3 Moving Tips for First-Time Homebuyers With Disabilities

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Moving is one of the most stressful life events that a person can undertake. According to a survey by OnePoll, moving tops the list—ranking above divorce, marriage, and having children—as a psychological and emotional stressor! If you are moving with a disability, the experience can be doubly difficult.

As one in four Americans has a documented disability, this means that locating accessible moving services and finding ways to make the process easier become a priority for many families. Consider the following three tips from Napa Sew & Vac to successfully navigate a move with a disability.

1. Check on Your Finances

First-time homebuyers often have no idea how much money they should be spending on a house, or how to check their credit score, compare loan interest rates, and assess the local housing market prices. Familiarize yourself with the process and consider these expert tips before making any offers.

If you have a disability, factor your new home’s price into your living situation, any assistance or accommodation you may need, and your healthcare situation. Work with a disability-friendly realtor to compile information about house listings in your area and organize paperwork for lenders. Use a mortgage calculator to determine how much you can afford to pay each month.

Consider whether you qualify for assistance programs before you set your final price. People with disabilities are often eligible for federal and state programs that can help buy or rent housing. There are also programs that help those with disabilities modify their living space to make it more accessible.

2. Make a Detailed Checklist

Remembering to pack everything in carefully labeled boxes and scheduling the appropriate moving services in time is a huge undertaking even without a disability. As soon as you know you will be moving, start writing down tasks with the date they are due. Assign each task to either yourself, your partner, your children, and any other person who lives at your residence.

When you give everyone a designated job and ensure that each task is crossed off your checklist, the mental load of moving gets a little lighter. People with disabilities often have to factor in a physical or mental condition that creates disorganization, fatigue, or foggy-headedness that can compound the difficulty of moving. Planning ahead and paying special attention to organization can save you work on hard days.

One important priority if you are self-employed, especially if you have others helping you, is to set up your new home office as soon as possible. This will enable you to continue working out of the way of the constant foot traffic and noise made by people unpacking.

3. Put Your Accessibility Needs First

If you use a wheelchair or another mobility device to get around your new home, ensure that your hallways are wide enough and check whether you need to install ramps, handrails, or non-slip bathroom flooring for safety. If you are going to be living in a rented house or apartment, have a conversation with your landlord about accessibility well in advance of your move. Employ help from a partner, parent, adult child, or close friend if you need it. It can often be difficult to move while coordinating accessibility and healthcare needs at another location, and you may not be able to visit the new location physically before you move.

Moving as an adult with a disability may pose unique challenges as wide-ranging as locating accessible moving services to ensuring that cables, boxes, and other moving paraphernalia are cleared from the floor so that you can easily navigate the space in a wheelchair. Ask detailed questions of your moving service, if you use one, and try to do most of the planning ahead of time to make for a smoother journey.

This article is brought to you by Napa Sew & Vac, where our mission is to deliver superior quality products and services enabling our customers to realize the value of doing business with an Independent Dealer. Retail business has always been an important ingredient for our success and has enabled us to thrive in this forever changing landscape of merchandising and sales. For more information, contact us today!