TRANSITION TIMELINE WORKBOOK

Map Your Next Chapter Without Feeling Rushed

DeDe Forwood, REALTOR® | HomeSmart

How would you like to begin?

Before You Begin: A Note From DeDe

If you picked this up, something in your life is moving. Maybe you already know what. Maybe you're still catching up to it yourself. Here's the thing I want to say before anything else.

You don't owe anyone a fast decision. Not me, not your family, not a calendar you didn't choose.

People come to me because they're buying a first home, retiring, getting divorced, grieving a parent, relocating for work, downsizing, growing a family, inheriting property, or just trying to figure out what comes next.

A house is usually what brings someone through my door. It's rarely what they actually need. What they need is a clear head, a little honesty, and permission to take their time.

So here's my end of the deal. I won't tell you what you want to hear. I won't manufacture a deadline to get you moving faster. Where I don't know something, I'll say so. Where the honest answer is inconvenient, I'll give it to you anyway. That's the only kind of guidance worth having when life is already a lot.

This workbook is yours. Write in it, skip around, leave whole pages blank for six months if that's what you need. There's no due date printed anywhere in here, on purpose.

— DeDe

Two Questions, Not One

Where do you want to live? is only half the question. The real question is: how do you want to live?

Not where makes sense on paper. Not where someone else thinks you should be. And not just a location, but a shape: your mornings, your routines, what's within reach, what you're finally ready to put down, what you refuse to give up.

You don't have to answer either question today. You may not have a full answer for months. That's not a planning failure. That's the normal pace of a real decision. This workbook just gives both questions somewhere to live while you work them out.

How to Use This Workbook

There's no correct order here. Some people start with the money pages because uncertainty about numbers is what's keeping them up at night. Some start with the feelings pages because the logistics feel impossible until the feelings get some air. Both are right.

A few ground rules, from me to you:

Nothing in here has a due date. Cross out any date field that stresses you out and leave it blank.
"I don't know yet" is a complete and acceptable answer on every worksheet in this book.
Fill this out in pencil, literally and figuratively. Revise it as often as you want.
If a section brings up more feeling than you expected, that's not a sign you're doing this wrong. Put the workbook down. Come back to it later.

Part One: Telling Yourself the Truth

Transitions get harder when the information around you is murky, when you're not sure what's a fact, what's someone's opinion dressed up as a fact, and what's a fear you've carried so long it started to feel true.

I built part of my whole business on a principle I call "source of the source." When I don't know something, I go find out from the place the information actually lives: county records, planning departments, the people who'd actually know, not the rumor mill. You deserve the same standard for your own decision.

Worksheet: Fact, Opinion, or Fear?

For each belief you're currently carrying about this transition, sort it into a column.

What I believe	Opinion (someone told me)	Fear (I've assumed)
Example: "I'll never find something in my range."	Maybe	Yes

You don't have to resolve every row today. Naming which column something belongs in is often enough to loosen its grip on you.

Checklist: Getting to the Real Information

Write down the three questions I most want a straight answer to, even the uncomfortable ones.Identify who actually has the facts to answer each one, not who just has an opinion about it.Gather documents I already have but haven't looked at closely: statements, deeds, estimates, old correspondence.Write down what I genuinely don't know yet, and let myself off the hook for not knowing it today.Choose one source I trust for a straight, unhurried answer, instead of assuming the worst.

Check In With Yourself

How much of what's worrying you right now is confirmed, and how much is still assumption?

Part Two: Making This Decision Yours

Somewhere along the way, most people going through a transition like this end up carrying a pile of other people's opinions. A sibling's certainty. A friend's cautionary tale. A comment that's been rattling around your head for weeks, uninvited. Carrying all of that is exhausting, and it was never actually your job.

Worksheet: Whose Voice Is This?

List the strongest opinions you've heard, where they came from, and whether they earn a seat at the table.

Opinion I've heard	Whose voice is it?	Keep for now	Set aside

Tear Out Or Save

Permission Slip

Tear this page out. Photograph it. Tape it to your mirror if you need to.

I am allowed to make this decision on my own timeline.

I am allowed to weigh other people's input without being ruled by it.

I am allowed to say "I'm not ready" without explaining myself.

I am allowed to change my mind as I learn more.

This is my next chapter to write.

Signed:

Date: (Cross out if it doesn't serve you)

Checklist: Defining Your Own Criteria

Write down the three things that matter most in this decision, to me, not to my family.Name one or two people whose counsel I actually want, and tell them what kind of input I'm looking for.Decide how I'll handle unsolicited advice when it shows up: a phrase, a boundary, a polite redirect.Notice where guilt is showing up. Ask: guilt about what, exactly, and is it even mine to carry?

Part Three: Knowing the Real Numbers

Financial uncertainty during a transition has its own particular flavor of exhausting. It's not just the cost. It's not knowing the cost, and worrying you're one bad guess away from a mistake you can't take back. This section trades vague dread for plain, specific numbers.

Worksheet: Mapping the Real Costs

Fill in what you know. Whatever's left blank becomes your research list, not a failure.

What it currently costs me to stay where I am:

What I estimate the move itself will cost (moving, transition services, incidentals):

What ongoing costs would look like in a new situation:

Costs I genuinely don't know yet and need a straight answer on:

One time costs I might be forgetting (a good professional will help you check this list):

Checklist: Getting to Financial Clarity

Pull current statements or bills so I'm working from real numbers, not memory.Ask for written estimates instead of relying on a verbal ballpark.Ask directly, "What would you be doing if you were in my position, and why?" and expect a real answer.Build in a buffer for the unknowns above.Set a date to revisit these numbers, chosen by me, not imposed on me.

