Dear Amy: A little over a year ago, working with my mother’s doctor, I decided it was in her best interests (she has dementia) to move into assisted living. With help from my spouse, I was able to maintain her unoccupied house for about a year.
We have other elderly relatives in the neighborhood who kept us posted if anything required attention. A few months ago, it became apparent that mom would be staying in assisted living and so we decided we needed to sell the house in order to fund her care. All throughout the estate sale and listing the house for sale we kept the relatives informed so they wouldn’t feel the need to maintain constant surveillance on the property.