Five Steps To Downsizing for Seniors

Many responsibilities may fall on your shoulders as you help take care of an elderly parent or grandparent. These responsibilities can include anything from paying bills and grocery shopping to moving them into another home.

If you’re at the point of needing to downsize and move a loved one, it is undoubtedly a stressful process to handle on your own. In an effort to alleviate your stress, below we have provided a few steps to make things a little easier on you.

Make A Moving Plan

• Logistics are just as important as physically moving boxes. Whether you plan to move in a month or a year, there still needs to be a plan in place and plenty of organization happening. Organize and pack items in a way that makes unboxing just as easy as boxing.
• Figure out what size of vehicle you’ll need to use and how many trips it will take.
• If the plan is to sell the house it’s important to make updates as soon as possible. Doing so will allow ample time to adjust your plan down the road due to an unforeseen complications.
• Know how and when to change addresses, utilities, social security, and any other relevant documentation.

Have An Estate Sale

• Depending on the size of your loved one’s new home there may be a need to let go of unneeded items. Estate sales are an effective ways of doing so, and here are a few tips that will add to your success.
• Organize items so they’re easier for buyers to find and look at.
• If there are any items you don’t think anyone will buy you can certainly donate them.
• Can you repurpose any items for your loved one or yourself?
• Make sure you’re parting practically, meaning get rid of anything that is likely to take up space and not be used.

Organizing the Estate Sale

• Thoroughly research items you’re selling but aren’t sure of their actual value. This will help ensure you’re asking a fair price.
• Hold the sale at a time that many people will be able to attend, such as holiday weekends if possible.

Contact A Moving Company

• Determine whether moving a loved one is manageable on your own, or if there is room in the budget to enlist the help of professional movers. Most of the time movers are worth it in order to avoid the headaches of moving.
• Contact multiple professional movers to find the pest rates and all pertinent details.
• Set a realistic date to move.
• Do as much prep-work for the movers as possible.

Hire a Relocation Specialist

Did you know there are people that specialize especially in relocating seniors who are downsizing or moving into retirement communities? Cottage Grove uses Caring Transitions who’s focus is relocating seniors and handles the following:

• Locate, organize, and sort personal belongings to ensure everything is accounted for and nothing is moved that doesn’t need to be. This expedites the moving process and makes settling into a new home much easier.
• Interview moving companies to find the right fit, then organize the move for you. They are great at finding reputable moving companies that will take great care of all possessions, and charge competitive rates for the job.
• Take care of changing address for post office, utilities, social security, and other essential documents. This will ensure nothing is missed or overlooked, and everything is in order upon arrival.
• Packing and unpacking items is one of the most time consuming parts of a move, which will all be taken care of for you.
• Staging items in the new home helps ease the transition, making it feel comfortable right from the start.
• Manage and plan an estate sale that will help you purge any unnecessary items, and bring in extra money. Estate Sales aren’t best for everyone, a specialist will determine if you have enough volume for an estate sale, and may suggest alternative methods. Our Estate Sale Specialists will clean up after the sale and determine if some items would be better off donated post sale.
• Clean and prep the house for selling.
• Arrange necessary repairs with trusted contractors.

Interview real estate agents to ensure the right one is chosen, and increase the likelihood of a timely closing.