Moving A Lifetime of Memories (Part 2)

Moving A Lifetime of Memories (Part 2)

They Moved And Placed Everything Except The Cat!

They Moved And Placed Everything Except The Cat!

Easiest move ever?  Yes!!!  It was a picture perfect move thanks to a senior friendly company called Helping Hands in California.  They literally pulled out their smart phones and snapped “before pictures.”  Then in the new home each mover referenced their smart phones to recreate a room, a bookcase or any area that had knick-knacks.  Moving a Lifetime of Memories (Part 1) is about my decision to hire a senior moving company.

An army of men arrived at 9:00 AM and the move went so fast.  The same person that packed up the kitchen unpacked and organized the kitchen in our new home.  This one fact alone was awesome and took tremendous stress off of me.  The same mover that packed up the bathroom reorganized it in the new bathroom.  It was amazing.

Here is the completion level of each room on the day of the move:

  • The kitchen is 100% done (just need to buy groceries and we are ready to cook).
  • Living room is 100% done (including pictures on the wall).
  • Dining room is 100% done (including pictures on the wall).
  • The master bath is 100% done (everything is in it’s place).
  • Office/music room is 95% done (books on the book shelves, pictures hung and still need to rightsize the closets a bit more).
  • Coat and towel closet are 100% done.
  • Master bedroom is 90% done (still need to reorganize the clothes hanging in the closet, buy two lamps and figure out what pictures to hang).
  • Second bathroom is 0% done (only two boxes to unpack, because our two cats were crated in this room during the move).
  • The garage is 50% done (all the garage stuff is in the garage, but we could not have the team of men put everything away because the garage was too dirty).

Our biggest move challenges?

  • Downsizing in general, so I focused on rightsizing.  It was easier to stomach rightsizing.  It is an attitude.
  • Arriving the day of the move to find a dirty garage with stuff left from the previous owner.
  • Realizing our master bedroom has zero light.

The good news is that I loved Helping Hands, because instead of months to settle into my home, I am already settled.  It should just take a couple of days to go buy lamps and then clean and organize the garage.

I highly recommend this senior moving company and this type of service for seniors moving into retirement communities.  Yes, it does cost more than two man and a truck, but it can literally take the stress away from moving.

Please share your successes, failures or comment below to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.

Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating.  The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum.  Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy.   Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets.  She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states.  Currently, Masson is setting move-in records as the regional marketing director of two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California.  Interestingly, this career started when she was looking for a place for her own mom and helped her loved one transition through three levels of care.

© Marketing 2 Seniors| Diane Twohy Masson 2013 All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog post may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials. You may share this website and or it’s content by any of the following means: 1. Using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page. 2. Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate. 3. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to Diane Masson CASP and link https://www.marketing2seniors.net For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author Diane Masson.
Moving a Lifetime of Memories (Part 1)

Moving a Lifetime of Memories (Part 1)

MovingEight months ago, I shared the journey of moving my mom 1000 miles to live in a skilled nursing community near me.  Now, here is my journey of walking in a prospective senior resident’s shoes and moving – TODAY!

What’s it like for a senior to move 30, 40 or 50 years worth of memories?  Is it unsettling, heart wrenching, stressful and terrifying for a senior?  My husband and I are moving today after living in a beautiful home for only two years and it feels disruptive, daunting and time consuming.

Who likes moving?  It’s anticipating or dreading that I will have temporarily or permanent lost items for months.  Plus it can take months to settle in, hang pictures on the wall and start to feel like OUR home.

Most people do not like change.  It ‘s easier to just stay where you are and keep the status quo.

Well, since we have to move, I decided to try a new method that we recommend to our clients at a Continuing Care Retirement Community called Freedom Village.  I hired a senior moving company, who will literally take our pictures off the wall, pack all our belongings, move us, unpack everything and put the pictures back up on the walls.  If we recommend this service to clients, why not see what it is really like ourselves?

Maybe it won’t be as daunting and time consuming as when my husband and I used to hire two men and a truck?

It will be a two-day move.  The senior moving company called Helping Hands will take about three hours to pack us up on the first day and the next day they will move all our belongings and unpack us.

Next week, I will share the rest of the story in part two and we will see how easy or painful moving day is and how long it took to settle into our new home.

Please share your successes, failures or comment below to join the conversation and interact with other senior living professionals on what is currently being effective to increase occupancy on a nationwide basis.

Diane Twohy Masson is the author of “Senior Housing Marketing – How to Increase Your Occupancy and Stay Full,” available at Amazon.com with a 5-star rating.  The book is required reading at George Mason University as a part of its marketing curriculum.  Within this book, the author developed a sales & marketing method with 12 keys to help senior living providers increase their occupancy.   Masson developed this expertise as a marketing consultant, sought-after blogger for senior housing and a regional marketing director of continuing care retirement communities in several markets.  She has also been a corporate director of sales and a mystery shopper for independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled care nursing communities in multiple states.  Currently, Masson is setting move-in records as the regional marketing director of two debt-free Continuing Care Retirement Communities in Southern California – Freedom Village in Lake Forest and The Village in Hemet, California.  Interestingly, this career started when she was looking for a place for her own mom and helped her loved one transition through three levels of care.

© Marketing 2 Seniors| Diane Twohy Masson 2013 All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog post may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted, without the prior written consent of the author, unless otherwise indicated for stand-alone materials. You may share this website and or it’s content by any of the following means: 1. Using any of the share icons at the bottom of each page. 2. Providing a back-link or the URL of the content you wish to disseminate. 3. You may quote extracts from the website with attribution to Diane Masson CASP and link https://www.marketing2seniors.net For any other mode of sharing, please contact the author Diane Masson.