After speaking to some of our other peers who have already made the significant step of downsizing, we have had some good advice and learned quite a lot about their particular experiences.

Something that we hadn't particularly thought about, but that seemed obvious in hindsight, is that since we've owned our home for several decades, it obviously hasn't been sold in a long time. This also means that there hasn't been a survey on the property any time recently, with professionals coming in to do work only when we have recognised a problem. While we don't expect there to be anything in particular that is a problem, we don't really know, and we don't want buyers pulling out due to structural issues or haggling for a cheaper deal if they are things that we could fix.

We are strongly considering having a Pre-Sale Survey undertaken, as this will identify any issues that are likely to come up if a buyer decides themselves to enlist the advice of a chartered surveyor. Whilst this is not cheap, it gives us the peace of mind and also the opportunity to address any issues that may come up, but also advice on the most effective and efficient jobs that will add value to our home.

Another aspect of the sale that we hadn't really thought of was the conveyancing process, which is not always straight-forward. We've arranged to meet with our solicitor to get ahead in preparing the legals and deeds that will be required by the buyer, and are going through paperwork to find things like gas and electricity safety documents ahead of time.

Since we aren't fully sure of the size of the property that we are going to move into, we are deciding to put some of our more favoured pieces of furniture and other bits and pieces into storage, rather than to jump the gun too early and regret getting rid of them!

Our surveyor will likely be visiting later in the week, so we're hoping not to find any untoward surprises!

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