By Britten Schear, JTNews Correspondent
Whether you are an 18-year-old leaving for college, or a newly married couple buying a first home, moving is a pain. Back strain is certain, fatigue is seemingly constant, and emotions run high as decisions are made about what comes with and what must be thrown out.
Now factor in old age: moving becomes a task more akin to whitewater rafting down a violent river, say Arline Abrams and Mimi Handlin.
At the age of 80, packing up a house that you have lived in for 20 years or more, cleaning it from top to bottom, and then actively presenting it to buyers—on top of relocating to a new home—can be every bit as risky and daunting as hurling down rapids in a small canoe: just as one problem is overcome, another, bigger one pops up to throw you off course again.
“We are the big, cushy raft that carries you gently downstream,” says Abrams.
The co-owners of Senior Transitions Northwest, Abrams and Handlin are the area’s only local business that helps seniors through all aspects of the moving process, from hiring the moving vans to working through the tough emotional hurdles of leaving behind a home with decades of memories. Their aim is aptly summarized in the title of their new book, When It’s More Than Just Stuff: How to Downsize Your Belongings and Manage a Later Life Move (Transitions NW, 2004).
Both the granddaughters of Russian Jewish immigrant women, both single mothers of teenaged children, and both Seattle natives, Abrams and Handlin run an incredibly cohesive partnership. Their combined skills—Abrams is a “Senior Real Estate Specialist” with Windermere Real Estate, and Handlin is a social worker specializing in the care of senior citizens—are well-suited to their business, of which the two women are the sole employees.
With just Abrams and Handlin coordinating with movers, painters, landscapers, appraisers, and all the other workers necessary to a move, Senior Transitions NW is also a very personalized service.
“The first appointment with a client usually lasts about two to three hours,” says Abrams. During that time, the client will often confide their apprehensions about moving out, and it is these fears that Abrams and Handlin aim to tackle.
“Sometimes parents [of adult children] don’t want to move, they don’t want to be a hassle to anyone. It really helps to have a third party come in, with an outside opinion,” says Handlin.
Drawing from their hand-picked lists of specialists, Abrams and Handlin find the companies that will best fit each of their clients, based not only on affordability but also on the temperaments of the movers themselves, They want their clients to be comfortable with the workers.
Most of the clients Abrams and Handlin work with are seeking to move to some type of assisted-living facility, which cuts down on the likelihood that they will have to move again if their health deteriorates. The obstacle with these moves is, of course, the downsizing of personal belongings from all the things that have collected in a house, to the amount that will fit in a one- or two-bedroom apartment.
“When your plate is so full it’s dripping over, you don’t know where to begin,” says Abrams.
Their manual, When It’s More Than Just Stuff, offers the step-by-step details of exactly where to begin. Printed in large type, in a spiral bound book, the chapters slowly walk the reader through each part of the moving process, from deciding whether or not to move out, right up to hiring a real estate agent. There are note-taking sections at the end of each chapter, and even illustrations of how to lift a box without hurting yourself.
When the time comes for a client to sell the home they are moving out of, Abrams and Handlin set strict guidelines about when the house may be shown to buyers.
“I do not allow presenting in the evening,” says Abrams. “We know when the client is at their best, and when they should not make a decision on their own. Many clients have memory issues or may not hear wellÖthese people are so vulnerable. We’re like the protective shield.”
Driven by fond memories of their grandmothers, Abrams and Handlin have been very active in the Jewish community, and have generated many referrals among elderly Jews.
“I love working with elderly Jewish people,” says Handlin, though she admits that her outside perspective is important to helping her clients get what they want.
“You don’t have the same hooks in you if it’s not your own mom or your own grandmother.”
Their book is now being distributed nationally and their seminars usually fill up. Abrams and Handlin say they are pleased to be doing so well—they recently shipped 100 copies of their book to New York.
While they are helping many seniors make a rough transition, Abrams admits that she is helping herself as well:
“It’s good for them, but it’s good for us, good for our hearts and souls. How often do you get to do that in life?”
For information on Senior Transitions NW, visit their Web site at www.seniortransitionsnw.com