Often the thing that keeps seniors from considering a move from their home to a Retirement Living community is the daunting task of …. well everything to do with moving!
This is understandable, given that a move can take a huge toll on any of us at any age.
According to 79-year-old Mary Gunther in Calgary, there is absolutely no question in her mind, the best choice she ever made was to hire a company that ‘does it all for you’.
Mary’s kids were in all different cities, with full plates of their own. Mary hated the thought of tasking anyone – family or friends – with the hours that it would require to empty out her bungalow (her home of 27 years) and help her relocate to a retirement living community.
“I said to the kids, it’s going to cost a fair bit, but it’s totally worth it. I won’t lose a wink of sleep and no one will put their backs out,” said Mary.
To shed some light on the costs one might be looking at, naturally it really does depend on the size of the relocation, and what services you’d like to include. But here are two examples:
In Mary’s case, she wanted a service that would take care of everything, including hiring the moving company, sorting and packing her entire house, providing a floor plan to indicate what would fit in her new dwelling, distributing and discarding any items she no longer wanted, cleaning her old house, and cleaning and unpacking in the new digs. The cost of her move was just under $4,000 including tax.
Jillian Carter paid $2,200 to have a company relocate her from her two-bedroom condo to a senior’s residence not far away in an adjacent neighbourhood. She only required about half of the hours and services Mary needed and she said that she too was extremely pleased with her choice to hire the movers, and with how smoothly it all went. “I was uprooted and settled within just 3 days,” said Jillian.
If you search online, you will find a reputable senior’s moving service in almost every major city. My own mom is just getting set to hire one outside of Calgary, at the cost of around $2,500.
“The most important thing we need as we get older, is good food, proper rest and no stress,” said Mary. “I think anyone who can afford it should consider having one of these companies come in and handle it all – it really was a life changer for me.”