http://www.seniorhomes.com/p/the-family-transition-blog/

Thursday, May 28, 2009

LISTEN: CHERYL WHEELER " ESTATE SALES"



I'm going to use this song as the background to my estate sales pages. Great song. So true. Only diff is that I am not an old, blue haired estate sale lady with a bad attitude.


Feisty, yes but the hair is presently spring time auburn.




HAVE AN ESTATE FULL OF STUFF?
CALL LAURIE AT 301-332-5585!


WE SELL EM, WE BUY EM. WE CLEAN EM OUT!
WE'RE TOUGH AND FEISTY AND WE GET THE JOB DONE! LOL

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

HOME SIMPLIFICATION BOOT CAMP FUNDRAISER SEEKS HOSTS

FROM: MISSION:TRANSITION LLC

TO: WASHINGTON DC AREA REALTORS!

Home Simplification "Boot Camps!"


The idea is to use these as fundraisers for your favorite local charity. You, the realtor, locate appropriate clients (your future or current listings) to act as 'hosts' to donate their homes and disorganization... ( they need to be downsized, organized and possibly staged...) you and your client raise funds from local community, friends, office mates, etc. The donations are deductible from the charity, obviously.

I, the professional organizer, downsizer and simplifier, with you, and our hand-selected team ( yet to be determined who this would consist of...maybe a celebrity willing to donate a few hours for press coverage to help raise funds...) go in and get to work. I have been discussing and planning the attack in collaboration with your client and you in advance.

In a day or two the house is simplified, downsized, organized, and ready to paint, stage, etc and your charity has made money.

I will charge half my normal fee to do this, of course, this comes out of the donations. I also take on helping to get press and video coverage with the charity, of the events. No one loses, everyone gains and it is a lot of fun!

INTERESTED? PLEASE EMAIL ME AT
MISSIONTRANSITION@GMAIL.COM

THIS WILL TAKE ONE REALTY COMPANY ( OR POSSIBLY TWO TO HOST SIMPLIFICATION COMPETITIONS....)WITH A STAFF OF FUN LOVING, COMMITTED REALTORS TO HOST A SERIES OF THESE WEEKENDS.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

ONE LOT 400+ ESTATE ITEMS FOR SALE WEEK OF 5/18/09 FREDERICK, MD

I have a very large lot of smalls, collectibles, antiques, and antique furniture for sale.

SOLD ONLY AS THE LOT, NO CHERRY PICKING!

1800's Gate Leg Cherry table ( new gate)

Late 1800's walnut table with leaves ( needs minor work)

1920's oak pedestal table, 4 original chairs ( VGood)

1960's stackable walnut veneer, black laminate secretary (desk), bookcase and cabinet ( rattan front) NICE

1960's Danish Modern Teak China sliding door china cabinet, glass/top, wood, bottom, lit, EXCELLENT

Bamboo side table

Weaver's Chair, Spoke Back

48" x 86" x 1 1/2" piece of solid clear acrylic

86 x 48" custom shelf unit, clear acrylic

Bentwood Oak Tobbogan

Two nice mid 1800's gold gilt on plaster frames, need minor work

Various other frames

A box of first edition books and high quality books that have been appraised as such...

SMALLS: TOO NUMEROUS TO INCLUDE ALL HERE.

NIPPON, NORITAKE, Hand Painted Edwardian China, Bohemian Glass, Cut Crystal of various types, Dolls, Repro. Iron Banks, Photos, Art of various types including paintings and prints, Collectible plates (48), Japanese Handpainted china and individual pieces, Japanese doll, Mid-Century pottery, Paris handpainted 60's child, Swedish wool rug, Large Handknotted Abusson rug ( cream/pastels, V Good, ) Iron Trivets, Iron Sconces, Brass Carriage Lamps-Japanese, Smoking Stand, 1950's Iron frame Patio folding chairs (6), 1800 foot warmer (coal oven)New Hampshire, Stereopticon with 2 dozen, cards, MAGIC LANTERN with glass slides, quilts, Blenko amethyst pieces, OLD Gorham Plate Serving dishes, Gorham flat ware, Rogers Plate Grape motif flatware, Art Deco flatware ( 2 patterns), Ceres Ironstone, MUCH MUCH MORE! Call Laurie Zook at 301-332-5585 to see and make your best offer. Selling Week of 5/18, Final!

