The Advocate

The one-stop shop for both older adults and the children of aging parents in Minnesota. Whether you’re looking for a senior apartment, assisted living or a nursing home, you’ll find it here! The Change AGEnt Group of RE/MAX Results specializes in helping older adults downsize.

Paper Piles

My Decluttering Project

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on My Decluttering Project

I’ve started a project to declutter and downsize. My basement is filled with rows and rows of bankers boxes of business records me and my handyman husband are required to keep for business. Each of us has 7 years worth of boxes. Our collection of documents has grown to quite a collection of bankers boxes…

Wallet with a clamp on it

Call a Realtor early, save money

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Call a Realtor early, save money

One Reason to Call a Real Estate Agent EARLY.  If you’re in a home today, or you’re trying to make real estate decisions one of your first things to do might be to call a real estate agent in early. This is not a sales pitch, I’ve got strong logic about why this makes sense.…

Podcast Episode 1 – What is a CCRC?

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Podcast Episode 1 – What is a CCRC?

  Welcome to Senior Housing Search Podcast!  What kind of senior housing is the best fit for you? A Continuing Care Retirement Community might be just the thing. There are only 5 Continuing Care Retirement Communities in the state of Minnesota so they not many people seem to know about them. They can be be…

Tax Law

What the New Tax Law Means for You

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on What the New Tax Law Means for You

There’s been a lot of hub-bub in the news about the new tax law. Until now I’ve just glazed over when I heard it talked about because I didn’t understand what it meant for me, my clients, or for our local real estate market. Until now!    Capital Gains First, the tax law does not make any…

List your home in the winter

List Your Home in the Winter

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on List Your Home in the Winter

When I meet with clients the goal is to always strategize how we prepare the home for the market that honors the homeowners goals. It’s a mistake to lose out on what is the perfect next home for you because you think you can’t list your home in the winter. The timing of your move…

RE/MAX Results The Change AGEnts Group

Introduction to Lisa Dunn and The Change AGEnts Group

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Introduction to Lisa Dunn and The Change AGEnts Group

In case you’re wondering who we are and what we do, this is a clip of an introduction at a recent seminar.  Thank you so much for being here today! In this next hour this works much better if it’s more of a conversation than a presentation. I know you have burning questions about real…

Address book and coffee

Real Estate Agent Referral Fees

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Real Estate Agent Referral Fees

Does Your Real Estate Agent Get a Referral Fee for Referring You? I thought it would be interesting to have a conversation with you about referrals and referral fees for real estate agents. It is The Change AGEnts Group’s policy to NOT receive referral fees for any business that we refer our clients to. It’s…

Quiz Time. Interview a real estate agent

Interview Questions for hiring a real estate agent

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Interview Questions for hiring a real estate agent

Interviewing a real estate agent can be about as fun as going to the dentist. Many of us don’t interview potential candidates on a regular basis. Use these interview questions when you’re getting ready to interview a real estate agent to work with you in the sale of your home. General Impressions Was the agent…

Big house little house. Estate Recovery

Protecting Your House from Estate Recovery

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Protecting Your House from Estate Recovery

Many people don’t know that after a Medical Assistance recipient dies, the State may attempt to recoup from the decedent’s estate whatever benefits it paid for that individual’s care. Moreover, the State will almost certainly make another claim for those benefits upon the death of the surviving spouse, regardless of whether or not that surviving…

interview handshake

Interviewing real estate agents? What to expect.

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Interviewing real estate agents? What to expect.

What are some of the things you can expect to happen when you call a real estate agent to your home? Typically, you would call a real estate agent to do a complimentary consultation to help you develop an idea about how to manage the logistics of your move, and to complete a Comparable Market…

Riding a bike uphill

Overwhelmed? Here are some tips

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Overwhelmed? Here are some tips

We’ve seen our very articulate vibrant well-educated clients become completely paralyzed during the process of moving/downsizing when they become overwhelmed. Webster’s Definition of “overwhelmed” Here’s how Webster’s defines “overwhelmed”: 1. upset, overthrow 2. a: to cover over completely:submerge b. to overcome by superior force or numbers c. to overpower in thought or feeling. To submerge?…

Maze of senior services

3 Tips to Navigate Senior Services

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on 3 Tips to Navigate Senior Services

The Network of Senior Services The industry that I know as the “senior services” is comprised of hundreds, if not thousands, of small companies offering services to seniors. They all offer services specifically tailored for older adults, or those that care for them. A sub-set of these professionals (myself included) get together on a very…

Downsize puzzle

Time to Downsize -Should you buy or rent?

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Time to Downsize -Should you buy or rent?

Is it time to downsize? Are you thinking about downsizing and wrestling with the question about whether you should BUY a home or RENT a home? For many older adults owning a home offered a sense of pride and was a bar to reach that signified success. After working a lifetime the idea of renting…

Senior Real Estate Specialist Logo

Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) – The ABC’s of Real Estate Designations

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) – The ABC’s of Real Estate Designations

Let me introduce myself, my name is Lisa Dunn, MA,CSA,GRI,RSA,SRES Maybe you’d like to see the logos of my designations? WHY do real estate agents put all of those letters behind their names? How do you know if someone is a senior real estate specialist?  I used to think it just didn’t matter. It didn’t…

Quiz Time. Interview a real estate agent

Interview Questions for Senior Housing Communities

By Lisa Dunn | Comments Off on Interview Questions for Senior Housing Communities

When you visit senior housing communities, the list of the things you want in your next apartment may change. After seeing a couple of model senior apartments you may add or subtract items on and off your wish list.  In addition to the list of what YOU want, be sure to ask questions of the…