What are important considerations for senior moves?
One of the most challenging decisions facing seniors is where to move once their old home is no longer a good fit. Whether it’s time to downsize, move closer to family or consider a new residence for health reasons, Senior Estate Concierge can help with the process.
There are several options available to seniors if they do decide to move. Some of them include:
- Selling an old home and moving into a smaller residence
- Moving to a home that is more appropriate for senior living
- Moving to a senior community that still allows for independent living
- Moving to a senior community that offers general or specialized care
It’s not easy sifting through so many residential choices, but Senior Estate Concierge can help.
What is a senior move manager and how can they help?
Some of the experts that Senior Estate Concierge works with are senior move managers. These professionals know what obstacles face seniors before, during and after a move, and can provide a big picture look at the moving process. Specifically, here’s how a senior move manager can assist families:
Help seniors review their residential options
Once seniors are ready to work with a move manager, they usually have a goal in place, like finding a community that keeps them active or finding a place close to family. Senior move managers can help their clients achieve these goals, as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.
Help seniors determine what they need in a new home
Sometimes seniors aren’t sure exactly what kind of home or community they require. A senior move manager can provide insight with this, detailing the features and floorplans that would work best for a particular client. This ensures the senior has a home that is compatible with any physical limitations.
Help prepare the home prior to the move
Senior move managers can also assist their client with sorting belongings and arranging for item disposal, donation or auction. Further, a move manager can either move their clients themselves, or interview and schedule movers on the senior’s behalf.
Oversee the moving process
Senior move managers keep a close eye on their client’s belongings, to ensure they are packed and transported appropriately. They will also help with unpacking and setting up the new home, which helps seniors settle into their new place seamlessly.
What communities are available to seniors who are moving?
There are many senior communities to choose from, and they differ in the services they offer to residents. If you are considering a senior community, either for yourself or for a loved one, here are some of your options:
Age-restricted communities
Age-restricted communities are only for people of a certain minimum age. Age-restricted communities are for seniors that are still independent, so they don’t typically come with additional medical services. However, they do come with floorplans that are senior-friendly, as well as home maintenance and lawn care.
Assisted living communities
Assisted living facilities are for seniors who don’t require a lot of medical assistance, but can no longer perform complete personal care, such as bathing or cooking. Assisted living facilities range greatly in their offerings and level of care, and residents have their own private or semi-private bedroom and bathroom.
Long-term care communities with skilled nursing
Long-term care communities provide the same help with basic tasks that assisted living facilities do. In addition, long-term care communities have skilled nurses on staff that can help residents manage and treat complex medical conditions. Long-term care communities are regulated at the state level, to ensure they provide necessary care.
Continuing care retirement communities
Continuing care retirement communities, or CCRCs, offer multiple levels of care and different housing facilities to accommodate that care. For example, independent seniors can move into a senior apartment at a CCRC, then transition to assisted living facilities and then nursing facilities as their healthcare needs change.
CCRCs make sense for seniors that have no desire to own a home, but aren’t expecting to move in with family in the near future. They allow seniors to build social connections and maintain them even as their needs change with time.
Memory care facilities
Memory care facilities are for seniors suffering from dementia and/or Alzheimer’s and should be considered by any family with a loved one suffering from these conditions. At memory care facilities, there is additional staff to supervise residents and additional security measures in place to ensure no one leaves without notice. Memory care facilities often have additional features to help comfort patients and healthcare professionals specialized in treating them.
Who can help seniors buy or sell a home?
Seniors that intend to buy a new home or sell their current home have some important considerations, including whether their new home will be suitable for a senior or if there is an appropriate senior community nearby. A real estate agent with a Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) designation can answer these questions, as they are trained to meet the real estate needs of seniors. Here’s what an SRES-certified real estate agent can do for their clients:
Provide housing options that are compatible with senior living
SRES-certified real estate agents know what features seniors need for aging in place or when moving to a new community. For example, SRES-certified agents will target properties with Universal Design features, like wider doorways, no step entries and senior-friendly bathrooms. SRES-certified agents can connect their clients with a safe, comfortable home.
Offer special financing guidance for seniors
Seniors often have pensions, 401ks and other retirement accounts to help in real estate transactions. SRES-certified agents are familiar with these, so they can help clients leverage their retirement assets to finance a new property.
Help locate other specialists relevant to aging seniors
SRES-certified agents are usually connected to other important experts, like aging in place specialists. With access to these additional experts, seniors can speed up the moving process and ensure they are aging in place safely.
What if I need to appraise or sell parts of an estate?
For many seniors, moving means downsizing, and that often means an estate sale. Estate sales are an effective way to convert excess furniture, clothing, appliances and other belongings into cash that seniors can use for living expenses. However, appraising your belongings, cataloguing them and arranging them for easy sale may take time and expertise you don’t have.
Senior Estate Concierge is also partnered with estate appraisers and estate sale specialists that can handle the process for seniors, so you and your family can focus on the move itself. With an estate appraiser, seniors will get fair value for anything sold. An estate appraiser can help seniors maximize their return during a sale.
For seniors, the moving process can be daunting, as it often involves moving far away or moving to a new type of community. Senior Estate Concierge can help resolve the stress that comes with such a move, by providing and locating a full complement of senior moving services.