THE SIMPLE LIFE

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/display_detail.htm?StoryID=55055

Slice OF Life

Entrepreneur helps people downsize, manage domestic, business worlds
By KAREN GARDNER News-Post Staff kgardner@fredericknewspost.com FREDERICK — Downsizing a home, office or corporation requires part business sense, part sales sense and part psychological sense, and Laurie Zook can do it all. Ms. Zook runs Mission Transition out of her Frederick home. She specializes in moving and estate sales, packing and set up, interior design consultation, property cleanup and updating. No job is too small, although she prefers jobs where she can make a difference in someone’s life. Often that someone is a senior citizen who is moving from a larger house into a smaller one. Many are seniors moving from a home they’ve lived in for many years into independent living situations where on-site health care is available. She helped her most recent client make $26,000. The 85-year-old man moved from his Washington-area home into an independent living apartment because he wanted to be near his wife who was in a nursing home. “He was in total breakdown,” Ms. Zook said. “We started working with him, got a Dumpster in his driveway, and went through his papers, piece by piece.” She doesn’t throw anything away without examining it first and checking with the client. She found uncashed traveler’s checks and valuable coins from a coin collection. “I threw all the junk away and organized the house to the point where he knew where things were,” she said. The man decided what to sell and what to keep, and she set up a tag sale, which took place over several weekends. She started the job in mid-November and had it completed in late December. About 60 percent of her clients are senior citizens. With the first of the baby boomers turning 60 this year, her business has the potential to get much larger. She employs part time assistants. She is preparing a book for real estate agents and others who deal with clients moving into new spaces. She helps clients pack, organize estate sales, plan furniture placement in a new home, oversee the moving process and arrange spaces in the new home. “I am not a moving company,” she said. “But I can help them find movers.” Older people are often emotionally attached to their things, she said. “Their kids either don’t want to deal with it or can’t handle it,” she said. “It’s very emotional for everyone. I’m objective.” She has dealt with people who keep everything. “I’ve worked with people who are on the verge of being hoarders,” she said. “Most are in-between.” Her fees are hourly, and she charges a percentage of the proceeds from estate sales ranging from 25 to 40 percent. Ms. Zook, 47, has a background in interior design, office space planning and sales. “I’m an artist and a designer,” she said. “I try to keep things in a happy balance.” She has helped young couples move; helped stay-at-home moms organize their closets; and organized home offices. She also organizes corporate moves. Much of her business is in the Washington area, but she’s hoping to do more work in Frederick. “I do any part of a house or garage or business,” she said. “Nothing is too dirty.” She gets referrals from real estate agents. Other business comes from ads in senior newspapers and word of mouth. “They’re usually surprised one person will do all that,” she said. “It’s a great business, and I’m challenged by how I’m going to make it grow.”

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

SENIOR'S TRANSITIONS

The toughest (and most rewarding) transitions I have worked with have been seniors, octogenarians actually, who still lived alone, both men and women.

Overwhelmed, in a lot of emotional turmoil, holding on until they had been forced to 'vacate' their home, I worked with them through the downsizing and relocation process.

One gentleman's daughter came in from California several times, to interview and hire me, referred by their realtor, and came in at the end to accompany her dad to the west coast. The moving truck pulled away and they pushed his wheel chair down the ramp and got him into the car. He had cried a million tears by then and had come to terms with his situation. I called him 4 weeks later and he loved his new high rise apartment.

A lady in Silver Spring, in her wheel chair, worked side by side with me, room by room, going through everything, and packed her things to move to Sunrise Assisted Living. Once moved, I arranged her room, and called Verizon-(time after time after time.) I was to blame for her TV not working, a week later... LOL. Her personal representative, another senior, looked over the process, and paid my invoice. Nothing was going to make her happy, not all the attention in the world.

Frank, now my good buddy, had a large old DC townhouse that took us 6 weeks to get downsized, organized and then get him moved to Ingleside at Rock Creek, to his own lovely apartment, where his wife of 45 years was living in nursing care. During the downsizing process, he tried on all of his favorite suits, we took them to the tailor, he went through his book collection, for the last time, told us stories of Austria in WWII, how the Nazi's confiscated his father's factory, and many more. He studied his paperwork, at his dining room table for hours at end while we worked. I had met him on October 1, 2005 and he was moved, his unwanted valuables sold at a large estate sale, ( $28,000) and the house cleaned by the middle of December, settlement followed.

Sometimes I've been treated like the bad guy, sometimes I feel like their mother, and it's sometimes implied that I am taking their last red cent on pay day.

And eventually, when it's all said and done, I am the person who took it on to handle the details of their lives that got them moved forward, out of an endless existence of staring at the past.

Friday, May 8, 2009

400 Pieces Antique Jewelry FOR SALE! Edwardian, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco from Lucio's High Art Jewelry, WA DC 1950!





MISSION:TRANSITION SELLS IT ALL!

I conducted an estate sale in December 2008 and part of that estate is this lot of jewelry, discovered in an old Lane cedar chest in the deceased's closet. It is the inventory from her mother's jewelry store that went out of business in 1950 plus or minus. We conducted a separate 2 day jewelry sale at the residence and brought in around $4500. I have sold a lot to another dealer since then, taken it to New York for an expert to have a look-see and gone to two other jewelers hoping to sell the lot. Thing is, so is everyone else . So the jewelers are having a shopping spree. People need cash. Jeweler's take the fun out of it.

