The Top 5 Ways to Say Goodbye to Your Childhood Home

When your parents are moving cities or downsizing, the time comes for virtually every kid to experience selling their family home at some point. While that home may have been the place you looked forward to coming back to after a long day at school, the place you spent family holidays, had your first sleepover, and spent every New Year’s Eve watching the ball drop, at some point, the house you lived in as a kid is more of a burden than an asset.

The good news? Saying goodbye to your childhood home doesn’t have to be a painful transition. By taking these easy steps, you’ll be able to say so long to the place that raised you and not even miss it.

“Saying goodbye to your

childhood home doesn’t have

to be a painful transition.”

Get everything—and we mean everything— out of the space

While you and your movers will make sure all the furniture, rugs, and electronics make it out of your old home unscathed, there are plenty of things you might miss about that house once you leave. To ensure you’re not kicking yourself six months from now, make sure you take things you really loved from the space, whether that’s the rock with you and your siblings’ names on it from the front garden or that dining room chandelier that you always loved.

Tour the house one final time

Before you say goodbye for good, make sure to take a final tour of your space. Sit in your old bedroom for a while, hang out on the living room couch before the movers load it onto the truck, and make sure you clear out those crawlspaces where you used to hide your sister’s Barbie’s before you say so long for good.

Take a few last snapshots

If you’re not going to be living there or visiting anymore, it’ll be well worth it to take a few photos of your old house before you leave. Take some pictures of the house both with and without furniture, and make sure to snap a few selfies along the way, too.

Meet the new owners, if possible

If you’re nervous about handing off your house, go out of your way to meet the new owners before you leave for good. Knowing that the new owners are going to love the place as much as you did will give you a major sense of ease about the potentially difficult transition.

Start looking for new places

Much like with a breakup, the easiest way to get over your old house is to move on with someone (or something) new. With that in mind, check out properties that pique your interest, like amenity-packed 555TEN, should you live in NYC while you’re getting ready to say goodbye to your old home. With elegant, modern homes to live in and amenities like a rooftop pool, you’ll be so excited about your new place that you’ll hardly miss the old one.

Saying goodbye to your childhood home is never easy, but the process needn’t be painful, either. With just a few simple steps in place and some time to execute them, you can bid a fond farewell to the home you were raised in before seeing it off into the hands of a new family who will love and appreciate it as much as you once did.

Guest post by Candice Schaffer

What are your favorite tips for saying goodbye to your childhood home?

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