Pete Crouch has been a Specialist in Mature and Senior moves for more than 15 years, helping everyone from empty-nesters on up to folks moving to Assisted Living or Life-Plan Communities. Last year, he and his family decided to do it themselves. Nothing like doing it yourself to fully understand what people go through!
“Our work had taught us that there are grow-ing numbers of people downsizing shortly after the last child leaves the nest. We were closing in on that ‘life event,’ so decided we would experience it first-hand. We would no longer need the quarter-acre lot or the 5 bedrooms. Downsizing would not only mean less maintenance inside and out, but more importantly, the ability to focus on the next stage of our lives. Of course, we would need to have room for the visits home, short or extended – after all, family is everything!
We were fortunate to already have a townhouse in Kingstowne from which a tenant was moving out – giving us the perfect low-maintenance ‘new’ home – with 3 bedrooms/3 baths and plenty of room for visiting family.” Knowing the next home’s floor plan made it easier to employ the 5-Step System Crouch uses with clients of all ages.
Whether the move is to a townhouse, a condo, or a Senior Community, the steps and decisions are: What to Keep, What to Gift, What to Sell, What to Donate, and finally, What to Discard. Going through the 5 Steps in each room eases the preparation, and simplifies what can be a daunting task. Color-coding the 5 Steps is a must! For folks who want assistance making those decisions, Crouch has a Team of Partners he recommends and coordinates with who can handle each of the 5 Steps.
Pete Crouch, McEnearney
We decided to do the preparation ourselves, especially since we had a floorplan of the townhouse. In each room, the decisions were mostly simple – keep, gift, donate, discard. There were only a few pieces that we considered selling – mostly inherited ones – and after wrestling with the guilt of parting with family antiques – decided it was not disrespectful to our ancestors if we let go of a few things we had inherited. We kept a representative – but small – sampling of each generations’ gifts, and wistfully parted with the larger things that did not fit our lifestyle. That was, we learned, the hardest part of the process.”
Once all the rooms had been prepared, Crouch put on his Realtor hat and man-aged the rest of the process as he would for a client. With just a phone call, his Team Members/Partners played their parts: gifts and donations went to their respective locations, discards went to the trash, and what was left was primarily the “keep” items. A favorite Downsizing/Senior moving company then delivered each box and piece of furniture to its designated spot in the townhouse. Last was a cleaning company removing any leftovers, including all the old paint cans Crouch had forgotten.
“One of the bigger things I learned is that coordinating these 5 Steps and the Team Members/Partners removes a huge amount of stress for people. Especially if they have lived in the same house for possibly decades. As a Northern Virginia real estate broker for 25 years, I have always helped Sellers find a good plumber, painter, or roofer, and then coordinated those vendors. In a Downsize or Senior Move, what comes first, however, are the ‘lifestyle’ advisors – the Move Manager, the Estate Sale company, the other Team members. Then come the ‘real estate vendors’ to get the house itself prepared for sale. Such a move is much more than just Real Estate – and is so much simpler approached this way. Having a Team Captain (in our case, myself) can be instrumental to the success of the transition.”
Crouch says that using a Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES), as trained and designated by the National Association of Realtors, can be crucial to receiving the additional expertise needed for making a smooth Downsize or Senior Move. Crouch even refers folks to fellow SRES experts in other states if needed.
Pete Crouch has been a licensed real estate broker for 25 years and is an Associate Broker for McEnearney Associates Realtors in Old Town. He holds seminars for Senior Groups, writes articles, and volunteers frequently for At Home in Alexandria, Mount Vernon at Home, and Senior Services of Alexandria. On many Fridays, you can see him with his “DOWNSZ” license plate delivering Meals on Wheels. His work with Senior movers and volunteering earned him national recognition last year when the Seniors Council of the National Association of Realtors awarded him the “Outstanding Service Award” at a ceremony in Boston.
You can reach Pete at: 703-244-4024
