What Is Senior Move Management?
Senior Move Management is a fairly new industry that came into being due to the highly specialized needs that senior citizens and their families have when it comes time to downsize from a home the senior has lived in for many years into a smaller home or senior living facility. The role of a Senior Move Manager (SMM) is to plan, manage, and oversee the entire moving process from start to finish in a highly organized fashion to ensure that the move is as stress free as possible for the senior and their families.
The first phase is clutter removal, which involves identifying and removing trash, making arrangements for any donations, identifying unwanted items of value and arranging for them to be sold at auction, online, or on consignment, as well as discerning if any items need to be sent to family members. This step is crucial and is often overlooked by seniors and families of seniors who attempt to take on the move by themselves, often resulting in a panicked frenzy as the date of the move draws closer.
In many cases, seniors who have lived in their home for a decade or more don’t realize how many things have accumulated over the years and when being tasked with making decisions on what to do with it all, they shut down or struggle to make necessary and logical choices. SMMs are usually trained in the field of professional organizing or have a professional organizer on staff which allows them to encourage seniors to make productive decisions during the crucial phase of the move. The SMM becomes a mediator and buffer between the senior and their family, minimizing any unnecessary strife within the family. An estate cleanout company or hoarding clean up company may have all of the necessary resources to complete this phase is the SMM cannot perform this in-house.
Once all decluttering is complete, the next task the SMM must tackle in order to ensure a concise and predictable timeline for the rest of the move is contacting any necessary 3rd party companies that will be involved in the move including realtors, moving companies, estate sale companies, senior living facilities, and any other entities that the senior would have to call themselves.
The next duty of the SMM is beginning the packing process by creating an inventory of all items going to the new home, taking measurements of furniture to create a workable floor plan for the new home, safely packing all boxable items left in the home, labeling the boxes which their contents, and of course overseeing and coordinating all 3rd party companies that were hired for this phase.
The final phase the SMM coordinates is the actual move itself by overseeing the packing and unpacking of the moving truck and arranging furniture according to the floor plan. If an SMM has done their job well by this phase it should be a stress free move for the senior and their family. Once the move is complete, the SMM will promptly close out any unfinished business involving 3rd parties and oversee the final sales and payout of any items that were to be sold.
For more information on downsizing, visit us at https://www.palmettocommercialservices.com or follow us on Instagram at @pcsmike.
Palmetto Commercial Services
801 Ohio Street
Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 479-0812
