When you make that decision that you need to move to a smaller home, you may need some help. Most of us can’t do everything ourselves, especially when we get older. We need resources to bring our plan of moving to fruition. Below are some resources to consider when seniors are downsizing to move to a smaller home.
Senior referral & placement service:
You know you need to move to a smaller home but you don’t know exactly where. Your health is one of many things to consider when you choose your new home. Location, income, level of required care, etc., need to be taken into consideration.
All of these decisions can be overwhelming. A referral placement service can help navigate these new unknown waters, so you are sure you made the right choice for your new home.
An assessment by a qualified medical professional, may be the beginning of your journey to determine what level of care is needed, to determine what type of living facility will be the right choice for your new home.
Realtor:
The thought of selling a home that you’ve lived in for decades can create a lot of anxiety. You want to make sure you get the best price for the sale. A realtor can help you understand what your home is worth today, and possibly some things you can do to increase the value of your home.
Handyman:
Everyone that owns a home will need a handyman at some point. That is, unless you have the skillset & capability of the type of work a handyman does. If some of those tasks require a licensed tradesman due to codes in your municipality, the handyman will let you know.
Professional Organizer:
We accumulate a lot of things over the course of our lives. Our own things, our children’s things and possibly inherited things. Trying to figure out what to do with 50+ years of belongings can be overwhelming. A professional organizer can help you make decisions about your things.
They can help with spatial planning. Spatial planning helps you understand what furniture pieces will fit in your new space, as well as how many of your other belongings can fit into your allotted storage.
Professional organizers are happy to help you determine how to preserve precious memories of things that need to be discarded due to space limitations.
They are also very good at providing resources for services that you need to help with your downsizing project.
Estate sale/buyout company:
Some of your things may have significant value, others not so much. We typically think our things are more valuable than they really are.
For items that you know have significant value, a phone call to an appraiser is in order. You can also go to the internet to check places like ebay or Craigslist to see what your items are selling for online. This will give you an idea of the worth of some pieces that may not have significant value, but value nonetheless.
If you don’t want to deal with selling your things yourself, or via an estate sale, another option to sell your things is a buyout company. These companies will come and look at your things, and give you a flat rate to buy the whole lot. If you agree with the amount, they pay you and take away your items.
Donation:
You will probably have some items that don’t have enough value to sell. In those cases, donation to a favorite charity is a good option. You will receive a receipt for your donation to use as a tax deduction.
Most of us have favorite charities that take donations. For large items, or a large amount of items, a charity that picks up may be in order. Each charity will have limitations on what they will accept, as well as rules on how they will pickup your items; ie., items need to be on the main floor, no steps.
Moving company:
Those days of renting a truck & asking friends and family to help us move, with the enticement of beer & pizza is long gone. Hiring a company to move furniture & belongings, and possibly packing our things is an absolute must.
Moving companies can provide an estimate for the move, based on the number of belongings you have as well as the distance of where you are going. They also typically provide insurance for items that may be damaged during the move. Recommendations from family and friends is a good idea to make your move as stress-free as possible.
What other resources would you use as a senior to downsize for a move?
