Moving Elsewhere

Transaction Management

De-Clutter With Confidence

Selling in a Buyer's Market

Housing Options for Seniors

Deciding whether to leave your home and move or stay in it and adapt it is a challenging and emotional decision.

Since housing needs change throughout our lives, here are some factors to consider with your current home:

Are the stairs difficult to climb?
Are your long-time neighbors moving away?
Do you tend to use only one or two rooms?
Is it getting harder or more costly to maintain the residence?
Do you want to live closer to family or friends?
Would a change in residence improve your lifestyle?
Don’t drive and available transportation is not adequate
Want a different climate?

These resources can help with your decisions:

Choosing a Retirement Community

Choosing the Active Lifestyle You Want

Retirement Living Information Center - A guide to retirement communities and seniors housing nationwide, great places to retire, taxes by state, and much more

As your Buyers Agent, I can represent your interests when you make a move in Northern Viriginia. Should you decide to relocate, I can refer you to a Seniors Residential Real Estate Specialst in another part of the country.

Moving Elsewhere - Selling the Family Home

What opportunities are there for the person over age 55 who wants to make a move? There are a variety of choices, depending on what your lifestyle will be.

Age-restricted or Active Adult Communities: These are restricted to those over the age of 55, or sometimes 62 or better. Larger complexes will often be gated and have security. Visitors under the restricted age may stay, but usually only 2 weeks or so. Filled with a variety of activities, these communities can have villa-style homes on one level or with a loft; or they may include townhouses with elevators, or condominiums. There is a centrally-located clubhouse around which much of the activity revolves. Indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis, a game room, exercise room, library, social events and group activities are the core of these communities. A golf course may or may not be included. These communities are oriented toward an active lifestyle.

Assisted Living Facility : This type of housing offers independent living in private apartments. Residents are given the opportunity to share activities in an atmosphere of separate, private apartments with a common area for socialization and dining. These facilities offer personalized supportive services and health care designed to meet the needs—both scheduled and unscheduled—of those who need help with activities of daily living. These services can include:

· Three meals a day served in a common dining area

· Housekeeping services

· Transportation

· Assistance with eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and walking

· Access to health and medical services

· 24-hour security and staff availability

· Emergency call systems for each resident’s unit

· Health promotion and exercise programs

· Medication management

· Personal laundry services

· Social and recreational activities

Condominiums: These residences are usually in a garden, mid-rise, or high rise building. The area inside the unit is maintained by the owner, but the area outside the unit is maintained through a condominium association which charges each owner a monthly fee to maintain the property and common areas. Condominiums may be age-restricted to 55 or better, or may be in an urban or suburban area and include a mix of ages.

NORC: Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities are those where seniors sell their homes and move to an apartment. These apartments have a high proportion of people over the age of 65. They enjoy the lack of maintenance and the “lock and leave” freedom this type of housing provides.

ECHO: Elder Cottage Housing Opportunity, also known as a granny flat. Seniors occupy a second family living unit or apartment with a separate entrance.

CCRCs: These communities offer life care and provide the senior with an independent lifestyle. The community requires a buy-in, or an up-front annuity with monthly payments covering services, amenities and medical, as needed. The buy-in may or may not be refundable. The CCRC provides multiple levels of care, without the uncertainty of what will happen to you as you age. You enter as an independent adult. Care levels may include assisted living, alzheimers care, nursing care, and hospice. Everyone lives on the same grounds and move from one housing choice to another as their needs change. This option is very expensive but the resident is guaranteed lifetime shelter and care with a contract that spells out the housing and care obligations of the CCRC as well as its costs.

Housing for active adults may be an apartment, cottage, cluster home, or single family home. There are monitored emergency call systems, grab bars, and other safety features.

Assisted living units may be small studio or one-bedroom apartments with scaled down kitchens. There is often a group dining area and common areas for social and recreational activities. Residents may need some assistance in daily living but want to maintain their independence as long as possible.

Nursing care units are usually one room housing two or more persons with an attached bathroom. Residents may require skilled nursing care and may benefit from therapy to maintain or improve their abilities.

The cost for this type of housing is very high and unaffordable to those with lower incomes. Several fee schedules are available:

· Extensive contracts which include unlimited long-term nursing care with little or no increase in the monthly fee

· Modified contracts that include a specified amount of long-term nursing care. Beyond that specified time, you are responsible for payments.

· Fee-for-Service contracts in which you pay full daily rates for long-term nursing care

Most of the CCRCs require a medical examination to assess the applicant’s physical and mental status. Selected pre-existing conditions may cause a CCRC to refuse an applicant. Some CCRCs require residents to have both Medicare Part A and B. And they must have the financial ability to pay.

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Call me today ... I'll take the worry away!

Debbie Miller, Lifestyle Transition Specialist^®

CSA (Certified Senior Advisor), Seniors Housing Marketing Specialist