When we first met with Karen and Allen, they had already downsized once. But they knew they should downsize again as they had filled their patio home with lots of stuff, especially in the basement. When we met with them, they almost never went in the basement due to mobility issues. Because of this, they had no idea their subfloor fan had ceased working and the void beneath the subfloor was full of mold. Their foundation also had significant structural defects, of which they were aware since construction.

We guided them on what work to focus on for the subfloor space and the foundation cracking. Getting in front of these issues ensured they would not come up when they were ready to sell their home. Karen and Allen were highly proactive in their home preparation years in advance, and this made the actual move a lot less stressful as these big maintenance issues had already been addressed. The last thing they needed was to deal with massive home issues on top of an impending health crisis.

Karen did not want to move. She loved their patio home! So we focused on downsizing the basement and the preparation work that had fallen behind as they aged and no longer went into the basement. We found a continuing care community perfect for both of their future needs, and Karen and Allen got on the community’s waitlist.

The day came when Allen kept falling and ending up in emergency care. At this time, the adult children stepped in and advised their parents to move to their selected community. We worked very closely with the daughter-in-law who took the lead for the family communication.

Because Karen had a difficult time letting go of items, the family decided to rent a storage unit to ease Karen’s anxiety and help make the move possible. A joint move was planned, moving items into the storage unit as well as into Karen and Allen’s new community.

They were settled and safe, their home’s scary dealbreaker maintenance issues had already been addressed, and their beloved patio home was prepared and sold.