difficult to endure.  For some, it may be necessary to move to a new home to start over in a place that isn’t overflowing with special memories. Although the pain will still be in your heart, you have the advantage of living in a new environment that might help you deal with your sadness. If you have recently lost a loved one and are considering moving to a new home, read these tips to help get started.

 

Selling Your Home

 

Most people can’t afford to own two homes, so you probably need to sell your home before you move out. The less stressful thing to do is to hire an experienced realtor to put your home on the market. The realtor will provide you with valuable information about the market in your area, and share advice on how to stage your home in order to make it more desirable to potential home buyers. Realtors also handle the complicated legal matters when you sell your home.

 

Make sure your home is free from clutter and looks its best before any home buyers view it. One option is to put non-essential items into a self-storage facility. The average monthly price to book a self-storage unit in Panama City Beach is $94.05. Remove your pets while showing your home. You may even want to have them stay at a kennel or at a friend’s house while your home is on the market. Take down any family photos. People who view your home don’t want to see photos of your family on the walls. They want to imagine their own family living there, but that’s hard to do if the walls are full of your family pictures.

 

Once you sell your home, consider hiring a one-time cleaning or move-out service to help you save time. If you’re mourning a loved one’s death, you probably want to move out of the old house as soon as possible. A cleaning or move-out service will do the cleaning for you, enabling you to focus on your new life inside your new home. HomeAdvisor reports that the average  price for a one-time interior house cleaning is between $67 and $195. Most cleaners can get the job done in about three hours.

 

Buying a Home

 

When you begin your house hunt, consider your budget before getting your heart set on a specific house. Getting preapproved for a home loan is one of the best ways to begin your search. The loan amount you are approved for will help you find the right house for your budget. According to NerdWallet, “with a preapproval letter from your lender, real estate agents and sellers know you are a serious buyer.”

 

Before deciding on a home, consider how much renovation needs to be done. Is the home move-in ready, or does it need a bit of work? If the kitchen or bathroom require remodeling, your overall costs go up. Forbes states that not only do you need to think about the price of new cabinets, countertops, and appliances, but you also need to consider the cost of labor. All of this can really add up if you’re not careful.

 

Deciding Which of Your Loved One’s Items to Keep

 

After a loved one passes away, you have to make the difficult decision of what to do with his or her things. Psychology Today reports that belongings “left behind can take on a new emotional attachment to the one who died.” It’s tough to give away clothing or collections your loved one once treasured. For this reason, you need to be prepared to make difficult choices in order to remove these things from your home.

 

If you don’t think you can go through the belongings by yourself, ask family members or close friends to help you. Figure out which items to keep, donate, discard, or give away. If you want to keep a few of your loved one’s clothes, consider taking pieces of material from the clothes and creating a quilt or other special craft. Take pictures of items that you can’t keep and create an album so you can always remember them.

 

After a loved one passes away, it’s often too painful to remain in the home you once shared. All of the loved one’s belongings surround you. Whether it’s a toothbrush, clothes, a special collection, or books, every item is attached to a memory. For this reason, people who lose a loved one sometimes choose to move to a new home.The decision is never an easy one, but it can lead to a fresh start where you can create new memories.

 

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