Move/Relocation and Home Sale Assistance
The very thought of moving has been known to make strong men and women cringe. Beyond the losses that come from saying goodbye to old friends and familiar places, there is so much work involved in a move. Read More
1. First you have to find a new home, whether your desired new residence is a new house you will purchase, a new house or apartment you will rent, or an apartment or room in a residence that offers health care.
2. Once you locate a new home, you have to decide which of your possessions you will take with you and what you may want or need to buy new. If you are moving to a smaller home, obviously not everything can go with you. Moving to a smaller space is often called "downsizing" and is quite common for older adults, who may no longer need or want the large homes they maintained while their children were young.
3. The possessions you will take with you must be packed carefully to withstand the move and then must be physically moved to the new location.
4. The possessions you don't wish to take must be sorted. Some you will undoubtedly give to family or friends, some you may give to charities, some you may wish to sell at an estate sale or garage sale and some may simply be discarded. For large items that you have decided to discard, you may have to make arrangements to have them hauled away. Hazardous materials, such as electronics, paints and fuels, may require special arrangements for disposal.
5. You may need to make repairs or to update the decor of your existing home in order to sell the property.
6. You may want someone to "stage" the property to help it show well so that it sells more quickly; this is becoming more common in home sale, especially in today's slower real estate market. Stagers are experts who come in, help you get rid of the clutter and quickly make needed changes in your current decor that will help make your home more attractive to today's buyers. We all tend to think our homes are beautiful just the way they are, but sometimes getting objective advice from a professional on the appearance of a home can speed up a sale.
7. You may want to make alterations or change the decor of your new home before moving in, or immediately upon your arrival.
8. You need to unpack, arrange your possessions and decorate your new home.
When the move is to a new community or to a new state, moving can be even more difficult than usual because you may not have friends, family, or trusted professionals to help you at your new destination.
You may not be moving yourself, but may be helping a loved one with a move, perhaps from out of state, in which case you probably are also working and caring for other family members at the same time. Traveling back and forth to meet your responsibilities in both locations can be exhausting (and hard on your family and career).
The move may be urgent because of changes in your own health or in the health of a loved one. Not only may it be necessary to physically move the ill family member quickly, but a quick termination of a lease or the speedy sale of a home may be needed because of the changed financial circumstances caused by a serious illness.
You may be be forced to close out a home after the loss of a family member. You may be trying to handle the sale and appropriate distribution of furnishings long distance. It may be emotionally difficult to be in the home or to sort through your loved one's possessions while your grief is fresh.
THERE ARE PROFESSIONALS WHO CAN HELP
MOVERS: Professional movers can be located through ads in local phone directories or through other local advertising. Your real estate agent or move manager may be able to suggest reliable movers. It may be wise to ask potential movers for references and to check them. Professional movers are licensed and insured. Ask moving companies for an estimate (and get estimates from 2 or 3 moving companies) before you sign an agreement; a representative from the moving company will usually come to your current home and look over the contents you need to move before giving you an estimate. If you take more items or less when the actual move day comes, your final bill may differ from the estimate. If you are interested in having the movers pack or unpack your belongings, be sure to ask for estimates on those services as well. You will have to reserve your move date in advance to make sure the movers are available when you want them; the last week of the month tends to be the busiest time for movers. The movers will expect to be paid when they unload your possessions at your new home. Find out in advance what form of payment the moving company will require. Many moving companies will want a certified or bank check (not a personal check) or cash (moving companies have been known to hold furniture for ransom until customers produce the approved type of payment).
SENIOR MOVE MANAGERS: Professionals who provide move assistance, known as senior move managers or certified relocation transition specialists (CRTS), for which there is specialized training and industry certification, may belong to the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM). These individuals can help you with your move and handle everything on your list, from A to Z. A senior move manager can recommend a local realtor for you, or through his or her professional network, can obtain recommendations for realtors in your destination location. He or she can also recommend movers and can coordinate move details and scheduling for you, including the transfer of utilities. If you are out of town, the move manager can handle the actual move in your place. Many move managers also "stage" homes to make them look great for sale. A move manager who does not stage homes personally will usually be able to recommend a colleague who does and help you coordinate the tasks needed to stage a home. The move manager can help you sort through furnishings and personal possessions or, if you are unable to do this yourself, can sort for you within guidelines you provide. The move manager can manage a garage sale or can coordinate with an estate sale company to sell possessions you do not wish to move to the new home. He or she can arrange for distribution of items you wish to donate to charity and for the disposal of items that will not be taken, sold or donated. The move manager can help you coordinate needed cleaning, landscaping, repairs or decorating, at the old home and the new. The move manager can help you pack at the old home and unpack at the new. Some move managers will even travel with you from your old home to your new home, if you wish them to do so. This can be a wonderful service for an older adult who would otherwise have to travel alone and deal with luggage, airport gate changes, hotels, taxis or rental cars, etc. If you think a senior move manager might be helpful to you, interview one or more, learn about the scope of services each provides and the fees involved, ask for references and check them, and ask about training, certification, insurance and bonds. Please see the Move Assistance section of our web site for more information and to find DFW senior move managers.
