Downsizing
Downsizing
Most people who call about downsizing have already made the decision. The rooms nobody uses, the yard that takes a weekend, the stairs. That part is settled long before we talk.
What is not settled is the sequence. Your home may sell quickly, and the place you are moving to may not be available for months. Or the opposite. Either way you are looking at a gap, and a gap has a cost.
So we start there rather than with a listing price. Where you are going, when it can take you, and what that means for when your current home should go on the market.
Downsizing
The house is usually the easy part
What your equity is really doing
Downsizing usually means releasing equity, and how much depends on what comes out of the sale before it reaches you. Payoff, commission, title and escrow, repairs agreed during inspection, and any concessions.
For context on the market you are selling into, from ARMLS filtered by city, pulled 2026-10-01 with data through September 2026: Chandler's median sale price was $524,950 with about 3.03 months of supply, Gilbert's was $578,000 with about 3.54 months, and Scottsdale's was $950,000. Across the metro, homes sold at roughly 97.9% of list price.
Those are medians, not your house. The point of a net sheet is to replace the median with your actual numbers before you commit to anything.
Worth knowing
Downsizing is the same timing problem as moving up, in reverse. The house sells fast and the next place is not ready, or the next place is ready and the house has not sold.
The part nobody warns you about
Thirty years of a house does not fit in a smaller one, and deciding what goes is genuinely hard. It is also the thing most likely to delay a move.
Practically: start before the house is listed, not after it sells. Estate sale companies, donation pickups and movers all book out, and the ones worth using book out furthest. I can point you at people who do this work, and you hire them directly.
The part nobody warns you about
Selling a home you have lived in a long time
A long-held home usually needs a different conversation about condition than a five-year-old one. Buyers here are comparing against new construction, and new construction is not a fair fight on finishes.
It is also not one you need to win. What matters is that the price reflects the condition honestly, and that the marketing speaks to the buyer this house actually suits. Spending on a full remodel before listing rarely returns what it costs, and I will tell you when I think a repair is not worth making.
Questions
- Should I sell before I find the smaller place?
- It depends on how much disruption you can absorb. Selling first makes you a stronger buyer and often allows a rent-back from your buyer to cover the gap. Finding the next place first removes the gap but needs the financing to support both for a time. We decide with your numbers, not a rule.
- Do I need to renovate before selling?
- Usually not. A full remodel rarely returns what it costs. Targeted work on the things buyers actually flag, and honest pricing for the condition, generally nets more than a renovation you pay for and then discount anyway.
- What will I actually walk away with?
- That is a net sheet, and it is one of the first things we do. Payoff, commission, title and escrow, agreed repairs and concessions all come out before the number reaches you. I would rather you see a realistic figure early than a hopeful one.
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