Bruce Nemovitz

My article last month dealt with the question, what is the number one reason to make a move? The answer was maintenance! Cutting the grass and shoveling the snow may have been a joy when you first moved in, but as the years went by the yard seemed to get bigger and bigger! The question for this month is, 'what is the second greatest fear keeping folks who have been in the home for many years from moving?' The answer (of 26% of my respondents) is the fear of downsizing!

Comments from respondents included the following concerns: packing and sorting, giving up family treasures, starting the downsizing process, worrying about physical exertion from moving, and deciding what to do with all of their belongings. I've talked to hundreds of seniors at my seminars about the all of the excess belongings. This concern seemed to be the number one challenge seniors face when contemplating a move.

Take 'baby steps!' You took 30-50 years (average home occupancy of respondents was 33.7 years in their homes) to accumulate your personal belongings. Give yourself more than a week to find a new home for all of these things, and start with a plan.

First, divide the personal property into three categories. The first category is things that you absolutely need to take with you. These are items you know will fit in any apartment and things you will not part with. The second category is items you may take with you depending on the size of your new home. Since you may not know the exact square footage of your new condominium or apartment, you may not want to give final say as to where these items will go until you find your new residence. The third category of property is the things you absolutely don't want under any circumstances. Put these lists in writing and send this list to your friends, co-workers, relatives, church or temple. Let them know which items you may want to part with and the items you absolutely don't want to keep. Put a deadline or final date they can claim these items. Let them know that if they don't respond by the deadline, these items will be donated to Goodwill or some other organization in need of these of your things.

You may have valuable property that requires selling to the public. You are in luck, because there are several reputable estate sale liquidators that can handle the task. These companies will either buy the personal property, take to their showroom and sell, or hold an estate sale at your home. The general rule is that the items should be worth more than $3000-$4,000 for most companies to get involved. They generally charge 33-40% of the gross dollars brought in at the sale. The sale usually runs for 3-4 days, with each day discounting items, until everything is sold. The companies will typically clean the home after the sale so that your buyer can move right in!

Whenever selecting any contractor or service, a referral is important. Therefore, ask friends or relatives who they have used to help dispose of their personal property. My team keeps a list of trusted professionals who have helped our clients in their moves. We would be happy to share them with you.

Next week's article will answer the question, 'what is your greatest fear about the future?'

By Bruce Nemovitz, Certified Senior Real Estate Specialist, Certified Senior Advisor. Bruce and his team can be reached at 262-242-6177 or email at: Bruce@BrucesTeam.com