Success Stories!


Out of town son has mother’s items cleared and donated as he returned home


A son was able to spend the last two weeks with his mother’s life but after her passing, could no longer neglect his business.  He hired Lifestyle Simplified to oversee the clean-out of her living quarters and dispose of a number of items.

 

All the items were inventoried. With destinations indicated, our team then coordinated with family friends to pickup some memorabilia and furnishings.  Within the week, we moved remaining items to the family home the son had kept and delivered other heirlooms to friends of the family living in the area.

 

A complete inventory of all items with their destinations and appraised values was sent to the son. The project was completed allowing him to get back to his personal and business commitments.

 

Lifestyle Simplified was able to free the son to attend to his important matters knowing he and his mother’s wishes were being carefully and professionally handled.
Couple moving from their Shaker Heights home of 40 years

This is a great story. The family felt they could handle the move basically on their own. After working with us, the came to fully appreciate the size of their undertaking and the options and support we provided. This made the move go very smoothly and they realized a financial benefit they were not expecting. Here are some of the details.....
This couple was moving into a senior community. Their only child lived out of town and was not able to spend a lot time helping them prepare for their move. She engaged a independent contractor to organize as well as a trash hauling company.  A mover was scheduled.    What was being created was a scheduling nightmare. We were brought in two weeks before the move to identify consignment and donation needs as well as any special package and storage requirements.
 
Not only did we identify valuable donations or saleable items previously headed to the trash, but we laid out a plan to give the daughter more control of the clean-out process. At first, 10 items were identified for consignment.  We suggested there might be other items and after move day, we came back and added approximately fifty more items to go to auction and/or a retail consignment shop. Interestingly, we even found a long missing diamond ring in a kitchen cabinet - saving it for the owner from being lost forever.  We generated a full cost breakdown, allowing them to choose sensible, cost effective options for what they wanted to do.
 
We staged the move. Two days prior to move we picked up an initial set of carefully packed items. The husband had a very special collection that required special handling which we accomplished through special (inexpensive) commercial boxes that provided the necessary protection and access the owner wanted.
 
At 4:30 PM the day after the move, the home empty, ready for painting/repair contractors. The daughter called us several days later to say how much we helped her through this moving adventure and how she couldn't see doing it without us.
 
A very satisfied customer!


A man moving from independent living to assisted living within a retirement community

 

The widowed husband needed to move from cottage home to assisted living on campus.  One adult child lived in California, two other adult children lived in the Greater Chicago Area. They were interested in receiving a few of the family’s long held furnishings and possessions. 

 

Moving to assisted living meant disposing of most of cottage possessions.  We worked closely with the siblings to identify what and how a variety of items were to be shipped. The next step was to identify those items that could be sold through consignment, liquidation and finally donation. Working with all of the out of town siblings, we were able to get the cottage home cleaned out early in plenty of time to turn it back over to the assisted living facility (saving on monthly rental fees). Further, everyone received their items in a timely fashion.

 

Lifestyle Simplified’s plan used all of the consignment and liquidation avenues available to maximize cash return. When it came to donations, the family received a detailed breakdown of all the inventory with a certified appraised valuation for tax purposes.

 

The unexpected sales and tax deductions more that paid for all the of services and shipping and moving cost! And the workload for the family was keep to a bare minimum.