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS: Real estate professionals, known as real estate agents or realtors, are trained and licensed to help you sell or buy a home. If you are staying in the same geographical area, one realtor can help you sell your existing home and buy a new home. If you are moving to a new area, your local realtor can recommend realtors in the new geographical locale. The same realtor should not represent both the buyer and seller of the same home (in one transaction) because the realtor would have a conflict of interest in trying to negotiate the best terms of sale for each of the parties. While you do not have to hire a realtor to assist you in buying or selling real estate, realtors know state and federal laws regarding home sales, are familiar with local codes and ordinances that may affect your sale or purchase, know neighborhoods and current home values, have experience in marketing homes to potential buyers, have networks of other realtors whom they can tell about your property or your desired purchase, understand what types of expenses you can expect at the closing of your sale or purchase, understand and can explain all the legal documents you will need to sign as part of the transaction, and have contacts with repairmen, home inspectors, stagers, movers, senior move managers and a host of other professionals who can assist you with your sale or purchase. Realtors typically contract to provide their services in exchange for a percentage of the total sale or purchase price of the home involved (a "commission") and are paid from the funds exchanged at closing. In choosing a realtor, it helps to interview more than one (from more than one real estate company), to ask for references and to check them, to discuss the realtor's marketing plan for your home (or the search plan for your purchase) and to clarify exactly what services the realtor will provide to you and the commission rate the realtor expects to receive when the sale closes. Sometimes it helps to find a realtor who works extensively in your neighborhood (or the neighborhood where you wish to buy); sometimes you can do this by observing real estate signs posted in the neighborhood. Friends or neighbors may be able to make recommendations based on their own good experiences with specific realtors. While a realtor's commission may seem high when you first contemplate selling a home, using a good realtor may sell your home faster and that will save you money in mortgage payments, utilities, maintenance and taxes. Employing a realtor who represents you (a buyer's agent) when searching for a home ensures that you have an advocate who watches out for your interests in finding properties, during home inspections and in negotiations and the completion of sale documents. To learn more and find local realtors, see the Real Estate Professionals section of our web site.
ESTATE SALE PROFESSIONALS: Sometimes furnishing and other small items of personal property that a seller doesn't wish to move to the new home can be sold at a garage sale or other type of informal moving sale by the seller. If the amount of items to be sold is large, or if they have significant monetary value, or if the seller does not have the ability or time to conduct a sale personally, an estate sale professional might be of help. Estate sale companies can come to your home, examine the items to be sold, help you set values for specific items and to estimate the potential total value of the sale items, and can discuss the best strategy for selling the items to net the greatest amount of money from the sale. Depending on the volume of items to be sold, their value, and the availability of the home for sale to be used as the location for an estate sale, the estate sale professional might schedule, advertise and conduct a sale in your existing home. If the home can't be easily used to host the sale, or if the volume of items is not considered large enough for an individual estate sale, the professional might suggest combining your sale items with those of other clients to do one larger sale that may attract a greater number of buyers. A combined sale might be held at one of the larger properties involved (and your items would be moved there) or at a sale location owned or leased by the estate sale company. Some estate sale companies will accept all of your unwanted items and will dispose of those later that do not sell. Others will take only those they believe can be sold and will advise you of ways to dispose of the remaining items. The estate sale company will generally take payment for their labor (you should agree upon a commission or hourly rate in advance) and reimbursement for their expenses (such as moving items and advertising the sale) from the money made at the sale; the balance of the sale monies go to the seller. On occasion, and depending on the specific real estate involved, it can even make sense to auction off a home, farm or other piece of real estate, and its contents, in the same sale. To learn more and find local estate sale professionals, please see the Estate Sale section of our web site.