Check In With Yourself

How does thinking about money feel right now? Calm, foggy, anxious, numb? What would nudge it one notch better this week?

Part Four: Where and How You Want to Live

This is where the two guiding questions get specific. Not "where should I live" in the abstract, but what your actual days need to look like, and what a place has to offer to support that.

A quick note on how to use this section. Every prompt here is about your criteria, your routines, your needs. It's built around what a place offers you, not judgments about who else lives there. Every place deserves to be considered on the same, fair terms, and so does every person looking. That's not a footnote for me. It's the floor everything else stands on.

Home is bigger than a house, too. It's the neighborhood, the local businesses, the parks, the dogs, the gardens, the restaurants, the libraries, the farmers markets, the neighbors. Worth thinking about all of it, not just square footage.

Worksheet: How I Want My Days to Feel

What does a typical morning need to include for me to feel settled?

What do I want to be close to? A person, a routine, a service, a landscape?

What physical features matter to my daily life (stairs, single level, outdoor space, natural light, room to work or create)?

What does "enough space" mean to me right now: more than before, less, or just different?

What do I want less of in this next chapter? What do I want more of?

Worksheet: Where I Want to Live

What draws me to a place, practically and emotionally?

What's non-negotiable for me?

What am I flexible on, if it means gaining something else I care about more?

What do I need to see or experience firsthand before I'd feel confident, instead of just being told about it?

Checklist: Before You Tour or Visit Anywhere

Write my top five personal criteria before I look at anything, so I'm comparing places to my own list, not the other way around.Prepare specific questions about the logistics that matter to me.Ask about the same categories of information for every option, so I'm comparing fairly, apples to apples.Bring someone I trust if a second perspective would help me feel steadier.Give myself time after each visit before forming a final opinion. Big feelings right after a tour are not always the whole truth.

Part Five: Letting Go and Taking Root

Underneath the logistics of a transition like this is something quieter: a sense of home, and sometimes a sense of self, that's tied to where you've been. That doesn't disappear just because a decision gets made. It deserves its own space in this process, not a footnote at the end.

Worksheet: What This Place Gave Me

Think about where you are now, or where you're leaving.

What this place taught me or gave me:

A memory here I want to keep close, in some form, wherever I go:

A part of who I am that I built here, and want to carry forward:

Something I'm ready, even if not fully ready, to release:

A Small Ritual of Closure

Before you go, consider marking it somehow. A photo of a room that mattered. A note to yourself about what happened here. A slow walk through a space one last time, without rushing. There's no required version of this. The point is just to acknowledge that something real happened here, on your own terms, before you move toward what's next.

A Small Ritual of Arrival

When you reach the next place, consider bringing one object, habit, or routine forward on purpose, not out of obligation, but because it reminds you that you're still you in a new setting. Home isn't only a location. It's also something you carry and rebuild.

Check In With Yourself

What am I grieving in this transition, even if the move itself is something I want? Grief and readiness can live in the same room. Give both of them space here.

Your Timeline, Your Way

This is not a countdown. There are no deadlines pre-filled on this page. Use the space below to lay out your own milestones, in your own order, at your own pace, and revise it as freely as you want.

Milestone (in my own words)	Where I am with it	Notes to myself

Photocopy / Reuse

Ongoing Emotional Check-In Log

Photocopy this page as many times as you need. Come back to it weekly, monthly, or whenever feels right.

Date:

How I'm feeling about this transition today, in a few words:

What's clearer to me now than it was last time:

What I still need more information or support on:

One thing I'm proud of myself for this week:

A Final Word From DeDe

However this chapter unfolds for you, quickly, slowly, or in fits and starts, I hope this workbook gave your thoughts somewhere honest to land.

You don't need to have this figured out today. You don't need to have it figured out by any date but your own.

Real estate is only one chapter of a much longer story. My job, if you ever want my help, is the whole story, not just the closing.

If and when you want a second set of eyes, straight information, or just someone to talk it through with, I'm here. No pressure, no clock running. Reach out when it's the right time for you, not before.

Take your time. This is your next chapter.

— DeDe

Appendix A: Questions Worth Asking Any Professional You Work With

Wherever you are in this process, and whoever you end up working with, these are fair questions to ask, of me or anyone else:

Can you walk me through this in plain language, no jargon?
What don't you know yet, and how will we find out?
What would you tell me if the honest answer were inconvenient for you?
What are all my realistic options, not just the obvious one?
How will you keep me informed, and how often?

A good professional welcomes every one of these.

Appendix B: A Short Glossary

Plain language definitions for terms that may come up during your process.

Contingency:: a condition that must be met before an agreement becomes final.
Timeline:: a general sequence of steps, not a fixed deadline unless you choose to treat it as one.
Disclosure:: information a party is required to share, in writing, about a property or agreement.
Estimate vs. quote:: an estimate is an approximation. A quote is a firm, typically written, commitment to a price.

Appendix C: Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

Every person deserves to consider every option on the same, fair terms, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, disability, or any other protected class under applicable federal, state, and local law.

This workbook is designed to help you clarify your own personal criteria and priorities. It is not a tool for evaluating or characterizing any area, building, or community based on who lives there. If this workbook is ever adapted or expanded, that principle should guide the language used.

This workbook and DeDe Forwood's practice comply with the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and applicable Fair Housing law.

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