Moving Mom and Dad

Did you know that I have been in the real estate business now for over two decades? I have helped hundreds of seniors and their families through the downsizing process, and today I want to talk about this specific piece of literature, available to our clients, called Moving Mom and Dad.

In this booklet we talk about the 5 mistakes that people make when approaching this topic, and how you might be able to bypass some of these mistakes to have a better outcome for your family. With the population growth that we have, and the number of seniors that are living longer, this is really something that we all are probably going to have to deal with at some point with our family or a loved one. The way we came about these 5 mistakes that are most commonly made, is through a series of focus groups and personal interviews with people that have gone through this process or who were currently going through it and ask them, “how did it go for you”? “What would you have done differently?” “Is there advice that you can give?” Through these interviews and focus groups, we found that there was a common thread. And so we wanted to share these with everybody so that if you’re going through it now or in the future, you have some kind of guidance to help you make a better experience for you and your family. I’m going to talk about these 5 mistakes in general, and in subsequent episodes I’ll go into more detail about each of them and how you can make your experience better.

Mistake #1: Waiting to talk with your family about making a move until a crisis has occurred. It’s just something people don’t want to talk about, so we’re going to talk about those fears and how you might overcome them and be PROACTIVE instead of REACTIVE.

Mistake #2: Not equipping their house so that people can age in their home. We know that 80% of the population wants to age in their own home, but 70% of the population ends up having to go to an assisted care facility at some point because they were not proactive in preparing their home to be able to actively age in it.

Mistake #3: Not educating themselves ahead of time as to all the senior living lifestyle options and care available. No longer is it the days of nursing homes or rest homes from 50 years ago that our grandparents had to live in. There’s so many more options out there, so take the time to explore and educate yourself on the things in your community or maybe even nearby communities that might be great options for you and your family if this need should arise. 

Mistake #4: Feeling like you have to take on the whole project of downsizing, estate liquidation, and getting rid of things all on your own. This in particular is a real problem that children face when they don’t live in the same state that their parents do. It becomes very overwhelming. There are a lot of resources out there now that handle these kinds of things for you. I work with an amazing team of people that are equipped to handle this whole process for our clients, so that out of state children really don’t have to.

Mistake #5: Not getting adequate documentation about their parents’ financial situation: homeownership, trust, or legal documents they might need to have in place should a crisis arise.

The common factor with all 5 mistakes is that people wait until the crisis has happened to take action, and then it’s too late. You’re put into a position where you don’t have time to work through all the things and be confident that what you’re doing is what your parents wanted.

In the meantime, if you need more information, give me a call! I’m happy to meet with you or your family member to talk about this or anything related to real estate. My team and I are on standby 7 days a week, 9am to 8pm, ready to help you take the smoother road to sold.