Serenity Senior Real Estate Services.
What About Selling a Home?
If you qualify for Medicaid you will want to discuss this with an Elder Law Attorney to see if this is the best solution. Once you decide selling the home is the best decision our Network can handle everything for you. You or your loved one just needs to reach out and our partners will come out to the house to get the process started.
Serenity Seniors Network of Realtor Partners will lead a team of real estate professionals to prepare and sell the home. Our network in comprised of Cleaning Services, Pressure Washers, Carpet & Tile Cleaners, Painters, Handyman, Movers, Stagers, Photographers & more. Call or Text 941-444-3888
Selling Your Home to Pay for Long-Term Care
Although there are a variety of other ways to take advantage of the value of your family member’s home, including traditional home equity loans and reverse mortgages, one way to proceed is to sell the home outright. This may be a good option for homeowners who require long-term residential care and do not have a spouse/partner, child, or another family member currently living in the home.
Although there are some seniors who never require long-term care services, approximately 20% will need senior care for more than five years, and 37% of seniors will require long-term care in a facility as they continue to age.
Moving your family member out of their current home may be especially difficult if they have lived there for many years, if they share the home with a spouse/partner, or if the home has sentimental value.
When to Sell a Home
Making the decision to move a family member into a long-term care facility can be an extremely difficult process, and many factors must be considered. As noted earlier, long-term care, particularly residential care, is expensive. Once your family has decided that a long-term care facility or community is the best option for your family member, it is important to consider all of the available resources to help pay for the associated costs.
While social security, retirement savings, long-term care insurance, Medicaid, and other resources can help, many individuals who require long-term care find that they require additional funds to help cover the high costs of long-term care. There are a variety of ways to leverage the equity in your family member’s home to help finance their care, including traditional (fixed-rate) home-equity loans, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), reverse mortgages, and renting out the home.
For those who own their home and are no longer able or no longer wish to live in their own home, selling the home may be the right decision. This option is not available to all seniors requiring residential long-term care. Selling a home is not an option for those who do not own a home or for those who wish to continue living in their current residence and receive in-home care.
In cases where selling a home is an option, there are a variety of factors to consider. It is important to consider your family member’s unique needs, preferences, and circumstances before making this decision.
Financial Considerations
As previously discussed, the high costs associated with long-term care are a major concern for most families, especially since it is often difficult to predict how long a person may require long-term care and whether or not their needs will increase substantially over time.
In addition, not every senior owns their own home; however, seniors are much more likely than younger people to own their home. According to Zillow, over 60% of those aged 75 and older own their own home and are not responsible for monthly mortgage payments.
Many older Americans who own their homes have a large percentage of their wealth attached to their homes. In many cases, the equity in seniors’ homes may be leveraged as a way to help cover the costs of residential long-term care. If your family member requires residential care and owns their home outright, selling the home and using the proceeds to help cover long-term care costs may be a good option, particularly if they do not have a spouse/partner living with them.
In some cases, it is possible to use the proceeds from the sale of your family member’s home to cover all of their long-term care costs for the rest of their life depending on the type of long-term care your family member requires, the value of their home, and whether or not they own their home outright.
Below are some important considerations regarding the financial implications of selling your family member’s home in order to finance long-term care:
- Fees and monthly costs associated with long-term care
- How long your family member may be expected to require care, and whether or not their care needs may increase over time
- Other expenses such as insurance, medical care, pet care, etc.