When a parent is moving out of their Vandenberg Village home

Vandenberg Village has spacious homes in older neighborhoods, among rolling hills and oak trees. It's a beautiful place to have lived for a long time. It can also become a lot of house and a lot of yard for one person to manage, and that's often how this conversation starts.

If you're the adult child making the calls, here's where I'd begin: nothing has to happen this month. A spacious home holds a lot of years, and sorting it is the hardest part. I bring a 30-day plan, a room-by-room checklist, and local estate liquidation contacts, so you aren't figuring it out alone from far away.

The house comes after that. I like to walk it as a contractor and, if you're open to it, give you a short Fix/Skip list, so the family isn't paying for projects that won't return anything. See more about Vandenberg Village.

The house. I like to walk it as a licensed contractor and, if you're open to it, give you a Fix/Skip list, so you don't pour money into a home your parent is leaving.

The belongings. You get my Seller Moving and Decluttering Guide, with a 30-day timeline and a room-by-room checklist, plus my directory of local estate liquidation companies for what nobody is keeping.

The coordination. If you live out of town, I'm your eyes on the property. I coordinate the cleanout, the estate sale timing, and the trades locally, and send you photos and updates in writing.

The timing. We plan the sale around the move, not the other way around, including options like a rent-back if your parent needs a little more time after closing.