How your house can stand out

By Danielle Rexrode
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

As the housing market struggles to get back on its feet, there’s one branch of the real estate industry where business is booming. Moving consultants and staging professionals— people who specialize in easing the strains associated with selling houses and moving—are popping up all over the place.

The move of a lifetime
Moving Solutions, a company out of Wynnewood, Pa., specializes in helping retirees with their moves, particularly from their houses or condos to retirement communities.

“Preparing for a senior move is a major organizational challenge,” says Moving Solutions President Margit Novack, who was featured in TIME magazine. “There may be 40 years of belongings to sort through. It’s not uncommon to have items going to a son in Maine, a daughter in Illinois, a niece in Texas, the church bazaar, the Salvation Army, and the town dump,” she says.

According to Novack, as older Americans are increasingly choosing retirement communities, moving services like those offered by Moving Solutions are on the rise.

Erickson Retirement Communities, developer and manager of Charlestown in Catonsville and Oak Crest in Parkville, established a national realty and moving services company to help retirees sell their houses and move to Erickson campuses. Erickson Realty & Moving Services is a proactive program that simplifies every aspect of the move-in process. It offers consultative home visits; downsizing, packing, and moving assistance; professional real estate advice; marketing; staging; and an array of other services.

“We’ve helped thousands of people move into our communities, so we’re very familiar with the tools people need to have a smooth and successful move,” says Charlestown Retirement Counselor Steffany Byers. “And with the current housing market, we’re finding that people appreciate a helping hand when it comes down to preparing their house for sale.”