As an intermediate resort, until a saavy merchant shows up with a wad, I am listing it, piece by piece on ebay ( I will blog on the associated risks of selling good stuff on ebay some other time...) and have set up a website. Named after the mother of all pins, a 3" diameter lioness face with a huge white topaz in her mouth, and 2 white topaz eyes. Gold wash on brass. Heavy as all get out. ART DECO.

The website will direct you to the ebay listings, they're all on the same page. I have 30 items on right now. Lady lion, up at the top has one day left on her auction. Check it out. Make an investment in antique jewelry.

Oh, what I would give for a house in NW DC full of junk to sell! That's my idea of a good time!










Thursday, May 7, 2009

SENIOR'S SAFETY PACKAGES, ORGANIZATION SUPPORT!

To All Professionals with Senior Clients:
Realtors, Estate Attorneys, Insurance Agents, Medical Professionals and Elder Care Providers and others!


MISSION:TRANSITION LLC helps your senior and special-needs client get his or her life in order! Whether they are very functional or more dysfunctional, we provide the support and services to prepare your client for their next step in life. We help them before life circumstances and neglect of issues, both legal, and of their physical environment, blossom to crisis proportions.

Illness, lack of family assistance, outside social support and lack of attention to detail can become disasterous without friendly, professional intervention, in their home.

We handle basics, like organization of paperwork, needed to organize their estates. When it is financially productive, on the advice of their legal counsel, to sell their collections, jewelry and valuables, (prior to death,) I provide the research and locate the appropriate buyers, and obtain multiple offers.

On the home-front, The MISSION:TRANSITION Safety Package includes a thorough inspection of the residence, inside and out, to identify potentially dangerous situations. For $495 we provide a 2 to 3 hour inspection (by our licensed contractor) while our transitions coach walks through the process with the client.
  • Inspection of home, interior and out, report of all situations, by the room provided.
  • Smoke, CO2 detector inspection and replacement/installation. 2 item replacement included.
  • Plug in Flashlight installation in convenient location, flashlight included.
  • Light bulb replacement, included.
  • Handrail placement (bath, kitchen, stairs)
  • Flooring inspection, for slippage or bad materials
  • Staircase inspection, inside and out
  • Visual Attic and basement inspection for vermin, leaks, holes,
  • Assessment of heating system ( HVAC specialist must do inspection later)
  • Exterior building assessment for leaks, vermin, deterioration.
  • Debris report, inside and outside, recommendations for removal
  • Toilet and sink inspection
  • Questionable electrical switches and outlets
  • Appliances in kitchen and laundry, basement.
  • Inspection of dryer exhaust and washer hose and fittings
  • Other

We provide a complete check list report and recommendations on repairs, needed add-ons and costs of safety devices. Installation and cost of handrails, materials, removal of debris and extermination and construction/repairs at additional costs by separate contract.

This price is for a typical 3 to 4 bedroom ranch or colonial home. Larger homes can cost more. Please call for details.

As always, MISSION:TRANSITION LLC is happy to provide your qualified client with a NO-Cost transitions consultation. Thank You.


http://missiontransition.net

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Transition is Tough!

I've worked with dozens of clients during life transitions. Each person has had his or her own unique circumstances, of course. One thing they all have in common is that the need to CHANGE is staring them down, as if daring them to cooperate or fight the inevitable.

I've worked with the brave souls, those that go peacefully, welcoming this metamorphosis, looking forward to their 'new life', relishing in the chance to create a new living situation. Then the opposite, of course, those who dig in, try to control the uncontrollable, and defy the ugly reality they are creating. These Transition Resisters move slowly, kicking and stomping, sometimes not just figuratively, crying, making excuses, getting passive aggressive, blaming everyone for how it is. Like 4 year olds. Scary stuff, making changes.


We all know someone like that, at some time during our lives. Goal is not to have it be us!



Regardless of the personality of the human being(s) I use the same steps to tackle, or massage, the transition, and the result is always that my client goes forward.



I start forward (planning the exit date) and work backward. Step by step we plan, implement, attack and handle the place and the things, and in the process, underlying issues surface, stories are told, emotions bubble up, decisions are made, breakthroughs occur and the person, now my accomplice in progress, not just a client who once was a stranger, gets un-stuck from their past, maybe just a little, or a lot.



My client is either relocating, or can staying in their home, but, whether in the existing or new space, it has been simplified, organized, purged of junk, and depending on the situation, I have sold their unwanted valuables, collections and household goods and made them cash, which more than pays them back for the money they have paid me.



They can reflect on the work and the process and know the pain of change was all worth it.




http://missiontransition.net/

Popular Posts

My Blog List

Blog Archive