When you’re a real estate company specializing in senior clients who are moving from homes they’ve owned for decades, you meet plenty of homeowners who have waited too long to sell.
Those include couples who imagine a move to something better suited to how they live now, but who wait for the perfect price on their older place; putting off the job of decluttering and shopping for senior communities.
But agents at The Steller Group’s Senior Solutions Division often hear that the unexpected happens—maybe a medical emergency—that makes an older house unreliable for one partner’s physical needs.
“That leads to a loss of control that makes a move harder to carry out, and less satisfying in how it works out once the transition is over,” says Steller Senior Solutions Specialist Blair Bryant.
“When you reach 84 or 85, there is just a higher likelihood of something happening.”
Bryant and other Steller agents have seen numerous sellers through those difficult situations. But they also have a growing list of people who timed their moves perfectly, who are getting the most back from their new situations, thanks to Steller’s guidance and support.
Last week, six of those successful sellers, all of whom attended Steller’s seminars before tackling the job, met with their agents to talk about what went right with their perfect moves.
“When I turned 80, we started looking seriously,” recalls Mike Morrisey, who with wife Ann had been looking at senior living communities since 2017, but began working with Steller Senior Solutions just last year.
Along the way, they had feedback from friends who had carried out similar moves, who wished they had the same guidance and support from Steller through their move.
That went flawlessly for the Morriseys, as Steller carried out a prompt sale of their home, including staging it and helping with decluttering, creating a single-move transition to Wind Crest Senior Living in Highlands Ranch.
“It just fit,” Mike says now of their new community. “There are a million things to do.”
“I thought it might be too big, but the people are so friendly,” Ann adds, noting that they’re invited to dinner by neighbors and attend a variety of classes.
Maria Consentino of Arvada had spent a career at IBM and wanted a retirement move to run like clockwork. Agent Missy Crew showed her the range of essential details that Steller handles. “I decided they can do the work,” Maria recalls. Her home sold last spring within weeks.
Meanwhile, seller Mark Majors found Steller’s seminar last January, but was surprised how quickly they made his move happen. “I was amazed how fast it could be done,” he said, citing the complicated task of decluttering. “We went on the market in March and were under contract in a day or two.”
“I’m on a floor where I know everybody,” says Cleone Crooks, who made a smooth move into Vi Senior Living in Highlands Ranch with help from Steller. That included arranging an estate sale to rid clutter at her longtime home on Lookout Mountain.
Seller Wendy Kolbe, who had thought of moving from her large Greenwood Village home for 12 years, is on a wait list now at two communities and is meeting Steller’s contractors. “I want activity,” she says. “I’m not ready to be taken care of.”
All of the sellers talked of the importance of getting the pricing and staging correct. “Those are doubly important this year,” says Steller’s Bryant. “Homes that are priced right and that don’t involve projects for prospective buyers sell rapidly,” he says.
Steller makes all of that happen with a range of contractors who serve all aspects of senior moves—helping get rid of clutter, touching up areas to show better, staging the home for visitors, and carrying out the move itself.
Sellers rave about the services. “We’ve used all of them and we continue to use them,” says Bill Anthes who with wife Marilyn used Steller for a move from an older 2-story home to a low-maintenance ranch in Highlands Ranch.
Now the couple is readying to sell that 3-bedroom/2-bath ranch, and Steller has it on the market at 3887 Mallard Lane, $675,000.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.