Karen Miglin
REALTOR® /Sales Associate
Realty Executives Exceptional Realtors®
Your home is full of lingering memories. You can literally feel the moments as you walk through the hallways, and they all speak to you. The cackling laughter of kids at your son’s first birthday bash, your daughter racing in to tell you she got accepted into college, your sister’s wedding preparations, your husband’s first job promotion celebration. This house has become more than a simple living space; it holds your precious memories. And this is why it feels so hard to let go.
This article takes you from the point where you are completely confused about how to emotionally detach from the house you’re putting up for sale to the point where you are simply ready to let go, and move to your new adventure.
Dealing with Intense Emotional Components of a House Sale
Here are a few tips to handle the emotional components of parting with your beloved house:
1. Get Started Early
So much adrenaline rushes through your body whenever you think of having to go through with a house sale. You may feel so scared so you keep putting it off till next week, and then the week after that. Ever heard of the saying: the only way to get over something, is to go through it? Can the process be stressful? Yes. But if you don’t start, you will never get to the other side where you are free of emotional attachment. Starting early gives you time to go through all the moments, enjoy every scent, reminisce and simply come out an emotionally richer person.
2. Build an Emotional Connection with Your Next Home
Your next home will be the place to forge new memories. It would be nice if you started connecting it with super sweet, inspiring thoughts and memories, even before you move out of your old house. This way, you prepare your mind mentally to let go of the old and allow the new take firm hold on your mind.
3. Make the Old House Look Better Before Leaving
One way to let go is by keeping things tidy, before leaving. You could fix up places in the house where your emotional connection is strongest. Perhaps, take off some things and put in new stuff? A good example could be changing the color of paint used to design your bedroom. As your eyes make contact with ‘unfamiliar’ settings, it forces your mind to let go.
4. Spend More Time Outdoors
Spending more time outside is a therapeutic approach to letting go; more like deleting the number of an old flame when going into a new relationship. Explore areas around the home, and other places far away.
The act of leaving the house to explore other areas reduces the emotional toll which the house sale places on you.
5. Still Not Ready? Wait for a while
After going through the motions and allowing yourself to get over the house with the above steps, you might still not be ready to make the move.
If you find yourself in this state, you might have to wait till you’re ready.
Eventually, the most important thing is to be in a ripe mental state for a move. If you are trying to deal with your emotional connections to the house, know that you can’t force yourself to be ready. You might have to end up waiting for a couple more months to deal with the emotional implications of your move.
