Resources for Plus 50 Age Group
“Marty was very professional; I thought he always looked out for me and my interests. His advice was excellent in getting buyers to the house and he exceeded my expectations for selling my house and getting me a new house. His communication along the process was Top Notch. He always returned my calls as soon as possible — most times immediately and if he couldn’t, he would text me when he would be available to call back. I would recommend Marty Gale as a Realtor to anyone, You will not be disappointed”
How can SRES Help You Plan for Your Future Housing Needs?
Most of us put time and effort into planning for retirement. That is, we plan for money-related issues such as retirement funds. Secondly, people plan for long-term care and life insurance. Deciding on where you’ll live as you age often takes a backseat during retirement planning.
Whether you are considering aging in place, downsizing, purchasing a rental property, or even upsizing to a new location, dealing with real estate transactions and choices can be a confusing maze to negotiate, even for experienced home buyers. Beyond the complexity of real estate transactions, those over fifty are often more sophisticated shoppers and can benefit from a knowledgeable SRES representative.
Our Senior Transition Timeline
Step 1: Initial Consultation: We will set up an appointment to meet with you and your family to discuss your personal and confidential situation. An action plan will be set in place to meet your needs and start the process of moving forward.
Step 2: Getting Organized: Our Senior Move Manager will work with you as little or as much as you need. From sorting and packing the home to complete clean out.
Step 3: Taking Inventory: After it is determined what items will be taken to the new place, you have to decide what they would want to do with everything which is remaining. They could do an estate sale, they could donate it, or they could even do a complete clean out.
Step 4: Preparing the Home for Sale: Before investing any money into their house, we will let you know what items we would recommend they should do to get their home in top showing condition. If everyone decides to do so, we have a list of trusted vendors who can help with home repair, flooring, painting, and any other service which may be needed.
Step 5: Pre-MLS Marketing & Selling the Property: In order to get the most exposure of their home, we will pre-market the home to our local buyers, network of local agents, and online marketing strategies. We have a systemtic approach to selling the home quickly and for top dollar.
Senior Transitions and Real Estate
Over 3 decades we’ve helped many seniors and their families transition from the family home to their next choice of living accommodations. We understand how important and unique each situation is, how stressful and emotional it can be, and how we can help make this life changing move compassionate, comfortable, and caring.
Start the conversation early – communication is vital. The thought of leaving the family home can be overwhelming and raise lots of questions for seniors: How do we even start? What is the first step? Can we financially do this? What about all the personal belongings? The items to leave behind? Will the adult children be involved? Who can I trust? Who can help?
Marty Gale Holds the Seniors Real Estate Specialist – SRES® Designation. Seniors Real Estate Specialists receive specialized education to help those age 50+ through lifestyle transitions involving downsizing, relocation, or selling the family home.
SRES® is a REALTOR® who is uniquely qualified to assist seniors in housing sales and purchases. The SRES® designation is awarded only to REALTORS® who have additional education on how to help seniors and their families with later-in-life real estate transactions.
More of what you LIVE for.
Find your ideal home with my help. I’m your SRES®.
Every transition is an opportunity, regardless of your stage in life. With the right preparation, a new home can provide the fresh start and continual enjoyment you’ve been working toward.
By partnering with an SRES® like me during your new home search, you’ll gain the help and expertise of a REALTOR® specialized in meeting the needs of home buyers and sellers ages 50+.
I have both the education and real estate experience to serve as your trusted advisor through the unique financial and lifestyle transitions involved in relocating or selling your family home.
What is an SRES®?
A Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®) is a real estate agent who is uniquely qualified to assist home buyers and sellers ages 50+. The SRES® designation is awarded only to real estate agents who have additional education on how to help seniors and their families with later-in-life real estate transactions.
SRES® designees also draw upon the expertise of a network of specialists, such as estate planners, CPAs, and eldercare lawyers, and are familiar with local community resources and services. Their mission is to help seniors and their families navigate the maze of financial, legal and emotional issues that accompany the sale of the home and assist Boomers in relocating to the home of their future.
What qualities make an SRES® different?
• Has knowledge, experience and compassion in dealing with 50+ issues.
• Can suggest housing alternatives, including ones that may allow an aging parent to remain in the home instead of selling it.
• Takes a no-pressure approach to the transaction and has a strong service orientation.
• Will take the time needed to make a client feel comfortable with the complex selling process.
• Understands the emotional demands a sale can make on a 50+ client, and tries to minimize them.
• Can interact easily with all generations, including adult children and caretakers.
• Is knowledgeable in senior housing options from active adult communities to assisted living.
• Has a wide network of other senior-focused professionals who can assist in tax counseling, financial and estate planning, and other aspects of the sale and move.
Common Questions Seniors (Plus 50) Ask Us
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Is this an interim or transitional move?
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How does this purchase fit into future plans?
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Is it a second home that may become a primary home in the future?
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A transition home to be sold at retirement?
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How do you feel about making this move?
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What are the top ten things you want, or never want, in a home?
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Are there special needs or property features to consider?
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Will the neighborhood meet your needs for transportation, grocery delivery, meals, and medical?
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Do you do your own housekeeping and gardening?
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What form of communication do you prefer?
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Phone? email?
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Is there another family member involved in the decision?
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Would you like to know more about the financial options available?
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Do you currently have a reverse mortgage?
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Will the move impact long-term health care coverage?
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In the case of an estate, has the estate been probated?
What qualities make an SRES® different?
- Has knowledge, experience and compassion in dealing with senior issues.
- Can suggest housing alternatives, including ones that may allow an aging parent to remain in the home instead of selling it.
- Takes a no-pressure approach to the transaction and has a strong service orientation.
