Should you adapt your home or move somewhere easier? Questions to ask, the changes homes usually need, and senior housing choices in Northern Virginia.
Lots of people want to stay in the home they love for as long as they can. Others reach a point where the house is running them instead of the other way around. Neither choice is wrong. The goal is to make it on purpose, before a fall or a health scare makes it for you.
I hold the Certified Senior Advisor designation, and this is how I’d think the question through.
Start with honest questions
Picture yourself in this house ten years from now, not just today. Then ask:
- Could I live on one floor if I had to? Is there a bedroom and a full bathroom on the main level?
- How many steps are there just to get in the front door?
- Who handles the gutters, the lawn, the leaves and the snow now, and who will do it later?
- How far am I from my doctors, the grocery store and the pharmacy, and how would I get there if I stopped driving?
- Do I see friends and neighbors often, or has the house started to feel lonely?
- Would the money I’d spend adapting this house do more for me somewhere else?
There’s no score at the end. But if several answers make you wince, take that seriously.
What staying usually takes
Aging in place usually means reworking the house so it fits the way you’ll live in it. The common projects:
- Single-level living: turning a main-floor den or dining room into a bedroom, and adding a full bath nearby if there isn’t one.
- Bathrooms: a walk-in or curbless shower, grab bars, a taller toilet, and flooring that isn’t slick when wet.
- Stairs: sturdy railings on both sides, brighter lighting, or a stair lift.
- Getting in and out: a ramp or a no-step entry, wider doorways, and lever handles in place of round knobs.
- Upkeep: lining up help for the yard, snow and repairs you’d rather not do yourself.
Some of these are weekend jobs. Others, like adding a bathroom, are real construction. Remodelers with the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) designation focus on this kind of work, and an occupational therapist can do a home safety visit and point out risks you might not notice.
One Northern Virginia wrinkle: we have a lot of split-level homes. They work well for growing families, but almost every trip from the kitchen to a bedroom involves a few steps. Those homes can be harder to adapt than a rambler, or a colonial with a main-level room you can convert.
Your options if you move
If moving makes more sense, Northern Virginia offers more choices than many people expect.
Condos. An elevator building can give you true one-floor living, and your condo fee typically covers exterior repairs and the grounds. Read the budget and rules closely before you buy.
Single-level homes. Ramblers and other one-story homes draw interest from buyers of every age, so they can move quickly. It helps to have your plan and financing ready before the right one shows up.
55+ active adult communities. You own your home in a neighborhood set aside for people 55 and older, often with a clubhouse, walking paths and a calendar of events. These communities don’t provide care.
Independent living. You usually pay a monthly fee for an apartment or cottage, and meals, housekeeping, activities and transportation are often part of the package. It suits people who are still independent but tired of running a house.
Assisted living. This adds daily help with things like bathing, dressing and medications, along with meals and social activities.
Independent and assisted living are usually not homes you buy, so my part is often selling the current house and timing that sale with the move-in date. Every community sets its own costs and contract terms, so have a financial planner or attorney review the paperwork with you.
When moving makes more sense
Staying is often the right call when the house already works on one level, you’re close to family and friends, and the changes are modest. Moving tends to win when:
- The changes you’d need are expensive, and the house also needs a new roof or furnace.
- Daily life depends on stairs you can’t get around.
- Upkeep has become a constant source of worry.
- You’re spending more time alone than you’d like.
- Your family lives elsewhere and you’d like to be closer.
A financial planner can compare the costs of staying and moving side by side. Your doctor can help you think about what the next several years might bring for your health.
Talk it through with me
You don’t have to decide anything today. If you’d like a sense of what your house is worth, I can put together a home value estimate with no obligation. To see how I help with later-in-life moves, visit my Senior Moves page. And if you’re an adult child helping a parent with this choice, my post on helping a parent move is a good next read.
