As you begin to look for a senior living or assisted living facility in your area, there are many things to consider. From choosing the right facility to choosing whether to sell your home to figuring out what to do with your belongings, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Whether you yourself are considering moving into senior living, or you are moving parents into assisted living, here’s what you need to think about before moving into any senior housing facility:

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Choosing the right senior housing facility for your specific needs.

Perhaps you enjoy the independence of living at home alone but lately have found yourself less able to get out and go shopping or do your own house cleaning. If this sounds like you, then perhaps an assisted living facility might be your best option. On the other hand, if you need help eating and getting around, or have other specific and important care needs, then a more attentive assisted living or nursing home facility might be a better fit. Whatever your needs, you should visit several facilities before choosing—each senior housing facility has its own culture, community and cost. Visiting, viewing the social calendar and talking to residents will allow you to gauge how much each facility caters to your wants and needs.

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Sell or keep your home?

This is a big one. Maybe you’d like to keep your home to pass it on to your children. However, if you haven’t touched your home in a couple decades, it might be so outdated that your children will have to completely renovate the home. Alternatively, many people opt to simply sell their home and use the windfall of cash to help pay the expenses of assisted living facilities, which can sometimes be quite high. Selling your home to a wholesale buyer might be the best option—you’ll avoid the hassle of inspections, realtor fees, and updating your home, and you’ll receive the cash for your home immediately at closing, which you can use to pad your retirement fund.

 

What to take with you?

Once you’ve chosen a senior living facility, you need to decide what to do with all of your belongings. Since your living space in the senior housing is almost definitely going to be smaller than your home, you will have to downsize significantly. Once you decide on a facility, you should ask for a floor plan of your room. This way you can plan for exactly how much furniture you might need, and how much closet space you can expect to have. Enlisting your family members might be helpful. Most children are very helpful when it comes to moving parents into assisted living. Your family can help you figure out which things to take and which to leave behind.

 

What to do with leftover belongings?

You need to decide what to do with the belongings you won’t be taking with you. You can put everything in a storage facility, but adding the cost of renting a storage unit to the already-expensive monthly cost of senior housing can quickly add up. You can also host an estate sale and employ an estate cleanout company—we know a few estate companies you can trust—but then you still have to decide what to do with the items that don’t sell. Since you’ve accumulated your knickknacks and furniture and books over the course of your lifetime, it can sometimes be difficult to let things go. It can be easier to let go of things if you know your prized possessions are going to people that need them. DERF Properties buys houses as is, which means you can simply leave those items that you don’t want to take with you. We will donate all leftover vanities and dressers and books to our local charity partners.

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If selling your home as is seems like the right decision for you, then give us a call. We have helped a handful of our clients choose the right facility for their needs. We always go above and beyond for our clients. We’d love to help you through this transition from homeowner to assisted living community member.

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Give us a call, and let’s see how we can make selling your home hassle-free.

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