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By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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Take pictures of your beloved belongings. Then donate to a charity, give them away, or throw out. You'll always have the pictures to reminisce with, but you won't be saddled with the actual thing.
When I was packing to move and before putting the house on the market, I would spend 20 min each day of either packing or figuring how to toss things. My kids did not want anything. When you decide, consider donating rather than selling unless you have some high value items. In some locations, you might have pick up from the Salvation Army or Restore from Habitat for Humanity. When thinking about emotions, picture how happy some homeless people will treasure your items. I can assure you that once items are gone, so will the burden of attachment will feel lighter.
You start cleaning out. You are going to have to harden yourselfbor this will not go smootly. You take a room at a time. One pile for trash, one for give away and one keep. (the keep you can go thru again, you may find you changed your mind. Keep only those things you can use in an apt. Get rid of clothes that don't fit or you have not worn in years. Shoes and purses too.
You can have an estate sale.
If you do Facebook you can sell on a local yardsale site
You can donate everything to a thrift shop.
Habitat for Humanity will pick up stuff and sell it in their store.
If you have kids, let them come in and choose.
When I cleaned Moms house out, I had 4 boxes, one for each child. If I found something of theirs they had made for Mom and Dad and pictures I thought they would want, I put them in their box. Mom had kept the boys sports stuff, that went in their box.
Save pictures and important papers until you have time to sit down and go thru them. Bank statements need to be kept 5 yrs if Medicaid is ever needed.
My father just passed and I, as the executor, is left to deal with a hoarder situation in his shop. My brother is taking what he wants, and selling what he can. After that, we are hiring a clean out company who will take it down to the walls and a swept floor. I'm sure they will recycle and sell what they can. Fortunately, there is enough money in the estate to hire the clean out company. Please deal with it before your kids have to and it goes in the dump.
JTW9768, welcome to the forum. Ah, down-sizing. We are close to your age and we are starting our down-sizing journey. First, start with clothes. If there is something that you haven't worn in a year, think... do you really need it? Got a lot of books? I know it's hard to toss out a book, so donate to a library book sale or Goodwill. Goodwill will also take VHS tapes.
I got rid of my dining room set. Haven't eaten in there in years, so why have it sit around only to dust it? I donated it. If company comes, we eat out, or sit around the kitchen table :) Knick-knacks, they seem to multiply when we aren't looking. If I didn't remember where I bought it or who gave it to me, it got donated.
If you want to sell items on social media marketplaces, be very careful. Lot of scams happening. Ask for payment only in cash. The other ways of payment can be risky. Good luck in your downsizing.
Just one thing about donating to Goodwill. It does not pay its staff very well and the head honchos make a lot of money. I know Goodwill does make it easy to donate but first look for local charity shops or churches that will take things. Habitat for Humanity will often pick up large pieces of furniture as well. The small local charities are volunteer run and support various causes in the communities they serve.
My brother and I had to help our aunt downsize and move into Assisted Living in 2015. Then we had to do it again in 2019 for our mother. The one thing I learned is that once things are out of sight, they become out of mind. My mom went into AL then we had a living estate sale a few months later to prep for selling the house. A company was hired to have a 4 day sale. We were there to oversee for our mom. They had contacts with dealers, did the advertising, did the sales transactions and split the profits with my Mom. Afterwards, we donated things or tossed them. Mom was thrilled to get the cash. I'm only 61, and I'm starting to purge or donate items/ clothes in my home. I don't want my family to go thru what I did twice. It's exhausting. Object that are precious to the owner are usually "stuff to be dealt with" in the eyes of other family members. If there are things you don't want to keep, but do want to offer to other family or friends, do it now.
We think of it as a gift to our children so they won’t have to do it after our deaths. Also, if you invite one of them at a time, you get to enjoy the memories with them while you’re still alive. It was a pleasure rather than a pain.
I would say don’t torture yourself going through all of it. Instead, take what you can to the new apartment first. It won’t be much if it’s small. And the rest of it? It’s just stuff. Memories are in your mind - not in that stuff. What’s left in the house can then be removed via an estate sale or some other service that does these downsizings. You are doing your heirs such a favor. Nobody wants our stuff! It’s just burdens we pass on to others because it’s easier than doing the work to clean things out ourselves. If you needed to escape in a fire, what would the critical items you could carry in your arms be? Those are the items that matter. The rest is stuff weighing you down.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
When you decide, consider donating rather than selling unless you have some high value items. In some locations, you might have pick up from the Salvation Army or Restore from Habitat for Humanity. When thinking about emotions, picture how happy some homeless people will treasure your items. I can assure you that once items are gone, so will the burden of attachment will feel lighter.
You can have an estate sale.
If you do Facebook you can sell on a local yardsale site
You can donate everything to a thrift shop.
Habitat for Humanity will pick up stuff and sell it in their store.
If you have kids, let them come in and choose.
When I cleaned Moms house out, I had 4 boxes, one for each child. If I found something of theirs they had made for Mom and Dad and pictures I thought they would want, I put them in their box. Mom had kept the boys sports stuff, that went in their box.
Save pictures and important papers until you have time to sit down and go thru them. Bank statements need to be kept 5 yrs if Medicaid is ever needed.
I got rid of my dining room set. Haven't eaten in there in years, so why have it sit around only to dust it? I donated it. If company comes, we eat out, or sit around the kitchen table :) Knick-knacks, they seem to multiply when we aren't looking. If I didn't remember where I bought it or who gave it to me, it got donated.
If you want to sell items on social media marketplaces, be very careful. Lot of scams happening. Ask for payment only in cash. The other ways of payment can be risky. Good luck in your downsizing.
The one thing I learned is that once things are out of sight, they become out of mind.
My mom went into AL then we had a living estate sale a few months later to prep for selling the house. A company was hired to have a 4 day sale. We were there to oversee for our mom. They had contacts with dealers, did the advertising, did the sales transactions and split the profits with my Mom. Afterwards, we donated things or tossed them. Mom was thrilled to get the cash.
I'm only 61, and I'm starting to purge or donate items/ clothes in my home. I don't want my family to go thru what I did twice. It's exhausting.
Object that are precious to the owner are usually "stuff to be dealt with" in the eyes of other family members. If there are things you don't want to keep, but do want to offer to other family or friends, do it now.
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