Transitions Liquidation Services was contacted five years ago by a couple (Stan) and his wife (Diane) who knew the time had come to consolidate their homes to a more manageable single level living space but, at the time, didn’t have a specific location in mind. They had fully furnished homes in Dartmouth and Concord. The initial plan was to place all of the contents of both homes into storage until the couple found their next home. TLS completely emptied the Dartmouth home and had worked through about 90% of the Concord home when the couple found a house they loved in Carlisle. Everything was taken out of storage and triaged to determine which items were to be kept and moved to Carlisle, which were to be moved or delivered to family members, and which would be sold or donated. Unfortunately, Diane died a year ago and Stan decided to move to The Commons, an assisted living community in Lincoln.
This entailed another review of furnishings and household goods to determine what would go into storage for the eventual Commons move, which would be sent immediately to family, which needed to be stored in separate lots for various family members and which would be sold or donated. The decisions were made up front but the work was completed in two phases to allow some items to remain in the home for staging purposes during the real estate showings which took place in April, 2020.
Fallout from COVID
As the stay at home orders continued and COVID crisis increased in severity, peoples’ thinking shifted from wanting smaller spaces in closer proximity to the city/work to needing space to accommodate the entire family working, schooling, and being at home 24X7. The resulting effect on the housing market is that larger homes with good sized land parcels began to sell very quickly and the Carlisle home was certainly an example of that – selling and closing in a month. At the same time, Stan’s move to the Commons was put on indefinite hold due to the COVID lockdown. An interim plan was put in place and Stan, and some of his belongings from both the Carlisle house and storage, were moved to his daughter’s home in Harvard. The remaining items from the Carlisle home that had been used for staging were divided up among Stan’s storage and the storage for other family members. The multi-generational living arrangement was believed to be short term but the COVID lock down continued to delay the Commons move and Stan enjoyed living with his daughter and her family so much that they decided to make the arrangement permanent.
Fast forward through the summer months and the world continued to cope with COVID-19. During this time the family explored the possibility of making the necessary physical changes to their antique home to accommodate the single level living Stan required but found that the expense and timing out weighted the benefit. They decided to look for another home that was more turnkey-ready. They found a perfect home in Gloucester that will require minimal updates to accommodate Stan’s physical needs and had enough space to accommodate two home offices, two at-home schooling teens, a music studio and wood working shop.
A Note about Storage …
To prepare the Carlisle home for sale, furnishings went into storage and were placed in several categories – items earmarked for certain people; goods to be used later; furnishings to be given to specific family members. Gentle Giant Movers, the TLS go-to mover for the transitions the company handles, uses a cutting-edge software program to keep track of everything stored in their warehouse … down to the specific item within boxes and vaults. Everything is tagged and photographed and listed in the software program so that it can be accessed and brought out of storage according to the client’s needs at any given time. Gentle Giant’s investment in this software program dramatically reduces the risk of lost items during moves into and out of storage and is just one of the reasons Marie LeBlanc trusts Gentle Giant for her clients.
Moving to Gloucester
Time to move into the family’s new home in Gloucester! Marie completed a detailed review of everything in storage and consulted with the family to determine what was to be moved to the Gloucester home and what items were no longer wanted and could be disposed of by TLS. Last to be removed from storage are six vaults of items Stan is giving to his niece and nephew for their new home. That final move will complete the removal of a total of 30 vaults of furnishings and a few oversized items stored in the Gentle Giant warehouse in what entailed about ten moves throughout this project.
TLS had to be flexible in dealing with COVID-19 requirements and to “spin on a dime” to assist the family when fast action was needed.
Flexibility was Key
During this process, the ability to adapt to changing circumstances was imperative. Transitions Liquidation Services had to be flexible in dealing with COVID-19 requirements and to “spin on a dime” to assist the family when fast action was needed. TLS has had a COVID response process in place, but families are now having to learn to adapt to very challenging situations as well. Marie LeBlanc is confident in the relationship TLS has with Gentle Giant that they can handle even the most complicated of requests. Marie also knows how important it is to be able to react “on the fly” and give the families only enough at one time that they can handle without getting overwhelmed.
“The world has certainly changed,” Marie LeBlanc said, “and we have had to adjust. As humans, we are equipped to be able to do that. Fortunately, TLS has long had a process that enabled us to become “essential” early on as we adapted to the special requirements to keep our clients, families, and staff safe.”
She added, “Our long-established relationships with movers and other resources enable us to proceed like a well-choreographed ballet.”