Estate Services Help Senior Adults Relocate
Moving is a difficult process many older adults must contemplate when transitioning to a senior adult-living community. In most cases, the decision to move must involve the sale of their home. Some folks will make the move and then put their house on the market, while others will wait to sell when the market gets better.
Defining “better” could be the better part of valor. One thing is for sure - current interest rates are great and waiting could undermine the results. If the market does get better, and an average home appreciates 3 to 5 percent a year, it will take several years for the value to rebound back to where it was a couple of years ago. Furthermore, if interest rates rise, it will cost the buyer more to borrow the money thus making their home purchase more expensive.
The bottom line is that waiting to sell will ultimately cost the seller a lot more money.
When you do consider a move, there are several questions. How long should I stay? Where do I want to live? When do I have to be there? Who should I talk to about this? While family members may be able to help, other sources include gerontology assistance, elder care services, clergy, attorney’s, doctors, accountants, life planning/investment counselors and Armor Realty's Estate Services Specialists.
If you and/or your spouse are physically limited, you may need to start now by researching the local Senior Adult Living Communities and how they will best fit your needs. In any case, these communities accept new tenants only during times of availability and may also require a deposit to join their growing waiting list.
If an apartment becomes available, that's a good time to make your move, according to information from several senior residents. It's the difference between making your own decision and when something happens (a fall or stroke), the decision no longer being yours to make.
Often when people wait till their house is sold, there is no space available and this makes it difficult to find a preferred place to live. If you proceed with a move, you'll find that retirement community residents have first choice of upgrading or downsizing when something else becomes available. And, once you have moved, the rest of the details become more manageable - staging and planning your move, selling the contents of your house and so on. The best of all is that you can enjoy the community and lifestyle you personally have chosen. If you are worried about having enough funds to make the move, there are options available.
If you have accepted an offer on your house, make sure you measure your new place and find out what furniture will fit in the available space and how much clothing and personal items you will need. Put these items in a separate room, storing them for your move to the senior community. In the case of Armor Realty’s Estate Services Team they can help you to prepare and stage your home for sale and hold an estate sale for the remaining items after you move but before you have closed on the sale of your house.
If you have already moved and you’re ready to put your house on the market, the house may look cluttered. It would be advisable to have the sale as soon as possible. On the other hand, your house may look fine and it might look better with the furniture professionally staged inside to help it get sold.
Each relocation is planned on a case by case basis, but overall, the sale of personal items should not occur until you have moved. That way, family members have already taken what they want, you have already moved your belongings to the new community (or put those items in storage), and Armor Realty's Estate Services Team will have an easier time taking care of the rest of the details.
For more information and free consultation on the services provided by Armor Realty’s Estate Services Team, Contact Lew Wilson at 850-590-3830 or e-mail to Lew@ArmorRealty.com
Submitted by , Estate Services Team, Armor Realty of Tallahassee