Helping Your Parents Downsize in Waterloo Region: A Guide for Adult Children

Nicole Schell, Broker and Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES®) with the Schell Real Estate Team at Peak Realty Ltd. in Waterloo Region, works with many families where the adult children are the first to call. Helping a parent move out of the family home is meaningful work, and it is often hard. Here is what I have learned helps most.

Adapted from social posts Nicole shared between 2025 and 2026.

Start the Conversation Early

People often tell families to wait until Mom or Dad brings up moving. I wouldn’t. For many older adults, talking about a move feels like giving up independence or leaving a lifetime of memories behind, so they never raise it. Then a fall, a health problem or the loss of a spouse forces big decisions under a lot of stress.

The conversation can start small, with no decisions and no timelines:

• What if the stairs became hard to use?
• Would you ever think about a bungalow?
• What would you want your next home to look like?

Before my own parents made any decisions, we had these conversations together. They chose what was right for them, and the home they live in today fits this stage of their lives. Planning protects independence.

Separate Your Memories From Their Needs

When adult children say, “I hope Mom and Dad never sell the family home,” it sounds like love. It is worth asking whose needs that wish serves. Your parents see empty bedrooms, a yard that needs constant work, stairs they climb every day and rooms they hardly use. The birthdays, the Christmas dinners and the traditions move with your family wherever they live. The kindest thing you can do is let your parents choose the home that fits the life they are living now.

Agree on How the Family Will Decide

Selling a parent’s home involves the whole family, and that is where things can get hard. One sibling wants to move fast before a vacant house becomes a burden. Another wants to wait. Someone focuses on the money while someone else wants to hold on to the memories. What helps is structure:

• Decide who makes the final decisions. A group of everyone rarely works.
• Give each person space to speak, even when you disagree.
• Write down the price, the timing and the plan to avoid misunderstandings later.
• Keep returning to the shared goal: a fair outcome, a smooth process, and a family that is still close afterward.
• When things get tense, step away and come back when it feels calmer.

Help Sort the Belongings With Care

The overwhelm usually comes from trying to make a hundred decisions without a plan. What do we keep? Who wants the dining room table? What happens to the basement full of furniture? When parents finally ask their children what they would like to keep, the answer often surprises them: “Just the pictures.” Knowing that early can take a great deal of pressure off.

Make the Process Easy to Follow

Our parents ran households, raised families and made big decisions long before everything moved online. Portals, verification codes and electronic signatures can make a simple step feel confusing. When the situation calls for it, I meet clients at their kitchen table and they sign on paper with a pen. Big decisions should feel clear.

Know Your Options for the House

Families can update the home before selling, or sell it as is when time, health or the repair list makes that the better choice. Both paths are valid.

A Plan Makes It Easier for Everyone

This is the reason I created my Transition with Care method. We start by making a plan for the next chapter, then build a path to get there one step at a time. Selling the house becomes one part of that plan. If your parents are moving closer to you, my post on moving closer to family may also help.

If you are starting to think about your parents’ next move, I’d be glad to help your family make a plan together. You can read more on the Downsizing in Waterloo Region page, or reach out to start the conversation.