Choate, Hall and Stewart, a leading Boston estate planning and legal firm, called upon Transitions Liquidation Services to assist the daughter of one of their clients. Mom was ill and experiencing cognitive decline. Daughter Sandy moved Mom to her home in California so she could help care for her. The family home, in a prestigious suburban MA neighborhood, is a traditional Georgian style brick-faced home, that sits on more than six acres of property. The three-story, 8,000 square foot home includes six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and many other rooms with 30 years of furnishings, décor, and memorabilia that needed to be considered and dealt with.
Feeling the Squeeze
Sandy felt passionately about wanting to do “what was right” when it came to the property she grew up in and that her mother loved. However, running back and forth from California to Massachusetts to manage the process became untenable. As a member of the “sandwich generation,” Sandy had two young children, who also needed her care and attention. At one point, Mom fell and needed to be hospitalized. A better plan was needed.
A Better Plan
At first, Sandy was skeptical about allowing TLS to work through their process to designate what household items, including furniture, were to stay in the home for staging or be sold, donated, or disposed of. After working with TLS during her trips from California, Sandy learned to trust the company who has been doing this for clients for over 20 years. She recognized that the TLS process was one that balanced the reality of what needed to be done with compassion and experience.
Planning for the Home Listing and Sale
While the home is a showplace of design, it was clear that some necessary maintenance had been deferred over the years. Additionally, the home was a showcase “of its era” including dated wall and window coverings, furnishings and décor. Initial steps in the plan involved shipping many items to CA that Sandy would be keeping, including items requiring crating and special handling. Then the home could be staged with remaining items.
An estate sale was planned for after the home was sold. As the furnishings and décor were pared down to prepare for the staging, it became evident that the dated nature of the furnishings and maintenance issues such as peeling wallpaper and sun-damaged wood floors, were going to have a significant impact on the home’s marketing potential both in terms of sale price and the “wow affect” needed to elicit multiple bids shortly after the listing went live.
Transitions Liquidation as Project Manager
TLS soon adopted the project manager role for this complicated set of activities requiring many different companies and skills. Gentle Giant, the TLS exclusive moving partner, was engaged to pack, ship and deliver the many items Sandy retained to her home in CA. TLS worked with the property manager and the realtors, Land Vest Luxury Real Estate, to determine the extensive list of action items and areas of the house to be addressed, as well as a schedule with key target dates.
TLS and their resources emptied the home, removed the wall-to-wall carpeting and window treatments, chose paint colors for the walls, and called in stagers to prepare a proposal for outfitting the home to appeal to a modern-day buyer.
Our team worked in conjunction with the property manager to utilize their resources to remove wallpaper, repair wall damage, fully paint the entire home, and address the hardwood floor damage.
An estate sale would have delayed the start of the necessary repairs so many items the family did not retain were sold privately, including furniture, china, crystal and small porcelain items, sterling silver and a piano. Many items were also accepted by a consignment store for sale.
A staging company was brought in to prepare the home for listing. The stagers purchased furnishings to update the look of the breakfast room, dining room, entry, formal living room, and library. After the home is sold, the stagers will return to remove the furnishings unless they are purchased by the new buyer.
The Goal Achieved
It was very difficult for Sandy to come to terms with having to sell the home she was raised in … the place that represented her mom and dad’s dream home. She was conflicted and pulled in many directions. She realized that she couldn’t do it alone. The goal was to be able to prepare the home for listing it and to sell it at the best price.
Transitions Liquidation Services is often called in by realtors, elder law attorneys, and estate planners to prepare a home for sale. With 20-plus years of project and move management experience and a wealth of vetted resources to call upon, TLS is well-suited to achieve success and to lift the burden off families who are geographically distant or unable because of other responsibilities to handle the challenges that inevitably arise.
If you are helping a loved one prepare to sell the family home, or if you are an elder law attorney or estate planner with a client in need of services to prepare a home for listing and sale, call Transitions Liquidation Services at 617-513-0433. We will answer all your questions.