It is never too early to being planning. The great thing about Blue Skies is that our independent living communities rival the most dynamic out there. As a 62+ community, many people choose to call Blue Skies home to experience the maintenance-free, active lifestyle that our residents enjoy every day, not just for the future assured healthcare services. As one of our residents said on a recent webinar, “Come now when you can enjoy it like I’m enjoying it! Better to come 5 years early than 1 day too late!”

The first step in planning your move to Blue Skies is to reach out to our marketing counselors. They will help you understand how our Life Plan Community works, and find the right fit for you and your family. We are very proud of our marketing team and the entire Blue Skies family. Many of the relationships built during this process have lasted years beyond moving in!

As soon as you know a move is in your future, you can begin making decisions about your house and possessions. You should also begin to organize your important documents, an essential step for your peace of mind even if the move is further down the road. When you’ve selected your Blue Skies home, try to make moving arrangements 2-3 months in advance if possible, keeping in mind that peak move seasons such as the summer could require a longer lead time for moving companies. Our Blue Skies relocation specialist is standing by to help you navigate each step of the moving process.

Yes! We understand that this is a big decision, and we want you to make sure that it is the right one for you. Visiting is a huge part of the Blue Skies experience, and our marketing counselors will help schedule your personalized stay. You will have the opportunity to dine in our restaurants, spend time with residents, and sample our community activities and resident-run clubs. We have a robust Ambassador program to help you see what life is really like here, pairing you with residents during your visit and allowing you to experience our community away from the staff! In many cases, our guests hit it off so much with the resident Ambassadors, that they request them as sponsors when they move in! (See more about the sponsor program below.)

This is an important question, as making the move is typically much more than just packing up your car and driving to your new Blue Skies home! Some of the services you may want through this transition include:

• Customized floor planning
• Organizing, sorting, downsizing & decluttering
• Important document management & photo archiving
• Assistance shipping items to family & friends
• Estate sale & donation solutions
• Real estate sales support
• Move planning & oversight
• Packing & unpacking
• Design & furnishing assistance
• Moral support throughout the transition! (This is a big one that people often overlook. Making the move is a big decision, but it doesn’t have to be a stressful one. Lean on family and friends during this transition, and of course, our trained Blue Skies team is here to help each step of the way!)

Imagine packing up your house, exactly as it is now, and moving all of it to your new Blue Skies home. Now, imagine thoughtfully decluttering and downsizing, organizing and packing, and moving that to your new home. In most cases, that second scenario creates a sigh of relief! You have undoubtedly collected a lifetime of possessions, memorabilia, and keepsakes. But, what makes most of our belongings valuable are the memories and stories, not the things themselves. Downsizing is a process that can help us find that line and determine what we really do need and want as we make this next move.

Our team at Blue Skies works regularly with Senior Move Managers, like Generations, to help you through this challenging, yet liberating process. Remember, you are making this move to enjoy a new lifestyle, not to sit in your home to admire all your “things.” Read more downsizing tips provided by the National Association of Senior Move Managers.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that moving into Blue Skies also means having access to all our shared community resources, like our woodshop, garden, art studio, and fitness centers that are all outfitted with top-of-the-line tools and equipment that residents can all use whenever they’d like! We even store boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations that our holiday decorating club uses to make the holidays feel special around the entire community! Save the space in your closets, and celebrate with your new neighbors!

While the choice is yours to make, proper packing by a trained professional using specially designed cartons and material can be a wonderful option for many people, saving both time and effort while ensuring your belongings will arrive safely. If you’d rather pack for yourself, by all means! Either way, upon your arrival, Blue Skies offers every new resident 24 hours of unpacking services, free of charge. This complimentary service helps immensely with getting settled in your new home, allowing you to “hit the ground running” and begin enjoying your new lifestyle!

Floorplans, floorplans, floorplans! Though we offer over 50 distinct floorplans throughout our community, each one has dimensioned floorplans. Whether you have an architect’s mind, or you would like our team to help you, utilizing your new floorplan is key to making decisions about what to bring with you, or which new furniture to buy. Our model units can be a great resource and for some homes, we also offer our 3D floorplans and virtual floorplan tours, that can help you visualize how furniture may fit best in your new space. Generations offer a free consultation and other services to help you through this process, including measuring your own furniture, “placing” it in the new floorplan, and evaluating what will work best. Our Blue Skies team is also very familiar with our home layouts and is here to help!

Some new residents sell their house and use the proceeds toward the Entrance Fee. Others choose to keep their home until they get settled in and have the time to sell it. Either way, selling your house does not need to be as stressful and complicated as it seems. The first step is finding a great realtor to help you navigate the process and answer all of your questions right off the bat. Our Blue Skies team works regularly with a fantastic network of realtors that specialize in senior moves, for both in-state and out-of-state real estate markets.

Great news! Although the timeline now looks different than what you expected, we are here to help. You are more than welcome to move in as early as you need, provided we have the accommodations. If your new home is ready, come on down! In the event that our team is still working to finish your renovations, we will put you up in a beautiful apartment until it is ready. Given how hot the housing market is right now, we have welcomed many residents in earlier than they expected! Our relocation specialist and resident services team are equipped to find the perfect temporary accommodations for you, allowing you to jump right into your new lifestyle while you wait for your new home to be ready.

Congratulations on making the move! As soon as you decide to join our community, your marketing counselor will have our relocation specialist, Logan, reach out to you. She will be your main point of contact for the move, overseeing all of the logistics, from helping to initially hire a moving company all the way to connecting the cable in your new Blue Skies home. Along with your marketing counselor and the rest of our Operations team, we walk through your new home in the days leading up to your arrival to make sure everything is as it should be. Our goal is to make this process as seamless and stress-free as possible!

Welcome! Hopefully, you’ve taken advantage of our free unpacking services and can start your Blue Skies life right away. Even before you move, you will be paired with a resident sponsor. This program is managed by our residents, and they work hard to get the right fit for each new resident. Essentially, your sponsors will be your guide to Blue Skies living, showing you around the community, introducing you to other residents, and helping you get situated with any of the activities you want to try out. Aside from the formal sponsors, I can guarantee that you won’t be wanting for company, as our residents have been described as, “aggressively friendly!” Of course, the choice is always yours as to how social or active you want to be, and how you want to spend each day at Blue Skies! Additionally, within a few weeks of moving in, you can expect to meet with our Wellness staff one-on-one. We will get to know you, talk about any goals or health situations you may have, and figure out how the Blue Skies team can help you move forward.