If you're ever lucky enough to work with a senior and their family you know much of your job becomes reassuring the senior that move *is* possible. It's perfectly normal for seniors to feel overwhelmed with the thought of moving. Often, this is the very thing that keeps them stuck in a home with a ton of deferred maintenance, lonely and isolated.

The mistake families often make with seniors is to try to convince the senior to move. This is a lose-lose proposition. Even if the senior does agree to move, they feel as if they are doing it under coerscion. Take that same senior and open up a conversation about what they want...even if the end result is the same, the senior's perception of being in control makes all the difference in the world.

Have a conversation with the senior about soemthing you're an expert in. The housing market. Finally, a way to use the media's "the-sky-is-falling" message to your advantage.

Here is some interesting stuff about seniors and housing from the  Pew Research Center  about homeowners 65 and older:

This group is the most pessimistic about home values compared to other age groups.

• Of those 65 and older 14% expect their home values to increase
• Of those 50-63 years old 27% expect their home values to increase

• Of those 65 and older 15% expect their home value to decrease
• Average of all age groups, 10% expect their home value to decrease

Open up a conversation with this in mind: The fear of something lost is greater than the prospect of a benefit gained.

Instead of talking with the senior about all of the positives of moving, and trying to convince the senior of something they don't believe, talk with them about getting out of their house before a further decrease in the market, and before winter so they can sell their home for the highest price possible. The fear of loss of money is greater than the prospect of a nice new apartment.

Questions you can ask the senior:

• If I can show you how moving vs. moving next year could save you money, would that be helpful to you?
• What have you heard on TV or the Radio about the housing market?
• How does that contribute to whether you sell now or wait?
• What would you do if you had to replace XXXXX(the furnace, roof, etc) within the next year?

For other tips on working with seniors in transition, visit www.RealSageAdvice.com