Downsizing Your Home With Pets – 4 Helpful Tips for a Smooth Transition
For many, downsizing your home can be an exciting time in life! Downsizing your home with pets, however, presents a whole new set of challenges!
If you are looking to start fresh on a smaller scale, this great guest post is for you! Our author today is Cindy, from Our Dog Friends. She is sharing some very practical advice that makes the move a whole lot smoother for you and your favorite four-legged kids.
Let’s jump in with all four paws, shall we? 🐾
4 Tips to be Successful Downsizing Your Home with Pets
Downsizing has become a popular way for many people to save money and simplify their lives, and it comes with quite a few advantages. Making a move of any kind when you own a pet can be a frustrating process that requires some planning ahead of time.
Add to it the realities of downsizing your home with pets and you have some unique challenges!
It’s important to take steps to keep your pet safe and comfortable from start to finish, especially if he has anxiety or was rescued from an unstable situation.
The Cat Care Solutions Blog has lots of great tips on keeping your cat healthy and happy during your move, and prepare as much as possible by sorting out the details now to give yourself peace of mind.
Related Reading: How To Keep Your Cats Calm During Home Improvements
Dig into your finances
Moving takes both time and money, so it’s important to get those financial details nailed down now to avoid any nasty surprises down the road. Before you attempt to apply for a loan, take a look at your spending habits and calculate your debt-to-income ratio.
This is done by adding up all of your monthly expenses and dividing that number by your monthly gross income, and it will give you a good idea of how much you can afford to pay on a new mortgage.
Lenders will use this number as a guideline for approval, but there are several factors that come into play, such as the amount of fixed and unexpected expenses you have. Consider overhauling your budget in order to make the loan process smoother.
Shop for the best deal
Once you have a good idea of how much you can afford to spend each month, shop around for the best mortgage lender for your needs. In some cases, you can apply online for a pre-approval, which is the best way to go as it will give you some peace of mind.
This process can be complicated, but you can call PennyMac at (866) 549-3583 for help or ask questions. The more prepared you are from the beginning, the easier and faster the entire process will be. This will give you more time to work on getting your home ready to put on the market while preparing your pet for a change.
Prep your home for sale
When you have a pet, preparing your home for sale can be a big job, so give yourself plenty of time to deep-clean, organize, and fix any damaged areas.
This is a great opportunity to go through your belongings and pare down, getting rid of items you won’t be able to fit into your new, smaller space.
When it comes to your cat’s toys, bedding, and litter box, you may want to keep them clean and leave them where they are until viewings or open houses, when they can be put away.
Many realtors suggest that home sellers get rid of any evidence that a pet lives there at all, but you can speak to your real estate agent about a course of action that works for you.
Make safety a priority
During the prep process, your pet may feel anxious due to the changes around the house. Keep him comfortable by making sure he has normal access to familiar things, such as his bedding and food bowls.
When packing up, keep packing materials and boxes neatly put away to prevent your cat from climbing or making messes. Plan ahead for moving day by asking a friend to take care of your pet during all the activity so he won’t get hurt or lost.
Related Reading: Moving House With A Cat: 5 Important Safety Tips to Remember During A Move
Conclusion
Downsizing your home with pets can be challenging, there’s no doubt about it. But choosing to downsize your home comes with many benefits, including allowing you to save money (yes, please!) while reducing the number of responsibilities around the house.
Make it a smooth move for both you and your pet by planning thoughtfully from the get-go.
Today’s Guest Author
Cindy Aldridge is the creator of ourdogfriends.org. She is passionate about dogs and pets and loves sharing her thoughts and insights on being a responsible dog owner. When she isn’t busy writing, she spends all her time with her two fluffy golden retrievers.
We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
- Have you ever faced the challenges of downsizing your home with pets?
- What has been your biggest challenge moving with pets?
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Love & Healing Purrs,
Get rid of any evidence that pets live there? Hahahha no chance! 😂 When we finally get to move, Virgil will probably be rolling on the floor in front of the unsuspecting victims – I mean, potential buyers – before clawing them for treats and covering their nice clean clothes in cat hair!
These are great tips from Cindy though. There’s certainly lots to think about but having a rough idea of what’s what in mind can go a long way to helping the process go more smoothly.
Caz xx
😂 You are hilarious! Virgil is so cute the unsuspecting victims just might want to keep him! I’m betting that’s a definite no-go for his mama, though!
I agree with you, Caz. Cindy did share some very important things to consider ahead of time. Rushing last minute to handle details we should have handled long before is no fun at all. Thanks for letting us know your thoughts! ❤️
Wise things to do indeed. It’s all about them and that’s a good thing.
Have a fabulous day, Holly. Big hug. ♥
Thank you Sandee! I agree. ♥️ sending love your way. Have a beautiful rest of the week and blessed weekend my friend. Big hugs to you too.