Should you sell your home, or modify it
to accommodate your needs? BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER Anne Saatela lost her mother, father and sister within a two-year period, and was faced with deciding what to do with a houseful of possessions. “I didn’t know where to turn, whether I should fix the house up or not,” she said. Working as a real estate agent in 2006, she came up with a plan for helping families like hers. She established a senior transition team that will clear out the contents of a home, find people to conduct inspections, make updates and repairs, and ultimately put the home on the market for sale. She has continued her work with senior citizen relocations since becoming an independent contractor at Keller Williams in Eagan in 2008. Her group advises people who are interested in selling their homes to first select and remove the sentimental items they want to take with them. “We’ll offer suggestions on where to relocate,” Saatela said. “We’re familiar with 50 or 60 senior facilities.” Her team sometimes even arranges for an estate sale. “We determine what needs to be done [to the house], we get estimates, we coordinate the work, we arrange for cleaning crews to clean the home top to bottom, and we put it on the market,” she said. “We’re the only company in the Twin Cities to do things to the extent that we do. We have a remodeling crew. We’ll even coordinate the move so we’re there while they pack up the senior citizen and then we go to the senior facility and put the bed together for them. It’s very fulfilling.” Her group also works with homeowners who are hoarders, but they have to be out of the house, Saatela said, adding, “We’re not hoarders’ therapists.” Her group doesn’t charge for its coordination services, just the commission on the sale of the home, Saatela said. “As the years have progressed, there are some other Keller agents who have decided to help se-
niors,” she said. “They, too, are independent contractors like me, but I don’t believe they take it to the extreme we do,” she said Because so many senior citizens want to age in place, sometimes what’s needed is an in-home modification. That’s where Ability Solutions comes in. The Burnsville company installs stair lifts and also remodels bathtubs so they are accessible. Such adaptations may be less expensive than a Realtor’s fees. “Some seniors aren’t able to manage the stairs any more, or their family calls because the senior citizen is afraid of falling,” said Karen Petrone, office manager at Ability Solutions. Jack Benke of Real Estate Opportunities, Inc., says many seniors opt for a home assessment to determine whether they can or should remain in their home, whether it makes sense to make improvements to adapt the home to their needs, or whether a lifestyle change is needed. “We help aging adults,” Benke said. “People love their independence and want to stay in their own homes as long as possible. We try to work out the best lifestyle we can with the money available.” Benke said many senior citizens haven’t sold or purchased a home for 20 years or more, and find that roofs and windows at their current residence need to be replaced before a sale can occur. Sometimes a reverse mortgage can be useful if improvements can be made to fit the changes in lifestyle. “It’s a phenomenal and very misunderstood tool,” said Benke, who has a background in estate planning. “AARP and others approach it as a last resort, but I feel it’s the first thing to explore. It’s at least worth a conversation. It’s another bucket of money to draw from. It takes an effort for people to sit down with a professional and make sure they understand it, but I hate to see it ruled out because of lack of information.” HOME - TO PAGE 4