- Understands the emotional demands a sale can make on a senior, and tries to minimize them.
- Tailors the marketing of a home to the needs of an older client.
- Can interact easily with all generations, including seniors, adult children
and caretakers.
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Free Booklet
Senior Plus 50 Resources and Web Sites
- Age Match
www.AgeMatch.com - Age In Place.com
http://ageinplace.com - Aging in Place Initiative
www.aginginplaceinitiative.org - Aging in Place Technology Watch
www.ageinplacetech.com/ - AARP
www.aarp.org - AARP Aging in Place
www.aarp.org/home-family/your-home/ - American Society on Aging
www.asaging.org/blog - Caring Transitions
www.caringtransitions.com - Center for Universal Design
www.design.ncsu.edu/cud - Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities—Continuing Care Accreditation Commission
www.carf.org - Eldercare Locator
www.eldercare.gov - Federal Interagency Forum on Aging
www.agingstats.gov - HelpGuide.org
www.helpguide.org - HUD National HECM Network
www.HUD.gov - Leading Age
www.leadingage.org - National Older Driver Research and Training Center
http://driving.phhp.ufl.edu - National Adult Day Services Association
www.nadsa.org - National Association of Senior Move Managers
www.nasmm.org - National Center on Elder Abuse
www.ncea.aoa.gov - HECM Resources
www.hecmresources.org - HUD FHA Reverse Mortgage for Seniors (HECM)
http://portal.hud.gov - Money Management International
http://www.moneymanagement.org - MetLife Mature Marketing Institute
www.metlife.com/mmi - The New Old Age
New York Times Blogs
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com - National Aging in Place Council
http://www.ageinplace.org - National Council on Aging (NCOA)
www.ncoa.org - National Foundation for Credit Counseling
www.nfcc.org - National Pace Association
www.npaonline.org - National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification
www.homemods.org - National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association
www.reversemortgage.org - National Senior Citizens Law Center
www.nsclc.org - Neighbor Works America Aging in Place
www.nw.org/network/comstrat/aginginplace - Neighbor Works Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC)
www.nw.org/nchec - Raising Your Grandchildren
www.raisingyourgrandchildren.com - Retired Brains
www.RetiredBrains.com - Reverse Mortgage Advisor
www.reversemortgageadvisor.com - Reverse Mortgage Guides—Education
http://reversemortgage.org - Security 1 Lending
www.s1l.com - Senior Friend Finder
www.SeniorFriendFinder.com - Senior Job Bank
www.SeniorJobBank.org - Senior Match
www.SeniorMatch.com - Seniors Real Estate Specialist Consumer Web site
www.sres.org - Senior List
www.theseniorlist.com - Silver Planet
www.silverplanet.com - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging
www.aoa.gov - U.S. Census Bureau
www.census.gov - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
www.cms.hhs.gov - U.S. Government Accountability Office
www.gao.gov - U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging
www.nia.nih.gov - Volunteer Match
www.volunteermatch.org - Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Environmental Geriatrics
www.environmentalgeriatrics.com
Publications
Magazines
- AARP Magazine
www.AARP.org/magazine - Grand Times Magazine
www.grandtimes.com - Reminisce Magazine
www.reminisce.com - Trailer Life
www.trailerlife.com - Senior Citizen Journal
www.seniorcitizenjournal.com
Research
- Beyond 50.05, A Report to the Nation on Livable Communities
AARP Public Policy Institute, www.aarp.org - Growing Older in America: The Health and Retirement Study
National Institute on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. www.nia.nih.gov - Work and Retirement Patterns for the G.I. Generation, Silent Generation, and Early Boomers: Thirty Years of Change
Urban Institute, www.urban.org - Older Americans, Continuing Care Retirement Communities Can Provide Benefits, but Not Without Some Risk
Report to the Chairman, Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senate, GAO-10-611June 2010, www.gao.gov - The NRMLA Guide to Aging in Place
Publications, www.nrmla.org - Older Adults and Social Media
Pew Internet & American Life Project www.pewinternet.org - Older Americans 2010 Key Indicators of Well-Being
Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, www.agingstats.gov
MetLife Mature Marketing Institute Research Studies
- 2009 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs
- Aging in Place 2.0: Rethinking Solutions to the Home Care Challenge
- Boomers: The Next 20 Years, Ecologies of Risk
- Changing Attitudes, Changing Motives: The MetLife Study of How Aging Homeowners Use Reverse Mortgages
- Encore Career Survey
- Engaging the 21st Century Multi-Generational Workforce
- Housing Trends Update for the 55+ Market (2011)
- Livable Community Indicators for Sustainable Aging in Place
- Meaning Really Matters: The MetLife Study on How Purpose is Recession-Proof and Age-Proof
Books
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- From Age-ing to Sage-ing
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi - The Art of Aging: Celebrating the Authentic Aging Self
Alice & Richard Matzkin - The Fountain of Age
Betty Friedan - Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being
Andrew Weil - How to Care for Aging Parents
Virginia Morris and Robert M. Butler - Loving Senior Transitions: The Top Five Questions Baby Boomers Need to Ask to Help Aging Loved Ones
Ruth Fennell - The Longevity Revolution
Dr. Robert Butler - Look Me in the Eye
Cynthia Rich and Barbara MacDonald - September Songs: The Good News About Marriage in Later Years
Maggie Scarf
- From Age-ing to Sage-ing
- Moving In the Right Direction: the Senior’s Guide to Moving and Downsizing
Bruce Nemovitz - Moving On: A Guide to Housing-Related Resources Tailored to Seniors and Their Families
SRES® Council
- Seven Strategies for Positive Aging
Robert D. Hill - Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying
Ram Dass