Moving is almost always a stressful ordeal, but it can be especially challenging for senior citizens. Often, seniors move from a larger home into a smaller one or an assisted living facility, so there's pressure to declutter a lifetime of possessions while packing.
Plus, there are countless boxes and furniture items to carry, along with a truck to load and unload – physical tasks many seniors simply don't have the stamina to endure. And when it's all said and done, the mover is left with all the boxes to unpack before disposing of the packing materials.
In short, moving is a pain for anyone. For seniors, there's the added stress of being unable to do much or any of the physical work yet still wanting to feel in control.
When you hire professional movers, you have the final say in all aspects of your relocation, and it offers a myriad of additional benefits over conducting a move on your own.
Senior Moving: A Guide to Planning Your Relocation
If you have mobility issues, chronic pain, or you've accumulated an excessive amount of stuff over the decades you've spent in your current location, moving can feel incredibly stressful.
That doesn't mean it has to damper your excitement over settling down and enjoying retirement in a new place. When you know how to plan your relocation and bring in a few helpful resources, your upcoming move can be far simpler and easier than you imagine.
Read on for some of our best senior moving tips for a low-stress relocation.
Plan Your Moving Timeline
Creating a timeline for your relocation will help you stay on track as you downsize your current home and prepare to move. That's especially true if you live with mobility issues, chronic pain, or other health problems. Planning and executing a relocation is a lot of work, even when you have several months to get everything done, so the more time you give yourself, the better.
If you're planning a move during the summer season, it's important to understand that many moving companies typically book out months in advance for June, July, and August. Since most relocations occur between Memorial Day and Labor Day, you'll want to grab a spot on the movers' schedule as early as possible to ensure you get the dates you want.
Generally, you'll want to start your timeline at least three months before your move date, but if you can start earlier, that's even better.
During the process, having a week-by-week checklist for your move will help you make sure you're on track throughout each phase of the relocation process. If you're unsure how to create a comprehensive timeline for your move, a professional moving company (like our team at Ace!) can help you with a custom move plan.
Check out this moving timeline and checklist from our partners at Atlas Van Lines for several helpful tips.
Create Your Moving Budget
Like a moving timeline, a relocation budget can help you stay on track during your move. But rather than organizing all the tasks you need to accomplish before move day, your budget is designed to prevent your move from becoming more expensive than you'd like it to be.
If you're hiring a professional moving company, start creating your budget around those services first. Since hiring movers and packers will likely comprise the largest portion of your relocation-related expenses, figure out how much you're comfortable spending on professional services and go from there.
Check out our top tips for creating a move budget that suits your needs.
Figure Out How Much Space You Have in Your New Place
Are you moving to a home smaller than the one you presently live in? If so, it's in your best interest to get familiar with just how much space you'll have in your new house.
Chances are you won't be able to fit all your furniture and the other items you own into the smaller space, which means you'll need to downsize.
Start By Analyzing Your New Floor Plan
Before you start packing up your belongings, take a close look at the floor plan measurements in your new home. Can you fit your belongings in there comfortably? You'll likely need to measure your major furniture pieces to make doubly sure.
As soon as you know where you'll be moving, here's what you'll need to figure out:
- The square footage of each room
- What the new floor plan looks like
- Any accessibility modifications you'll need to make
- Whether you have room for storage, either in the house or somewhere on the property
The earlier you nail down the above details, the sooner you can start planning what to take with you and what to leave behind.
Since downsizing and packing will comprise the largest chunk of your relocation process in terms of time, the earlier you can get started, the less stressful and overwhelming the whole endeavor will feel.
Start Downsizing Early
If you can't fit everything in your current home into your new location, it may be time to consider donating some of your belongings. If you'll be moving into a home with a smaller floor plan and need to downsize, start early – months before moving day if possible.
Depending on how much stuff you own and the floor plan in your new abode, downsizing can be extremely time-consuming. It takes time to sort through decades of accumulated possessions, which can be physically and emotionally challenging.
Start the downsizing process one room at a time, beginning with the areas of your home you use the least. That way, the rooms and belongings you use the most will be sorted last, creating less disturbance in your life leading up to moving day. As you get closer to your move date, start sorting through the rooms you use more often.
Make a list of friends and family you might want to give special items to, and then devise a sorting system. Using colored stickers, for example, can help you identify which items you want to donate, which you want to give away, and which you need to keep.
Check out these helpful tips for consolidating your belongings before you move.
Climate Controlled Storage Is Another Option
If you're not ready to let go of any of your belongings, you can always put your things in storage. A climate-controlled storage unit protects from heat, humidity, and other environmental factors that can damage your belongings.
Avoid putting anything vulnerable to moisture or heat in a standard storage unit if possible. This storage solution will keep your stuff contained but doesn't offer any environmental control.
Decide Whether You'll Hire Professional Help
Can you downsize, pack, load, transport, and unpack everything yourself? If you live with chronic pain or mobility issues, or you just have a ton of stuff, chances are you'll need help. But how much help will you need?
