You often face tough decisions when it comes to caring for your loved ones. You have aging parents who need your help. They seek your love, and while you want to provide emotional support, you have to make a few decisions.
One of those decisions is whether to place a family member in an assisted living facility or allow them to continue living at home with help from family. If you’re going to use an assisted living facility, you have to consider the costs. It will be expensive even if you hire professional help and don’t move your loved one into a living facility.
Fewer people have retirement savings enough to help them move through this challenging phase. While the retirement accounts are small, most senior citizens have their equity tied up in the house. It’s possible to use this equity for their well-being and health care.
Learn About the Cost of Different Options
You can consider options including:
- Assisted living
- Nursing home care
- Continuing care retirement communities
- Adult care/foster homes
- Memory care units
As per a Genworth survey, the assisted living facility’s national median cost is $4,000/month. And a private room in a nursing home will cost $8,365 a month. General home health aid services will cost around $127 per day. There is an entrance fee or one-time community fee which ranges between $3K – $20K. This fee is due on the day someone moves in or 1 month after the trial period is over.
Social security, retirement savings, long-term care insurance, and Medicaid can help. Most people rely on Medicaid to pay for senior care, but Medicaid doesn’t provide coverage until your income meets a certain threshold. That’s why most people have to consider other resources to pay for expenses that pile up quickly.
How to Avoid Selling Your House to Pay for Senior Care?
A home, when occupied, is an exempt asset if you’re applying for Medicaid. Once you sell the house, the sale proceeds are not considered exempt, and you might become ineligible for Medicaid. The same is true if you have to leave the house. You can consider alternatives such as:
Renting the Home
- It makes sense to rent the home if a family member can handle the process. It’s challenging for the owner to act as the landlord, so someone else must assume this responsibility.
- To rent the house, it’s best if the mortgage has been paid in full. Otherwise, the rental payment will go towards mortgage and maintenance payments.
- Renting out the home could cause your loved one to become ineligible for Medicaid as the income will now go up.
Reverse Mortgage
You can take a reverse mortgage to pay for health care. A reverse mortgage will become due upon death, or if the home is sold or if the borrower leaves the house.
- At least one person who co-signs the reverse mortgage must continue to occupy the house. If you have to move into an assisted living facility, you will have to sell the house to pay for the loan.
HELOC
You can pay for care as you need the money, i.e., borrowing as much as you need. Your lender will review your credit score.
- Interest rates and other fees are generally low compared to reverse mortgages.
- No requirement that the owner must live in the home.
There are emotional ties and memories, as well as legal and financial issues to consider. Selling property to fund long-term care can be more attractive where the benefits of remaining in familiar surroundings exceed that of staying in their longtime residence.
Proceeds from the home sale can help offset caregiving costs and create a more pleasant and comfortable environment for your loved one.
After a loved one has entered the hospital due to a recent fall or medical diagnosis, that prevents them from going back to the house. The patient needs to go directly to an assisted living facility straight from the hospital or rehab facility. We can solve their upfront fees/community fees by giving them a quick and fair cash price. You won’t have to list the home and your loved one can transition smoothly because their care cannot wait.
Selling the Home to Pay for Senior Care
If your family member owns a home, one option is to leverage the home’s equity. If long-term healthcare is required, then it’s possible to sell the house. You can use the money to cover long-term healthcare. It’s a reasonable option for individuals who don’t have a spouse/child or other person living in the home.
You may be doing the right thing for your family member by encouraging them to stay in their house or even helping to pay the mortgage. But before you make any significant decisions regarding your aging parents’ living arrangements, it’s essential to understand how home equity affects financial decision-making in later stages of life.
Need to Sell Your Home for Cash?
There are several factors to consider when determining whether this is truly the best option for your parents’ future. At Philly Home Investor, we can help you choose the best route for your circumstances.
If you want to sell your house fast, we can save you energy and time while getting you the fairest price of your home possible.
Most often, such homes are not in great shape. The house will likely need significant repairs before you can sell it in the retail market. And as a caregiver to your loved one, it can be emotionally exhausting to do all the things required to prepare a home.
You have to work with an agent, determine a price, work on the repairs, stage and negotiate with the potential buyers. The complete process can take 2-6 months. If you would just like to avoid this hassle, we can help. While we can’t heal your personal situation, we can get you a fair cash price in no time. Our team can buy your home right now for a reasonable cash price. We’re real estate investors interested in helping homeowners like you. When you work with us, we won’t bother you with repairs, cleaning, or any other burdensome task. We can help you with the move, and we can help you get rid of the clutter.
Contact us at (215) 422-3288, and let’s discuss the challenge you’re facing right now. After getting the details, we will research your home’s price and pay you the most reasonable price for your home in its current condition. There are no repairs, no commissions, and we’ll cover your closing costs.
Most likely one of the people you’ll be speaking with when you contact us is TJ. Prior to working with us at Philly Home Investor he spent years working in the assisted living facility space so he very much understands most situations and what people are going through. These are trailing times and he is prepared to help and guide with whatever you need.
Selling your home at such a time is challenging! We won’t make it more difficult for you! You’ll find us on your side trying to get you the best price for your home in the shortest time possible. We Buy Houses in Philadelphia, PA, New Jersey, and the Florida region. Let us make you a FREE Cash Offer Today!