THE
amount of goods a couple can accumulate over 44 years living in the
same house can be overwhelming. And that is what Wendel and Carolyn
Thompson, of Columbia, Md., have been grappling with since January as
they prepare to leave their split level and move to a retirement
community this month.
Figuring
out how to squeeze the contents of a house into a two-bedroom
retirement unit nearby in Catonsville, Md., has taken most of their time
in recent months. And they’ve had some help. “Declutter ladies,” or
downsizing specialists, spend hours with them every week to sort through
and pare down their belongings to a more manageable size.
“We’ll
get through this. That’s what I tell myself several times every day,”
said Mrs. Thompson, 77, a former teacher and Maryland school nutrition
program employee, who raised three children in the four-bedroom house.
An avid collector of educational materials, games, gifts and other
miscellaneous items like teddy bears, she devotes time every day to
deciding what goes in the boxes for giving away, the boxes for the new
apartment and the boxes for each of her children — and their children.
“One of my recommendations for handling this,” she added wryly, “is don’t wait.”
But,
of course, many people do wait — and wait, said Kimberly McMahon,
co-owner of Let’s Move, a downsizing and moving specialist in Fulton,
Md., whose company is helping Mrs. Thompson and her husband, 78, a
former government statistician, to clear out every nook and cranny.
“Downsizing
is the hardest because it is emotionally difficult for people to
release their history,” said Ms. McMahon. “It’s the worst anxiety
associated with any move.”
Her advice is “that nothing should be off limits. Either use it, love it — or leave it.”
Getting
rid of furniture and general clutter can be a daunting task. For those
with antiques, silver, jewelry and other valuables, Laurene Sherlock, a
Bethesda, Md., antiques appraiser, will advise people of outlets like
vintage shops, where owners can consign their precious pieces for sale.
But
the value of valuables can be cyclical, warned Ms. Sherlock, who noted
that 1950s and mid-modern furniture “is hot, and so is Bakelite jewelry,
but something else that people love may just not be popular. A lot of
younger people just don’t want to be burdened with the tchotchkes.”
While
homeowners can amass impressive amounts, the task of clearing out
apartments where people have lived for a long time is not any easier,
said Ron Shuma, who runs A+ Organizing in New York City.
“I
advise going through each drawer and each closet every six months
because it’s so much easier,” he said. “But people typically don’t, and
that’s where I come in to help people realize what are treasures, and
then we get rid of the rest.”
When
Hanan Watson, 71, decided to downsize after 35 years in a large
two-bedroom Murray Hill apartment, she found that “it is very difficult
to sell or even give away many things. Charities can be extremely
particular about what they are willing to take.”
She
donated some of her art to a nearby community art center, gave some
items to relatives and friends and got a lot of assistance from Mr.
Shuma in getting rid of larger furniture.
“There
are a lot of challenges, for example, the glut of ‘brown furniture” —
even good-quality mahogany — which fetches pennies on the dollar,” Mr.
Shuma said. “The best thing is for a family member to take it.”
But
with careers and young children, fewer 40- or 50-something offspring
want to acquire bulkier items or take on the task of sorting and
disposing of unwanted goods in their parents’ homes. In the last decade,
baby boomers, more used to paying for services than their
Depression-era parents, have been increasingly willing to spend money
for outsiders to help them pare down their accumulation.
The
price of such services can vary widely, from $60 an hour in major
metropolitan areas except New York City, where the cost can run as high
as $200 hourly. In other areas, downsizing help can run $40 an hour.
Sorting, packing and moving typically runs from $4,000 and $10,000,
depending on the locale, according to specialists.
Despite
the cost, the demand for downsizing is strong, according to the
National Association of Senior Move Managers. In 2014, the association
reported that 50 percent of those contracting for services with its
members were older adults, and 30 percent of the initial contacts
leading to contracts were from the senior’s family.
An
additional 20 percent of business comes from sources like senior
housing communities, which have increasingly been establishing programs
to help seniors pare back and streamline their belongings before
becoming community residents. In 2007, Erickson Living, a major
retirement community provider, started a program in Novi, Mich., to
advise older adults who had signed up to move to the Fox Run retirement
community.
The
program, called Erickson Realty and Moving Service, is offered at the
18 Erickson retirement communities around the country, and helps older
people with real estate agents, repair people, organizers and movers to
smooth their path out of their longtime homes and into smaller spaces.
Last
year, the program helped 230 of the 340 people who moved to Erickson
properties in Virginia and Maryland, said Sharon Baksa, its regional
sales director. The program provides up to $2,000 in relocation expenses
— sometimes more.
“We
play the role of the surrogate family member,” said Ms. Baksa, who
helped start the program in Michigan. “We handle between 1,800 and 1,900
moves a year over all.”
Choosing
the retirement community, the Charlestown Retirement Community in
Catonsville, helped the Thompsons in Maryland focus on sorting and
jettisoning belongings.
“When we set an August date then we knew we had a goal, and we had to meet it,” Mrs. Thompson said.
The
downsizing credit was an incentive for the Thompsons, who started in
February with a once-a-week visit, for three to four hours, to help sort
belongings and get unwanted items out the door. By April, they had
increased the declutterer’s schedule to twice a week to meet their
target of an August move, and preparing their house for sale by the
fall.
They
did not have high-end valuables that would warrant an estate sale, but,
instead, had one yard sale and then gave away many of their items to
family, friends and charities like Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity.
Most retirement communities and organizing professionals maintain a list
of organizations and what they will accept.
Churches
or temples also help. Marc J. Rosenblum, a retired lawyer and
economist, has been clearing out his late wife’s belongings and various
household goods from his McLean, Va., contemporary home with advice from
his synagogue, Temple Rodef Shalom.
“They
provided suggestions for where to allocate items, for destinations like
a homeless shelter in Bailey’s Crossroads, Va., and a nearby thrift
store,” said Mr. Rosenblum, 78. He first consulted a downsizing
specialist, which, he said, “saved a lot of time, and helped me pick up
some good ideas, including a furniture auctioneer.”
He
handled the downsizing task largely on his own, but others like the
Thompsons say they welcome the help and the prompting for what many see
as an onerous, time-consuming job.
Even with the help, “it’s one step at a time,” said Mr. Thompson. “And I don’t see the end yet.”
For people thinking about beginning the task, here are some ideas from Kimberly McMahon, of Let’s Move..
■ Write some organizing time on your calendar.
■ Set a timer to get started.
■ Start small, even if it’s matching up a cup with a saucer.
■ Get a friend to help.
■ Fill a trash bag once a week.
■ Call and book a donation pickup for the next day.
