CASE STUDY

Doris and Jack had been married for 45 years, and lived in the same home for 31 of those years, when we first sat down at their dining table to discuss selling their home.

In their late 80s they were moving to Oklahoma City to be closer to one of their Sons. Jack had been finding it hard to cope with a large home and had recently been diagnosed with dementia.  Doris didn’t want to cook any more. Jack liked (insisted on according to Doris) at least two hot meals a day!

They had already chosen a small cottage at a Continuing Care Community and needed the money from the sale of their house to pay the up front fees. They hadn’t bought or sold a home for a very long time or know what to expect and needed much more help than a typical real estate agent could provide and were referred to me by their new community in Oklahoma City because of my additional training as a Certified Senior Housing Professional.

Using the dimensions and layout of their new place we prepared a floor plan to establish what furniture they could take - and what needed to be sold or shipped to other family members.
 

Their home was under contract very quickly and we arranged an Estate Sale, helped them sell their second car, and carefully packed and shipped a few cherished items to another son in Boston.

At the Buyers' home inspection foundation issues were discovered. This threatened the sale and the clock was ticking. We quickly called in several foundation companies to provide estimates for the needed work.

Because the house had to be empty for the work to be done, we coordinated the packing and loading of the furniture around the foundation repair work.
 

Doris and Jack's Son had flown in to drive them in their remaining car to Oklahoma and they left for the long drive while we were loading the truck.

Our move management team  had packed everything for Doris and Jack, drove a rented moving truck to Oklahoma and drove straight through so they could arrive first.

Back at the house, I attended the final inspection of the foundation work with the new owners and then once cleared, arranged for the funds to be wired to arrive ahead of the moving truck. This allowed our move management team to place the main items of furniture - based on the floorplan we had prepared - and unpack before Doris and Jack arrived the next day. They even made their bed.  After returning the rental truck and disposing of the packing materials our team flew home

I'm happy to report that Doris and Jack are now enjoying their new life – with no cooking – in Oklahoma City.

P.S. Doris still insists I "let" her take too much china – but there are two sides to that story!

Liz Houghton

(760) 455-9028                                                                            RETURN TO HOME PAGE