Professional Senior Downsizing Services
Get Organized! has been working with seniors and their families since 2007.
Helping a family member transition from their current home to a senior living or other residence can be emotional and frustrating. Downsizing for seniors usually happens under difficult circumstances and is often filled with challenges for both adult children and their parents. Children may find it difficult to work with their aging parent(s) to make the hard decisions about what items are important to keep and move to their new home, and what should be left behind. Adult children often do not have the time in their busy lives to patiently sort through family items with their parents and pack for the move.
Get Organized! can help make this transition as calm and respectful as possible, with organizers who are gentle, yet productive. If you need additional resources, we can provide a list of vetted service providers to fulfill any task we cannot accomplish. This may include handymen, movers, estate sale companies, and more. We can take the project from purging and packing to unpacking and organizing the new space, whether it is a senior community, a smaller home, an apartment, or a move-in with a family member.
Get Organized! is a member of the National Association of Senior Move Managers, which adds training to ensure our organizers understand how to work with the special needs of a senior and their family dynamics.
Why Downsize?
Get Organized! has been working with seniors and their families since 2007.
Preparation
Get Organized! will prepare for your downsizing by providing a plan of action, timeline, and resources.
Reduce Stress
Our trained organizers bring calm to your transition with excellent communication and a focus on great results!
Senior Downsizing Services
Request a Consultation with Get Organized!
We provide senior downsizing services all throughout DFW
Get Organized! provides senior downsizing services throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, helping families and individuals transition into smaller, more manageable living spaces with care and support. We serve communities across North Texas, including Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Garland, Keller, North Richland Hills, Richardson, Irving, Lucas, Southlake, and nearby cities.
Senior Services - Our Process
In Home Consultation **Up to 2 Hours - $150**
Your in-home consultation starts with the formulation of a Plan of Action. In some cases, the senior might be moving from one location to a new location. Under these circumstances, it would be beneficial for the organizer to visit both locations. No physical work takes place at the consultation. It is a time when our clients and their families can ask important questions and get a better vision of what we can do during this transition. The lead organizer will also ask questions to understand the scope of your needs, take photos and measurements, and start to determine what items may be moving to the new location.
It will be important to establish the decision-making team for the job. It could include the senior(s), their children, other family members, or close friends. Decide who will have the final say on matters of possessions, finances, scheduling, etc. We know many families work or live out-of-state, so for clients who plan to move into one of our services areas, we are happy to do a Phone Consultation (1 hour) in place of an onsite consultation to begin the process. However, our Client Managers can answer most questions about our services and what we can do before a consultation is scheduled.
When a Get Organized! team member arrives at your home for your consultation or calls you by phone, have your paper and pen handy, and be ready to take notes. After the initial consultation, you can make the decision to do the work yourself, or you may choose to hire our organizers to do the work for you, often with better and faster results. All consultations include one hour of research time to provide a follow-up email outlining a Plan of Action and requested resources.
After the Consultation
At the end of the consultation, our clients often schedule days to begin purging, de-cluttering, pre-packing, and space planning for the new home. This will help determine what items will fit in the new spaces and what might be left for staging the current home. It is also the time to start hiring companies that will work together to make the move successful. Get Organized! offers resources for every step. In most cases, we can provide the client with additional information on resources for movers, handymen, painters, realtors, appraisers, estate sale coordination, and more. We are able to work with these additional team members to be your go-to move coordinator.
Starting the Job
When work days are scheduled at the consultation or shortly after, the organizer makes sure all dates for the move are available to meet the client’s deadlines for pre-move, move, and post-move. The better the planning, the more efficient the organizing process. Our organizers usually work 8-hour days but can work as few as 5 hours on more days, so our senior clients do not get overwhelmed or exhausted. Even if the final move-in date is not known, we can still begin the purging, sorting, and packing process and schedule move-in work days when the time draws closer.
There is a lot of thought and work to be done between the consultation and the start of the first work day. If the action plan includes packing for a move, Get Organized! can order boxes and packing material for pickup or delivery. Our box companies offer us a discount on boxes and packing materials, and we happily pass these savings on to our clients.
When a client is downsizing, our organizers must determine with the client what furniture will fit in the new space. This will be based on the choice of the new location, floor plan, and amenities such as storage options or dining facilities. If possible, our team will measure the new space and come up with a layout that will suit the client’s lifestyle. Anything that does not fit the approved plan will be used for staging, given to family or friends, donated, sold, or recycled. Get Organized! has resources for donations and recycling and can also set up shipments of possessions to family members in other areas. Organizers will also make recommendations on products that may be needed for closets and cabinets in the new home. Our goal is to make sure the new space accommodates all the items being moved into the client’s home.
Shopping for organizational tools for the new space can be done by the seniors, family, or organizers. Our shopping rate is $65/hour plus mileage and the cost of the items. The hourly rate is charged during travel time to the various stores. Space planning for a new home and product research outside of work days will be at a cost of $65/hour.
Depending on the plan of action discussed at the consultation, our clients (seniors or their family members) might be given homework to complete prior to our arrival such as basic purging, gathering supplies, or making decisions on the distribution of furniture and mementos. Some clients may choose to work alongside our organizers to answer questions and help make decisions, and some prefer to make themselves available for questions, but let the organizers do all the work.
Completing the Job
Remember the TV shows like Clean Sweep? They are just that - an entertaining, pre-scripted show! They want the viewer to see dramatic results in an hour, so they cart out a lot of junk and build some cool storage pieces, but do not show the real decision-making, follow-up, and maintenance processes that are necessary to become organized! Keep in mind that it took a long time to get disorganized and it will take time, effort, and determination to change that mindset.
Organizing for Home, Business & Life