What Transitioning Seniors Can Do With Their Old Home

Although many seniors would prefer to live on their own for the duration of their final years, there may come a point when it’s necessary for their own health to move into a nursing facility such as Providence Health Care. Aging in place is an ideal that not all elderly individuals are able to realize. If this transition ever becomes a reality for you, there will be a big choice to make about your current home. When you move into a care facility full time, you likely won’t have the resources, energy, or time to maintain your property anymore. Let’s take a look at some potential options for seniors through a financial perspective.

Leaving it in the care of family members.

Seniors are in the unique position of potentially having a strong emotional connection with their home. Unlike younger individuals who have only lived in a home for a short time, many seniors have decades of memories and sentiments connected to the property. If you don’t even want to entertain the idea of selling your house, you could always consider leaving it in the care of a family member.

As an advantage, offering your home to a relative would mean you’re free from worrying about the sale of the home or the hassles associated with rental properties. On the other hand, leaving your home in the care of a family member is the least financially advantageous option you can choose. As an asset that you’ve been investing in for the past few decades, handing it over to a loved one provides you with no financial gain to help cover the costs of long-term care.

Selling your property to boost savings.

Before deciding to sell your property, it’s important to check out home price trends in your local market. Seniors need to determine whether selling their home would yield enough income to cover the costs of their chosen assisted living facility. Current home sales trends are critical pieces of information for making this choice.

The major advantage of selling your property is having a massive boost in capital to cover the costs of your new home. You won’t have to dip into your savings account and jeopardize your financial stability. However, losing ownership of your home is one downside to the choice of selling your property. You’ll no longer be able to generate income out of this asset once it is sold to another person.

An important part of the process of selling your home is having all the necessary paperwork ready. This includes the deed, property tax information, title report, and homeowners insurance information.

Transforming it into a rental property.

One of the more creative options for seniors transitioning into a care facility is transforming their home into a rental property. With this option, you can maintain legal ownership of your house while still earning some income from the investment.

When you sell a home, you receive the maximum payout from your home but lose any future chances of earning income from that asset. Seniors can prolong and maximize their earnings by renting out the house instead. On the downside, even though you can earn a decent monthly income from turning your home into a rental property, you still face all of the upfront and recurring investments required to keep the house managed properly. You’ll most likely have to hire an individual to handle these responsibilities on their own if you’re limited on time and energy.

When a senior transitions into a nursing facility like Providence Health Care, there’s a difficult decision to be made regarding the future of their home. Before making this choice, seniors must consider the financial pros and cons of each possibility. Carefully deciding which route to take can relieve stress and help cover the costs of their new living situation.

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com