Contrary to huge homes and apartments seen in the latest TV shows and movies, not everyone wants a mansion for their next home. The downsizing and tiny homes craze sweeping the nation might be the best solution for you or your buyer. Smaller homes appeal to more than just singles and new homeowners. Empty nesters, divorcees, newly-retired and even simply families looking to trim down their lifestyle can all benefit from smaller homes.

Benefits of a Small Home

Small homes are great for the eco-friendly buyer. They naturally use fewer materials and less energy than larger homes even without additional green engineering. You can leverage that environmentally friendly mentality even more by getting your home even further off the grid. Adding solar panels, low energy lights, and xeriscaping the yard and bring even more "green" buyers your way. Small homes already have lower utility costs. 

Worried about maintenance costs? Small homes are the answer! With less square footage, fewer furnishings and a smaller roof, your small home is even simpler to take care of. Not only will any required maintenance move faster, smaller means cheaper, too. This makes them an excellent property for renters, so think about small or tiny homes in great locations for the perfect investment properties.

If you definitely want to own your own home but are worried about being "house poor," a small house is the best choice. They tend to have lower cost overall which leaves you more money for local entertainment, travel, hobbies, fashion and more. Smaller spaces mean you have to pay attention to your furnishings and storage solutions to not overwhelm your space. This can be helpful in keeping your possessions manageable and teaching kids or roommates how to work together to use space. Speaking of kids, they will be happy too, because a smaller home means less to clean. Everyone from 9 to 99 can get excited about fewer chores. 

Think that a small home might be the one for you? Ask your agent to help you find the best small homes in your area!

If you intend to buy or sell a home, it's never too early to start planning ahead for moving day. By doing so, you can find a great moving company that will make it simple for you to take all of your belongings from Point A to Point B.

Ultimately, there are several best practices that individuals should consider before they hire a moving company, and these practices include:

1. Conduct an In-Depth Search

Dozens of moving companies may be available in your city or town, and all of these businesses claim to be the best. As such, differentiating one moving company from another sometimes can be difficult.

To kick off a search for a moving company, it often pays to reach out to family members, friends and neighbors for support. These individuals likely have moved at some point in their lives and may be able to provide moving company recommendations.

When in doubt, don't hesitate to search for moving companies online as well. A simple online search for moving companies likely will reveal a wide range of results. However, as you check out each company's website and client reviews, you should have no trouble narrowing your search.

2. Ask for Client Referrals

It never hurts to ask a moving company for client referrals. That way, you can gain firsthand insights into what it is like to work with a particular moving company.

To obtain client referrals, call a moving company directly. If the company has a proven reputation, it likely can provide client referrals instantly. Conversely, if a moving company has delivered lackluster results to date, it may struggle to provide client referrals.

In addition, ask a moving company's past customers about their experiences with the business. Find out why these customers chose a particular moving company, how the moving company handled various moving day challenges and whether these customers would use the same company in the future. This will enable you to gain the comprehensive insights you need to make an informed decision.

3. Consult with a Real Estate Agent

Local real estate agents are well-connected in their respective cities and towns. Thus, if you contact a real estate agent today, you can simplify your search for the right moving company.

A real estate agent is happy to provide expert recommendations about moving companies in your area. Plus, if you need help finding a moving company on short notice, a real estate agent will go above and beyond the call of duty to assist you.

Perhaps best of all, a real estate agent is available to support homebuyers and home sellers alike. This housing market professional understands the challenges associated with buying and selling a house and will assist homebuyers and home sellers in any way possible. In fact, a real estate agent will help a property buyer or seller get ready to enter the housing market, prep for moving day and much more.

Take the guesswork out of finding the right moving company – use the aforementioned best practices, and you're sure to find a terrific moving company.

Volunteering is a great way to begin to engage with your new community. It is also a great way to get your kids involved in their neighborhood, and it provides an excellent teaching and growth opportunity for you and your children. You can start teaching your kids empathy and instill care for their community and world early in life. Even if your little ones are toddlers or elementary students, they can absolutely get involved. So, what options are the best for you and your young children?

• Adopt more grandparents: Establish a weekly or bi-weekly trip with your kids visiting a retirement community in your area. Teach your kids to make friends and engage with elderly residents. Bring games to play with their newly adopted grandparents and make cards or draw pictures at home to bring on each visit.
• Adopt a family or child: During back-to-school time or over the holidays adopt a family or child with your kids. Inform them about the reason the family is in need and what you and your children can do to help. Bring them with you to the store and let them select the notebooks, mechanical pencils, toys and necessities to support the family.
• Community clean up: Your kids can participate in keeping their community beautiful from an early age. From your street to your neighborhood, local park or community wildlife center it’s easy to start teaching your kids to preserve their environment with simple trash pickup.
• Serve meals or donate food: For holidays, or any day of the year, take your kids with you to a shelter or soup kitchen and teach them to give service to those less fortunate. Take your kids to the store to select necessities and canned goods to donate to a food pantry or deliver to homeless you see on the street. By interacting with those in need and offering your services, you can teach your kids compassion and understanding by introducing them to different walks of life.
• Walk for charity: Make a plan with your kids to join a walk for charity. There are many opportunities for your family participate in charitable walks so start by brainstorming with your kids to determine what charity they want to support. Help them prepare paperwork to ask for donations and practice their requests, then help them learn to follow through by walking with them on the day of the charity walk.
• Bring joy to a children’s ward: Commit to a weekly or monthly hospital visit you’re your kids to visit other sick children. Make get-well-soon cards, bring games to play or give out candy and gifts at Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s and Easter. Visiting children in need will teach gratitude and empathy to your kids.
• Community garden: Teach your kids skills and give them the means to contribute to their community by helping plant and cultivate your local community garden. Work with them to learn which plants will work best in the environment, which will most benefit the neighborhood, and how to care for the plants over time.
• Visit an animal shelter: Volunteer to walk dogs or play with cats or rabbits with your kids. Sign up for a pet adoption day and have your kids help introduce other kids to new animals for their family. You can even make no-sew toys for cats and dogs at home, using old t-shirts or jeans, and bring the toys to the shelter to donate.
• Random acts of kindness: Teach your kids to engage in random acts of kindness to show them how to recognize goodness and need in the world and establish in them the habit of always looking for in-the-moment opportunities to do something nice for others. Make sweet little cards at home with candy inside that say "Thank you!" or "Have a great day!." Have them pay attention during errand outings for cashiers, sales clerks or random people in the store that might need a pick-me-up or just for someone to recognize them. Teach them to help their neighbors by offering to help unload groceries, rake the lawn or walk the dog.

There are many ways to start getting your kids involved in and concerned about bettering their community and the world at large early in life. Start when they’re young and continue instilling in them an ongoing desire to contribute.