How do I choose an agent to help a parent downsize or sell a longtime Colorado Springs home?

The homeowner stays in the driver's seat

When a parent sells a longtime home, it's the homeowner who makes the decisions. That's true even when adult children are closely involved. The exception is when a family member holds a valid power of attorney that gives them the legal authority to act on the owner's behalf.

A good agent keeps that clear from the start, and so should the family.

It works best when the homeowner is part of the conversation

In my experience, it works best when the homeowner reaches out directly. I worked with a couple in their 80s who had watched my YouTube videos on downsizing and contacted me themselves. Early on, I asked whether it would help to have their daughter listen in on our conversations. They said yes, absolutely. They wanted her to be part of it.

That made the whole process transparent. Their daughter got to know me, and together we got the home ready to sell. I put everything into a project management plan, an actual schedule of what needed to happen and when, and gave it to everyone involved so we could all work from the same plan. That helped significantly.

If you're the adult child reaching out

Sometimes an adult child is the first to call. That's fine, but the first thing a good agent should do is make sure your parent actually wants help and wants to move. No one should feel pushed out of their home. When a parent is hesitant, the situation calls for a much more delicate approach, more time, and a lot of communication.

A few things help:

• Include your parent from the first conversation, and let them decide how involved they want you to be.
• Agree on who makes which decisions, so there's no confusion later.
• Expect the timeline to follow your parent's pace, not the family's calendar.

What a good agent does differently

Communicates with everyone the homeowner wants involved. Transparency builds trust, especially when several family members are part of the conversation.

Creates a written plan. A move out of a longtime home involves many steps: sorting belongings, repairs, preparing to list, and finding the next home. A shared schedule keeps everyone working together.

Coordinates the right professionals. I work with senior move managers, estate attorneys, CPAs, and 55+ community sales offices, so each part of the move has the right help.

Knows contract options that reduce stress. Terms like post-closing occupancy, which lets the seller stay in the home for a period after closing, and contingent or bridge-timed purchases can help your parent move only once instead of twice.

What the SRES® designation means

The Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®) designation from the National Association of REALTORS® focuses on understanding and serving clients 50 and older. The coursework covers housing options such as aging in place, active-adult communities, and assisted living, along with the tax, finance, and estate-planning topics that often come up, and how to build a network of trusted service providers.

Like any designation, it shows an agent has invested in training. Experience with actual downsizing moves, and the patience they require, shows the rest.

You can confirm the designation in NAR's SRES® directory and the agent's Colorado license in the Division of Real Estate's free license lookup. See what the SRES® designation means for more.

Questions to ask when you interview agents

• How do you work with families when the homeowner is older? Listen for respect for the homeowner's decisions.
• What does your plan for a downsizing move look like? Ask whether they put it in writing and share it.
• Which professionals do you coordinate with? Senior move managers, attorneys, CPAs, and community sales offices are common.
• How could we time the sale and the next move so my parent only moves once?
• How do you handle it when the homeowner needs more time?

Red flags to watch for

• Talking past the homeowner. If an agent speaks mostly to the adult children, the homeowner isn't being treated as the decision-maker.
• Rushing the timeline. Pressure to list or decide quickly doesn't fit a move like this one.
• No written plan. A move out of a longtime home has many steps. If there's no plan everyone can see, things get missed.
• No one to bring in. Ask who they work with for moving, legal, and tax questions. An agent who tries to handle everything alone, or has no one to recommend, is a concern.
• Selling instead of guiding. The right agent explains the options and lets the homeowner decide, including deciding to stay.

Legal and financial questions to settle early

Power of attorney. If a family member will sign documents for the homeowner, the power of attorney must specifically grant that authority. Title companies typically need to review it, and a power of attorney used to sign a deed generally needs to be recorded. Have an attorney confirm the document will work for the sale well before closing.

Taxes. A longtime home may have a large gain. A CPA can explain how the federal home-sale exclusion applies and what records of past improvements may help. See who you need on your team for the questions worth asking.

How I hold myself to these standards

I hold the SRES® designation, and my background as a project management professional shapes how I organize these moves. I also cover downsizing on my YouTube channel, Life & Real Estate After 50™. Hold me to every question on this page.

Resources and rules specific to Colorado Springs

Talk with the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging early. Run by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, it serves adults 60 and older and their caregivers in El Paso, Park, and Teller Counties, with a stated goal of helping older people live independently in their own homes. Its Senior Information and Assistance Center can connect your family with in-home services. That call sometimes shows that staying is workable, and it helps you make the stay-or-move decision with better information. You can reach it at 719-471-2096.

Understand what a move does to your parent's property taxes. Colorado's senior property tax exemption reduces the taxable value of a qualifying senior's primary home by exempting 50% of the first $200,000 of its value. It generally requires the owner to be 65 or older and to have owned and lived in the home for at least 10 years, so it doesn't automatically follow your parent to a new home. For 2025 and 2026, a separate senior primary residence classification offers similar relief to seniors who received the exemption in 2020 or later on a previous home. Both run through the El Paso County Assessor, with a July 15 application deadline. Rules and funding change, so confirm the current status with the Assessor before you count on the savings.

Use contract terms that let your parent move once. On downsizing moves, I often use post-closing occupancy, which lets the seller stay in the home for a set time after closing, and contingent or bridge-timed purchases, so a parent isn't moving twice or carrying two homes.

Know what local buyers are looking for. Among people settling or retiring in Colorado Springs, I see strong demand for single-family homes, single-level living, and room for more than one generation, and more new homes are being designed that way. That affects both what your parent may want next and how buyers may see the home your parent is selling.

What could change the answer

If your parent's health or ability to make decisions is changing, involve an elder law or estate-planning attorney before listing. If the home is being sold after a death, the process is different, and the estate's representative, not the family as a whole, makes the decisions.

When to talk with a professional

An estate or elder law attorney can advise on powers of attorney and estate questions. A CPA can advise on taxes. A senior move manager can help with sorting and moving belongings. Your agent can coordinate all of it.