Moving your mom or dad into assisted living

We can. BEST MOVE has been moving Ventura County families since 1985 and senior moves are now the largest single category of work we do — into assisted living, independent living, memory care and skilled nursing communities across Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura.

Call (805) 375-0765 and you will speak to Lyn or Gary directly. Most families call us three to six weeks before the move-in date, but we have handled plenty of moves arranged in under a week.

Yes, and we do it often. A large share of the adult children who book these moves live somewhere else, and we run the whole thing by phone and photos — the walk-through, the quote, move day, and the cleanout of the old house afterwards.

What helps most is one decision-maker we can reach on the day, and a floor plan of the new apartment. We will call you when we start, when we finish, and if anything comes up in between.

Carefully, and usually while the resident is somewhere else. Most memory-care buildings prefer the apartment to be fully set up before the resident arrives, because walking into a room mid-move is disorienting in a way that can genuinely set someone back.

We arrive early, set the room up completely — bed made, chair positioned, familiar pictures on the wall, the same lamp on the same side of the bed — and are gone before they come in. Crews on these jobs are briefed to keep noise low, stay out of hallways where possible, and speak to residents who approach them rather than working around them.

Much less than families expect. A one-bedroom assisted-living apartment is a fraction of the size of a house, and a studio smaller again. In practice what fits is a bed, one comfortable chair, a small dresser, a nightstand, a side table and a limited amount of wall art.

The most useful thing you can do is get the floor plan with dimensions from the community before you decide what goes. We will measure the actual pieces against it and tell you honestly what will not fit, which is a much easier conversation to have three weeks out than on move day.

Usually a mix of four destinations: family members, donation, sale, and disposal. We can handle the last two ends of that in the same job — our TRASH DAY division clears what nobody is taking, donating usable furniture and recycling electronics before anything goes to a landfill.

If the house has to be emptied for a sale, we can move your parent on one day and clear and sweep the house on another, with the same company and one point of contact.

Then we stop and ask. Our crews are instructed that if the resident is present and says something stays, it stays, and we call you rather than overruling them in their own living room.

It is worth walking the house with your parent beforehand and physically tagging what goes. Disagreements are much easier to resolve the week before than with two movers standing in the doorway holding a dresser.

Yes, and it usually makes the day go better. Senior move managers — many certified through the National Association of Senior & Specialty Move Managers — handle the sorting, the floor planning and the emotional labour of downsizing; we handle the trucks, the wrapping and the lifting. The two roles fit together cleanly.

If you are working with one, put us in touch early and we will plan the day directly with them. If you are not and you want one, ask us — we work alongside several in Ventura County regularly.

Yes. Hospital beds, lift chairs, mobility scooters, walkers, transfer benches and oxygen concentrator setups all move regularly with us.

One caution: equipment that is rented or leased through a medical supplier usually has to be returned to or relocated by the supplier under the lease terms. Check who owns each piece before move day so nothing gets moved that should have been collected.

Yes, and we call them ourselves rather than leaving it to you. Most communities restrict move-ins to weekday business hours, require a reserved service elevator and a loading dock slot, and want a certificate of insurance on file before the truck arrives.

Give us the community name and your move-in date and we will confirm their rules and book the window directly with their move-in coordinator.

A move from a house into a single assisted-living apartment is normally a shorter job than a full household move, because far less is going — many are finished in half a day with a two or three-person crew.

It is priced hourly at the same rate as any local move, with no charge for stairs, long carries, fuel or reassembling the bed at the other end. If a house cleanout is part of it, that is quoted separately by volume so you can see the two numbers independently and decide.