Archive for ◊ 2011 ◊

02 Jun 2011 What’s a Senior To Do?!
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With the real estate market plunging, we can no longer count on the equity in our homes to be the resource we thought it would be to cover our needs in our really old age. The following article from Smart Money, lists options for seniors when considering what to do about this dilemma. This hits home with me as I consider how we could make this present over-large house perhaps provide a rental unit to subsidize our future needs. This would entail some drastic downsizing without even relocating as we try to eliminate the sprawl of stuff which has spread into rooms we don’t use. For us, our idea of luxury is having more space than we need, so that we can designate areas for each of our special interests such as a room for crafts and sewing and a room for technology where the computers reside. If we were to contract our space, the remaining rooms would have to take on multiple functions. It can be done and the economy may provide just the motivation needed.

Popularity: 1% [?]

22 Apr 2011 How Do I Sell It?
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The calls are starting…people looking for help with emptying their parent’s house. We always have to explain to them that we do not buy and sell the contents of homes, but, instead, are master planners of the whole process…in other words, Senior Move Managers. In our local area we feel comfortable making arrangements with estate liquidators that we know and trust, but outside our local area, we can’t do too much to help other than provide general advice.  One caution we do give is to adjust your expectations downward when selling the contents. The market has changed greatly in the last three years. Here is an article about what is going on. Downsizing Boomers Looking to Sell Their Stuff – SmartMoney.com.

As members of the National Association of Senior Move Managers, we abide by their Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. We have been carefully screened for carrying the correct insurance coverages and take training courses to continually upgrade our professionalism.

Popularity: 2% [?]

22 Apr 2011 Downsizing the Basement
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Now that Spring is more or less here, this is the time I am the bravest about venturing into the far corners of basements. Finally, someone has got beyond the paralyzing fear of what might come creeping or crawling out of the dark recesses of the basement and gives us step by step instructions about how to do it. C. Dianne Zweig – Kitsch ‘n Stuff: How To Clean Out Your Parents House: Organizing The Basement. As for my own basement – it is pretty empty except for what my husband puts there. It has low headroom and lots of spider webs, although I seem to have outgrown my fear of them. In other people’s houses, the basements seems to be stocked with ancient jars of pickles and other home-canned items plus all the paraphernalia required to produce them.

Popularity: 9% [?]

18 Mar 2011 It’s 10 O’clock: Do You Know How Your Parents Are?
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Elderly parents become very good at masking their mental deterioration. As long as familiar routines and surroundings prevail they can keep up a good front. It wasn’t until my husband’s mother was hospitalized that we discovered that his father had never learned how to use a phone with a touch pad. His wife had been doing all the dialing while he listened in on an extension. All day he had been home alone unable to call anyone to tell them about Mother being in the hospital. It was only when my husband happened to call him that the word got out about the situation.

  • Are both of your parents able to use a modern phone, especially a cell phone?
  • Will you or someone else check in with them daily if you have doubts about their abilities?

Popularity: 9% [?]

10 Feb 2011 Stress – It’s All In The Family
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You never really know a person until you share an inheritance with them!

(from “Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate”)

Trying to bring people together to discuss the distribution of personal possessions, whether due to downsizing or following a death, holds a wealth of stressors besides the circumstances. The way individuals perceive events and the way they react can bring some unanticipated results.

Anyone who has more than one child knows the truth of individual personality differences. The same set of circumstances may be interpreted in different ways by family members. I have heard all too many stories about brothers and sisters who have broken off relationships because of the way the distribution was handled. Lawyers have told me that it’s often the items of sentimental value rather than monetary value that cause the greatest strife. Let’s look at what might be behind this.

There is a  model for describing observable behavior that has been around for more than twenty five years known as “D.I.S.C.”. the letters stand for distinct characteristics.

  • D stands for Dominance. This person is apt to make decisions quickly and be impatient.
  • I stands for Influence. This person is apt to make decisions based on emotion or “gut feeling”.
  • S stands for Supportiveness. This person is apt to be slow and deliberate in making decisions.
  • C stands for Conscientiousness. This person is apt to be analytical and want lots of information before making a decision.

The four types can be further grouped by whether they are:

  • Fast-Paced or Slower-Paced
  • Task-Oriented or People-Oriented

The characteristics seem to be somewhat hard-wired into us from birth but,with some training, anyone can learn to modify or adapt their natural responses to meet the needs of a different person or situation.

Popularity: 20% [?]

19 Jan 2011 You Never Know What You Might Find
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September 2010

Check every cupboard when you’re moving, selling a house, or settling an estate. Last year an English auctioneer was asked to look over items in a house whose owner was moving to a nursing home. In the kitchen cupboards, he found a pair of rare English porcelain sauceboats. They were slightly damaged and stained pieces of Chelsea porcelain marked with the early blue triangle mark used from 1745 to 1749. The pair sold for almost $79,000.

English porcelain sauceboats

Photo Source: Antiques Trade Gazette, sold at Frank Marshall

Source: Kovel’s Komments January 12,2011

Popularity: 2% [?]

17 Jan 2011 Every Town Has One
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The article in the Bangor Daily News today:Town has to do the clean up reminds me of how often, when I tell someone what I do for a living, there comes forth a story of a neighbor or a family member whose collecting has gotten way out of hand. The person with “The Collection” is usually adamant that everything  they’ve accumulated is valuable and is, in fact, resource material. It probably started out that way. Usually it is a male with such a hoard of stuff. They have so many ideas of possible uses for the things they bring home and they are sure that there will be a market for what ever they produce. In the article in the Bangor Daily News, it is an artist of sorts that the town has run out of patience with. It’s hard to draw the line between what is an actual creative endeavor and what is pack rat activity that is getting out of hand.

Popularity: 40% [?]