By Mary Holmes At Integrated Move Management, we love to help our clients reduce their stress. Downsizing, moving and cleaning out a home can be a trying time for our clients and their families. Our team is dedicated to working with each client to meet their individual needs. We also truly understand that when we are working with a client – it is their move, not ours. We don’t dictate how things should be done; we only suggest what may work well and help them meet their goals

By Mary Holmes Integrated Move Management would like to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2018! As we start a new year, we thought it was a good idea to summarize the services offered by us and the Professional Move Manager industry generally. As it is a newer industry (coming into existence in the early 2000’s), we understand that not everyone is familiar with the broad range of ways we can help you and your family. The Professional Move Management industry originat

By Mary Holmes One of the services offered by Integrated Move Management is Home or Estate Clean-Out. This may mean different things to different people. It is also defined in a variety of ways by companies providing this service. So perhaps it is a good idea to clarify our definition. We tend to use the terms Home Clean-Out and Estate Clean-Out interchangeably. Traditionally, Estate Clean-Out happens after the homeowner has passed away and all possessions need to be rem

By Mary Holmes It is coming up on a year since I started Integrated Move Management with a goal of helping seniors during a stressful time in their lives. Transitioning from their long time home, having to downsize, and the physicality of packing and unpacking can all be hard on a senior. It has been very rewarding so far – I have met so many great people, helped many seniors and their families, and worked with several great employees and vendors. If you want to learn a li

By Mary Holmes Whether a senior decides to stay in their home as long as possible (age in place) or move to a smaller home or retirement community (downsize), there may come a time when they need some help with activities that have become more difficult for them. The senior may realize themselves that they need some assistance or a family member may make that assessment. The deficiency may be a physical issue or a cognitive impairment. Fortunately, there are many companie

By Mary Holmes So you have made the decision to move – now what? There is so much to accomplish before move day, but as long as you follow some guidelines and have a solid plan – your move day will come and go with minimal stress. Here are some tips to help you make sure your move day doesn’t end up taking a wrong turn. Professionals or Not – As you think (realistically) about preparing for and accomplishing your move, the first decision you need to make is whether or not t

By Mary Holmes When I started Integrated Move Management, I knew I would enjoy helping clients during a stressful time in their lives. Moving is ranked among the highest situational stressors. This type of transition typically is even more stressful and emotional for seniors moving from their long time family home. There have been many great and rewarding moments working with our clients. Here are just a few of my top memories: Finding a Needle in a Haystack – It is quite

By Mary Holmes As I have discussed on a number of occasions, downsizing is never easy. There are typically many decisions to be made at a very stressful time in a person’s life. For example, when a senior is transitioning from their life long home to a retirement community – they must decide the right time to move, the right place to move to, what to take with them, how to disperse of their remaining possessions, how to get packed up, and how to accomplish all of the above

By Mary Holmes In our last post, Senior Transitions – An Emotional Time (Part One), we explained the reasons why a downsizing and move can be an emotion-filled time for a senior. A senior will commonly feel some level of fear, confusion, sadness, anxiety, loss, and relief throughout the process. There is now a name for these feelings: Relocation Stress Syndrome. Following are several ways to reduce the negative emotions associated with a senior transition: ​Start the Proc