If you have agile, strong relatives nearby, asking for help sorting your belongings and downsizing never hurts. But if you don't know anyone who can help out, hiring professional movers is your best bet.
Hire a Moving Company for Senior Moves
Our first, most important moving tip for seniors is to hire a moving company. Having a team of people to help almost always makes a move go faster, but a moving team made up of adult children or other loved ones is not ideal.
Whether you're an adult child moving your senior parent or you're the senior being moved, the process will go much smoother when you hire a professional moving company.
For starters, family members often overstep boundaries. With just a day or weekend to handle the move, they may take over as decision-makers for the sake of time. Nothing feels more undignified for a senior than having someone else decide which possessions they should keep or toss to downsize.
And even if downsizing isn't an issue, the stress of the physical labor, the time crunch, and the myriad of problems that can creep up throughout the moving process only create friction at a time when families need each other.
With a professionally trained moving team, the mover decides what to pack, and organization is a priority. No matter the scope of the job, professional movers treat belongings with the utmost care and understand how to expedite the moving process.
We could go on and on about the benefits of hiring a moving company, but you can read more about that here.
Determine Which Moving Services You Need
When you hire a moving company, you'll have a wide variety of services. You can opt for a bare-bones basic move or go all in and hire the pros to handle every aspect of your relocation.
As soon as you know you'll be bringing on professional help, start thinking about which moving services you'll need.
Full Packing Services
If you opt for this, professional movers and packers will pack your entire house, load your belongings onto the truck, transport everything, and unpack everything when you reach your new home.
Custom Crating
If you have large or awkwardly shaped items that you want extra protection for, you may need custom crating services. Your moving company will hand-build crates to custom dimensions so they're designed to fit your items perfectly.
Custom Move Plan
Don't want to deal with the hassle of planning your move? Leave the entire thing to the pros!
When you opt for a custom move plan, your moving company will create a unique plan. Whether you need storage solutions, specialty services, decluttering, or flexible packing solutions, your movers will help you nail down every detail.
Appliance Moving
If you plan to take large appliances to your new home, appliance movers are non-negotiable. Moving these heavy, bulky items can present a major safety risk, so it's always best to leave this job to the pros.
Furniture Moving
Like appliances, furniture can be hazardous to move. Working with professional furniture movers is in your best interest if you're transporting heavy couches, dining room pieces, outdoor furniture, or any other large household items.
Storage Solutions
If you're a snowbird or have family in the Rochester area, you may want to rent a climate-controlled storage unit before you move.
Climate control is key if you have items you're not ready to part with that won't fit in your new home. This specialty storage lets you keep your things secure without the risk of temperature- or moisture-related damage.
If you're not ready to sell, donate, pass down, or toss those things, renting a climate-controlled storage unit is likely your best option. Check out reasons to opt for climate-controlled storage over a standard unit.
Prepare for Moving Day
After you've hired a moving company and decided what will happen with your belongings, there are a few other important things you'll need to take care of before moving day.
Pack an Essentials Bag for the Day of the Move
To ensure your daily essentials are readily accessible on the night you arrive in your new home, pack an essentials bag that you keep separate from your other belongings.
Include items like medications, toiletries, clothing, and other things you use every day to ensure you can find them easily.
Notify Your Contacts About Your Address Change
Filling out a USPS change of address at the post office or online will ensure your mail is forwarded to your new location. However, you'll still want to make sure everyone has your new address for future use because the postal service only provides forwarding services for 12 months.
Alert your post office, friends, family, publications, bill collectors, health care providers, subscriptions, and banks.
Contact Utility Providers
This is one of the most important moving tasks because you no doubt want your utilities transferred as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
About two weeks before your move, contact each provider separately to let them know you're moving. That way, the transition between homes will be seamless.
Let the Experts Do the Heavy Lifting
When it's time to pack, leave it to the pros. With your items already sorted, your movers will have clear instructions on what they need to box up, and you won't have to lift a finger.
Your movers will even provide moving boxes and packages, tape, labels, markers, and other tools needed to get the job done.
Looking for Senior Moving Services in the Twin Cities?
Moving can be hard, especially for senior citizens, leaving a home they've spent many years in with their family. Whether you're relocating to be closer to family or ready to downsize after retirement, moving as a senior citizen can present unique challenges.
This is especially true if you have health conditions, you need to worry about or physical limitations that can make moving more complicated.
Working with a professional moving company can ease a lot of the stress so your family can focus on supporting each other through the transition. The professional movers at Ace Moving & Warehousing are here to help you experience the smoothest relocation possible!
When you hire Ace Moving & Warehousing, you can expect the best moving services for seniors in the Twin Cities metro. Our priority is providing our customers with professional, careful, and courteous staff, striving to deliver your products on time and without a scratch.
Give our office a call at 763-755-2045 or contact us today to get a fast quote!