Have you been put in a situation where you need to begin to clear out mum and dad’s home? Perhaps its time to list the home for sale and all the treasured belongings need to find a new place to call home?
Aged Care Ready Associate Director and Founder of the Facebook Group ‘Ageing Parents Support Group’, Naomi Anderson, spoke with Bob Morton from Property Clearance about how to go about clearing out a loved ones home when they need to move into aged care.
The full interview can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
Ms Anderson began the interview by gaining a deeper understanding about the nature of assistance Mr Morton provides to families who are assisting their loved ones with a move to aged care.
Bob Morton explained his focus on helping families with all matters relating to the home within which the loved has been living and the possessions within it. He said: “Our services are provided in two distinct streams, firstly the clearance of all possessions in an appropriate way and secondly the preparation of the home for sale.”
He further explained the most common issues families describe as concerning them during this process, and how he helps.
Mr Morton’s clients feel overwhelmed with the property issues and not knowing where to start.
“We assist initially by working with them to produce a personalised plan with the key recommendations being treat the clearance of possessions and the preparation for sale of the home as two separate activities usually completed in sequence and writing down all activities, assign responsibilities to family members,” he said.
“Also, the most important decision a family needs to make about each item in the home is ‘are we keeping it or not?’
“It is easy to overestimate financial values, therefore test values early and avoid spending a lot of precious time for little return.”
Naomi then questioned the donation aspect, as she expects it would be important to the families that their loved one’s possessions are not wasted.
Mr Morton acknowledges this is the biggest category by volume however sadly in many cases much ends up in landfill unnecessarily.
He recommends spending some time researching charities and re-use organisations and contacting them to discuss needs.
Ms Anderson asked if there any risks to families in undertaking this work themselves?
Property Clearance always assume risks and approach the work with that mind set and would recommend everyone takes the same cautious approach.
“It varies greatly by home of course,” said Mr Morton.
“I recommend assume health risks and/or hazardous material and approach the clearance of a home accordingly.”
Bob has expertise in preparing a home for sale.
His advice on this is to assess and appoint a Real Estate agent early as they will provide valuable advice on the presentation of the home
“In my experience when dealing with a home an elderly person has lived in for some time, it is usually best to clear the home before placing it on the market,” said Mr Morton.
“Consider, would the furniture and set up of the home appeal to a likely buyer, if not remove possessions before placing it on the market.”
Naomi got clarity in terms of time to complete the work and costs for families wanting to consider engaging professional help for the clearance of a home.
“Of course there is a wide variation in homes and the volume of possessions within them,” said Morton.
“However, as a guide a professional firm should be able to complete all work over a 3-7 day period, the cost range is typically $2,000.00 – $8,000.00,”
“If engaging professional assistance to clear a home obtain a fixed price quote and also assess past client feedback and reviews.”
Bob Morton’s words of advice for families managing a home and the possessions within it as they transition a loved one to aged care is to as a family try and be realistic of each other’s availability and the time it will take to undertake this.
The commitment in time is between 4 and 25 person days for a family to manage this process.
It is important to be realistic about family availability and the time needed to properly and respectfully clear the home of a loved one.
Naomi is the Associate Director of Aged Care Ready and hosts weekly interviews with industry professionals.
Bob Morton brings significant commercial acumen and managerial experience into PROPERTY CLEARANCE from a career with some of the worlds largest global corporations.
Aged Care Ready do the hard work for you and we often save our clients on numerous fees because of our relationship with the providers.
If you or your loved ones are seeking care but don’t know where to begin or have found yourself in a sticky situation, contact our team today on 1300 023 589 and we will guide you through.
Direct link to video interview: https://youtu.be/Grz0lxbqb6A