When older adults need to relocate from their home to an assisted living community or retirement campus, they are often confronted with a variety of challenges neither they nor their loved ones are prepared to address. Greg Humble of Crye-Leike Realtors and Bill Tobin of Caring Transitions of Greater Chattanooga are working together to offer solutions to the problems encountered when seniors in the region move to a new home.
“The most immediate need is the move itself,” says Tobin, whose relocation service opened earlier this year in Chattanooga. “What does the older adult want to bring with them? What do they need to bring Who’s going to pack and move everything? It’s overwhelming for the individual, and equally so for their loved ones, whose time is already divided between their professional lives and caring for their own children.”
Tobin says Caring Transitions can provide assistance with each of these decisions.
The next most important consideration, says Humble, is what to do with the home after it’s vacated. “More often than not, the elderly need the income generated from the sale of their home to finance their future care in a senior community. Crye-Leike draws from a variety of proprietary resources to match sellers with prospective buyers. Our goal is to maximize revenue for sellers while providing value to buyers. If it’s not a win-win situation, it doesn’t make sense to show the home.”
“After the move,” Humble says, “there’s usually a large volume of belongings left behind in the home that need to be removed before it can be put on the market. Caring Transitions ... not only manages the move, but also conducts estate sales and cleans out the home so we can list it in a timely fashion.”
Tobin says working with Humble is a welcome collaboration. “We both share a passion for helping older adults and their loved ones. We want to take the stress of moving off their shoulders so they can focus upon what’s most important to the older adult: finding fulfillment in later life. Southeast Tennessee is fortunate to have a broad spectrum of retirement resources, and we’re pleased to be able to serve them as well.”
“The need is great,” Humble said. “As baby boomers continue to retire, the demographic profile of our region is going to get older and older. The demand for assistance with relocation and home sale services for older adults is only going to grow.”
Source: Crye-Leike Realtors, Caring Transitions of Greater Chattanooga