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Smaller living space appeals to many as
they age September 8, 2003
Patrick
Hafner with A-1 Estate Services labels items to be sold. The service helps
senior citizens downsize by assisting in sales of everything from homes to
lamps.
The alliance, which operated informally for two years, was formally launched in May. Its members include Campbell of Age Connections; Sherrill Wood of Wood Signature Properties and a real estate agent; Tony Nelson of Spectrum Home Services; and antiques and estate sale expert Patrick Hafner of A-1 Estate Services. A recent client was a woman on the East Coast whose parents lived in Utah. She found them a retirement center to move into and then referred them to Hafner for help in disposing of their possessions. "Even in Utah, we are seeing more women returning to the workplace, so they don't have the time [for caregiving responsibilities] that they did before," said Campbell, who also is a partner in Guardian & Conservator Services in Draper. "Also, we're seeing more and more family members geographically displaced because of the job market." Easy Transitions, which focuses on Utah clients, has a potentially large customer base. There were 196,443 Utahns age 65 or older in 2000, according to the most recent census count, said Michael Siler, spokesman for the AARP in Utah. Those born between 1946 and 1954 -- the first part of the baby boomer generation -- will hit age 65 in 2011. The Governor's Office projects that number will reach 487,376 by 2029, when the end of the boomer generation -- those born between 1955 and 1964 -- hits 65, said Darrell Butler, planner for Salt Lake County Aging Services. Clients contact Campbell initially for a free consultation to help clarify their needs, such as a referral to an elder law attorney or to one of her Easy Transition colleagues. Assistance from Campbell, who also is a licensed social worker and financial counselor, is $75 an hour and may include accompanying the client to look at potential living quarters, coordinating doctor and medical appointments, or providing nonmedical in-home attendants to take care of the property, help with transportation or perform tasks such as changing bed linens. Sometimes the client needs help making a current home more saleable with minor cosmetic work such as installing new carpet, repainting the walls or removing safety bars on bathtubs, Campbell said. Through referrals to Nelson, who provides a free estimate of recommended work, "we make the properties as saleable as possible. We have replaced countertops because they were turquoise and turquoise is a '50s color," she said. Easy Transitions was called upon in November to handle matters involving a man, who was near death in the hospital and was the caregiver for his wife, who had dementia. The couple depended heavily on a retired couple who had been their condo neighbors for 27 years and informally watched over them, even paying some of the man's hospital bills. The man had refused help from the county and with no known family to take over for the ill seniors, Easy Transitions stepped in. It placed the woman in an assisted living facility, remodeled the condo and conducted an estate sale, which helped pay for the woman's care. The condo was placed on the market to further help defray the woman's expenses. Wood, the real estate arm of Easy Transitions, will receive the customary 6 percent when the property sells. Easy Transitions was paid from the couple's estate after the man's death. "They came in and were so professional," said neighbor George Lensch. "They were constantly feeding information back to us because . . . they knew we were an interested party. If anything ever happens to us that's what we'll do, because help is out there if you'll accept it," he said. Not all clients need all of Easy Transitions' services. A client may only require someone such as Hafner to conduct an estate sale. It is not unusual for seniors to move from 3,200 square feet to 900 square feet, a change that requires help to dispose of property. "I go in and price everything, get everything cleaned up, run the sale," said Hafner, who works on a straight commission basis with Easy Transitions. "I deal with everything from antique collectibles to secondhand, good used furniture to low-end stuff. Everybody deserves the same respect as the next guy" in how possessions are handled. His service is in demand, he said, because often the senior citizen "can't lift furniture, they don't know how to set it up and price it" for an estate sale. "A lot of times they don't know what it's worth, and sometimes they don't want [to deal with it]. They want to move on, they want to get on with retirement and they'd rather [deal] with someone who knows what they're doing," he said. Sometimes that means recognizing an item whose value can bring more money to the client by selling it at an out-of-state auction. He recalled an Art Deco dining set that would have sold for $2,000 to $3,000 to a Salt Lake City dealer going for more than $31,000 on a Miami auction block. Another time, a signed, framed Picasso that had hung in the bathroom of an older couple's home sold for $1 at a family-run sale in Farmington. The Picasso later sold for $25,000 at auction in San Francisco. "Most people think the only alternative to independent living in their home is a semi-private nursing home, and that's not true anymore," said Campbell. "The older person has a right to live their life the way they choose to. It is very important to work with what the older person wants." Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
