Downsizing In the Late Stages of the Pandemic: How Seniors Can Move Safely

While life has certainly come a long way in the last six months, many seniors are still apprehensive about moving right now. If this sounds familiar, the junk removal experts at Gone for Good offer these tips to make this transition a little less stressful.

Selling Your Home

Before you can tap your home’s equity to buy a downsized house or move to assisted living, you need to sell. Your home likely needs updates and repairs before going on the market, but you may wonder about hiring contractors safely.

While outdoor projects like landscaping and exterior painting pose little risk to senior homeowners, it’s okay to take precautions if contractors need to work inside your home. That includes making contactless payments, maintaining social distancing, and disinfecting the worksite after a contractor’s job is complete.

Need to stage your home? Schedule a video call with a professional stager who can walk you through staging with furniture you own rather than dealing with furniture rentals. If your home is empty, use virtual staging apps to give it a showroom look at a low cost.

While you may prefer to avoid an open house, buyers may need to see your property in person. Talk to your agent to see if you can limit showings to serious buyers, and ask buyers and agents to wear masks; you can supply hand sanitizer at the main entrance.

Buying a House

Downsizing seniors also have to navigate the buying side of the equation. Luckily, there are a variety of tools agents have put to use that make it easy to shop for homes during coronavirus. 3D walkthroughs, video-chat tours, and video open houses let buyers tour properties from a safe distance, and some states also allow electronic closings for real estate deals.

If you need to meet face-to-face, ask to limit meetings to only the essential parties and maintain a distance of at least six feet. Wear face coverings, don’t share pens or items, and wash hands before and after meeting. Even if you’ve been vaccinated, practicing social distancing is ideal any time you can’t stay home.

Moving

Once you’ve closed on a downsized home or found the ideal assisted living community, you’re ready to move. Most seniors rely on moving companies to relocate their belongings, but inviting a moving crew to your home may feel risky.

If possible, self-pack so all movers have to do is load your stuff and go. If self-packing isn’t an option, thoroughly prepare for moving day so you can stay out of the way once movers arrive.

As far as hiring movers goes, you can easily do this online. Just pay attention to whether a company specializes in local or long-distance moves. While long-distance movers may take on a local move, they’re often more expensive. In addition to the distance you’re moving, the cost of moving depends on the weight of your belongings and how soon you need them delivered. Buyers should be prepared to do a video walkthrough with movers for an accurate estimate.

Be sure when you’re choosing a moving company you have a few facts checked off. First, look up testimonials and ratings online. If you use a site like Angi.com, you can winnow down your choices by opting for an Angi moving company. Once you decide on a few candidates, you’ll