It can happen lots of different ways. Maybe one of your parents has had a health scare, a fall perhaps. It’s become clear they can no longer live on their own. Sometimes the spouse who has been the caregiver passes away, and the surviving spouse needs a new place to live … or maybe they just can’t keep up with the maintenance of the old family house.

And it’s especially tough when the siblings are in different cities. Your head hurts just thinking about it.

Why not retain Operation Relo to help? We’ll manage the whole process or just as much as you want to delegate.

How It Works

It usually starts with a phone call where we get a basic understanding of your situation. We like to know the circumstances of the elder and what the family’s goals may be. We like to know if the house is to be sold and if the elder has a place to move to, or if you’re considering staying in place for a while.

It’s important that we  get the contact information up front.  We need basics: the home’s address, names,mobile phone numbers, and emails with correct spellings.

Elders often don’t use email or text messages, and sometimes don’t answer the phone anymore. They become isolated making the problems worse. Please help us avoid that.

The next step is a walk-through. We come out to the house for a visit which usually takes between 30 and 60 minutes. We note how much furniture there is as well as any repair work you’re contemplating.We take pictures of items for sale so we can start the preliminary appraisal process with our network of appraisers. In most cases, we can give you a ballpark estimate of what the contents of the home may yield at an estate sale.

Then we send you a proposal. Sometimes we quote a single piece of work, but frequently there will be multiple waves of work tailored for your situation that may include:

• Discovery and appraisal of the assets in the home
• Referring a real estate agent, if needed
• Preparing the home for an estate sale
• Moving your parents into their new home
• Conducting an estate sale, or in times of the virus, a series of online sales
• Cleaning out and donating what is left over
• Conducting repairs to optimize the market value of the home
• Sending in a final cleaning crew

If your elder is still actively involved in the process, we often assign an  Elder Lifestyle Coaches (a.k.a. “Empaths”) to tend to the emotional needs of the elder and the family. It’s not required in every situation, but when it is needed, we’ve found this to be a lifesaver.

So very often this is an enormously emotionally draining set of transactions for the elder – they’re leaving their home and parting with lifelong possessions. It’s devastating. If they are too involved, too obsessed it’s bad for their health, and it drives up costs and hurts the final outcome.

Our coaches are recruited from the ranks of the caregivers, social workers, therapists, and nurses. They have very good people skills. They will be physically present during key steps --  the kickoff, the cleanout and the move -- to ease this difficult transition as much as possible, and they are available on the phone throughout.

How Your Life Will Be Better

Our sole purpose is to do whatever it takes to get families moved swiftly and peacefully through this difficult, complicated transition as economically as possible. We are focused on getting your parents into a stable living situation as efficiently as possible so they can enjoy elderhood in a safe and supportive social environment that meets their needs.

What we are delivering then, is a transition from a difficult, dangerous situation into a stable lifestyle for the family with as little distress as possible. We’re getting you through the chaos of change to the next normal. It may just keep you sane. It may keep the family healthier.

We strive for copacetic, to make everything alright.

The most valuable assets for most families are their homes and their financial assets like IRAs, life insurance policies and savings. All the things around the house are usually worth only a fraction of those other assets.This isn’t about making lots of money selling the possessions. Truth be told, the millennial generation doesn’t want silver or china, and the market for many things that were once prized possessions is now surprisingly limited. Your life will be better if we can help you all focus on the important things and handle the more trivial but time-consuming tasks for you.

It’s rarely an easy process, but Operation Relo has done this before, and we can usher you through this tough time.