Selling the Family Home, Planning from a Distance

Selling the family home can be an emotionally and physically demanding task, especially if you live at a distance. Sometimes, the family needs to accomplish this within a very tight timeframe. Here is one family's story, with helpful hints for those who find themselves in this situation.

Grandma recently moved into a long-term care centre, leaving behind her home with 50 years of accumulated personal belongings. Because of dementia, Grandma could participate in decisions only to a limited degree. Using our vacation time, we needed to travel across three provinces and accomplish the house clearing and sale in a short period of time. We consulted friends and others who had dealt with this situation. We knew there would be many tasks involved in selling the family home so we developed a plan of action.

Before the trip, we had a conversation with our adult children and discussed a list of things we needed to accomplish. Being of the high-tech generation, these young adults advised us to use technology to our advantage - before we even left town. They introduced us to Poynt, a free search service that helped us to find many of the local businesses and services we needed near Grandma's house. (To learn more about using Poynt, visit www.multiplied.com).

First, we needed a hotel and wanted to find one near Grandma's home. With Grandma's postal code, we used Poynt and found 3 hotels within 2 km. Interestingly, two were solidly booked because the annual H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) competition was in town!

Next we planned for the disposal of furniture and household belongings. We found the services we needed, and contacted them by telephone. We looked for services for:

• Recycling for paper, books, audiovisual tapes and records
• Hauling away trash and junk
• Accepting donations (household items, clothing)
• Appraising of valuables (jewelry, art)
• Buying used furniture and appliances
• House Cleaning
• Moving supplies (boxes and packing paper)

We learned that the local library would take all books, in any condition, and records, audiotapes and videotapes. We found an organization that would take donations of clothing, including their business hours and location. (We were pleased that this organization was one of Grandma's favorite charities.) We booked appointments with antique dealers for appraisal of valuables, and arranged for services to haul away trash and junk.

When we arrived in town, the local friends were amazed that we could accomplish so much from such a distance! Our preparation helped us to achieve our goal and complete the house clearing and sale in 10 days!

© ElderWise Inc. 2007.
Reprinted with permission. Originally published by ElderWise Inc., Canada's "go to" place for families with aging parents, who want clear, concise and timely information about health, housing and relationships. Visit us at www.elderwise.ca and subscribe to our FREE bi-weekly newsletter.

Searching for Services at a Distance

Your parents live in one province, and you live in another. Your dad has early dementia and lives at home with your mom. You and your siblings have suggested to your mom that you want to find someone to help her with housework and personal care. She agrees - now where do you look?

Excerpt from "Your Aging Parents. Arriving at Shared Solutions for Housing, Health and Relationships."

First, you need to know what type of service you want. Knowing the terminology is helpful.

Adult day care programs are offered in the community to provide social activities and health or medical care. The individual might attend one to five days a week.

Home care or community care programs are offered to help people remain in their own homes, reduce admission to hospital or long-term care, and to allow earlier discharge from hospital. These services are offered through public and private agencies. Public programs are managed by local health authorities and vary across the provinces. Private services are offered by for-profit agencies and fees/services vary across the specific agency.

Respite care is temporary support, given to provide relief to the family. If Mom is taking care of Dad at home and needs a break, you will want to find respite, or relief services. Generally, these programs are offered by the local health authority or through voluntary or private companies.

Next, you need ways to find appropriate services.

(1) Instant Messaging (IM). You can use IM on a PC, PDA, or cell phone.
For instructions on searching with instant messaging, visit the website of Poynt and download the pdf "QuickStart Guide" from their home page at www.mypoynt.com. The poynt service operates on Windows Live Messenger® and AOL Instant Messenger in North America. Through Poynt, you can find the agencies that are closest to your parents' home.

Example: Set your location to your parent’s home and search for "home healthcare." A list of the nearest agencies will appear, with addresses, phone numbers, driving directions, and a map.

(2) Visit the website of YellowPages.ca http://www.yellowpages.ca/index.html
Through Yellow Pages you can find a comprehensive list of services in any location.

Example: Search for "home healthcare" in your parents' city/town. A list of names appears, with addresses, and phone numbers. You can search for the agency that offers the services that you need.

Note: Find more information on "Navigating the Maze: Finding the Services" in our new book written by Maureen Osis and Judy Worrell: Your Aging Parents. Arriving at Shared Solutions for Housing, Health and Relationships. It's available online from Trafford Publishing at www.trafford.com/06-2554

© ElderWise Inc. 2007.
Reprinted with permission. Originally published by ElderWise Inc., Canada's "go to" place for families with aging parents, who want clear, concise and timely information about health, housing and relationships. Visit us at www.elderwise.ca and subscribe to our FREE bi-weekly newsletter.