When I think about spring cleaning, I think about my grandmother. She grew up during the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and stretched through most of the 1930s. It was a time when nothing was wasted. You saved wrapping paper. You reused jars. You fixed what broke. Because you never knew when you might need it again. My grandmother carried that mindset with her for the rest of her life. She was a collector. Dolls — hundreds of them. Shelves lined with porcelain faces and glass eyes that...

For many people, the hardest part of planning ahead isn’t the paperwork, the logistics, or even the move. It’s the stuff. I hear it often, sometimes quietly: “I saved all of this for my kids.” “They don’t want it.” “It feels wrong to get rid of things that mattered.” These feelings are incredibly common — and completely understandable. Belongings carry stories. They represent effort, milestones, sacrifices, and love. Letting go of them can feel like letting go of a part of ourselves, or like...

By Jen Herron Underwood, Senior Real Estate Specialist January has a way of making people reflective. After the holidays quiet down, many of us find ourselves thinking about the year ahead — not in a rushed way, but in a thoughtful one. For many people in midlife and beyond, those thoughts often include questions about home, space, and what we truly need moving forward. I often hear people say, “I’m not ready to move,” followed quickly by, “But I know I should probably start thinking about...