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Residential home renovation

Transforming Your Home Into Senior Housing

After The Kids Graduate Then What?

Empty nesters everywhere are making decisions about their homes. Your kids have moved out and now the empty spaces in your home feels far too large.

With all the empty bedrooms and extra living spaces you find yourself wondering what to do.

After living in a home for years, it’s now time to transform your way of thinking about what’s best for you. How will you best benefit from all the empty space without downsizing?

Many homeowners are using this opportunity to get connected to the largest market growth opportunity in a generation.

Did you know that there are 70 million baby boomers, and about 4000 seniors are turning age 85 everyday?

Perhaps yours is the perfect house to conform, transform, convert, or renovate into an assisted living home.

Every home is not senior safe, there are a few factors to consider.

The Assistant Living Network specializes in teaching home owners how to transform homes into senior residents by renovating and converting it for safe senior living.

Let’s start with the groundwork. There are two senior living models to consider:

Independent Living: An arrangement for seniors and/or individuals with special needs, usually in their own unsupervised living space, affording them as much independence and autonomy as possible.

Assisted Living: A housing or living arrangement for elderly, infirm or disabled, in which housekeeping, meals, medical care, and other assistance is available to residents as needed.

What Are the Requirements of Independent Living?

Independent living is a safe way for seniors to live on their own.

Homes designed for independent living often have hard wired smoke detectors connected to the alarm system. They have grab bars in the bathrooms, wider doors for wheel chairs and walkers, and slip prevention measures for trip hazards.

The ideal home is single level and have the capacity to be converted to four bedrooms with at least two bathrooms.

These are important criteria homeowners should consider for a conversion.

If this is a description of the home, your nest no longer has to be empty.

You can help others while reaping the benefits by transforming your current home into senior housing.

Living Life Like It’s Golden

Susan Harris created a television series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1992. It was about four single older women who shared a home in Miami, Florida.

Blanche was the home owner, Rose was a widow, Dorothy was a divorcee, and Sophia was Dorothy’s 80-year-old mother. Together, the comedic elderly women were called The Golden Girls.

The series finale of The Golden Girls was watched by 27.2 million viewers. As of 2016, it was the 17th-most watched television finale.

Think of independent living like golden girls and golden boys coming together.

There’s ideally four different people living in these types of homes.

They’re probably not related, sometimes they are friends or develop a friendship in the process of living together.

Learn How to Profit Off Your Home

The Assisted Living Network seldom incorporates the concept of charging rent, because this practice is not used in residential assisted living.

Independent living is the only time I’m going to discuss it rent.

With residential assisted living, we have residents, they don’t pay rent – we provide a service for them.

In the independent living model, the golden girls and golden boys pay rent.

The rent that you charge could be anything that you want.

Usually, rent for independent living homes is calculated with higher premiums based on the following 6 amenities and conveniences:

6 Amenities and Conveniences

  1. Easy to Access Location;
  2. Unlimited Utilities;
  3. Maintenance Upkeep;
  4. Cable, Internet and Phone Services;
  5. Worry-Free Bills; and
  6. Care-Free Living.

Calculating the Premiums of Independent Living

You could split all the bills amongst all four seniors. However, instead of renting the house for $1,200 or $1,500 a month, rent each bedroom for $1,000 monthly, including the amenities and conveniences.

Instead of collecting $1,500 monthly household rent, independent living homes collect rent based on bedrooms.

As a result, four bedrooms at $1,000 per occupant, produces $4,000 a month. That leaves plenty of extra money to pay for monthly utilities and routine upkeep on the home.

These are expected responsibilities and expenses on any rental properties, although seniors are low impact tenants. Seniors do not have pets, do not host events and do not pose the risk of destroying property.

As a result, the profitability of independent living is very beneficial.

A lot of property owners question what they should do with empty and unwanted houses.

Some people rely on short term Airbnb or traditional renting methods. While these are profitable sources of income, they pose repeated risks and loses associated with cleaning and vacancies.

More people have been deciding to sell without considering the rapidly growing market of independent living.

Whether it’s yourself or a loved one living alone in a house with extra bedrooms, independent living is wise to consider.

Start thinking differently.

If you have questions about how to turn your home into senior housing, we have the answers and suggestions that will make your process much easier.

In many cases, we can even help you fill your home.

Transitioning from Independent Living to Residential Assisted Living

Seniors transition into assisted living models for the long term. The next step after independent living is usually assisted living.

You’re probably wondering could your current model become a form of assisted living?

Well, the answer to that question depends on your willingness to transition the home from independent living to assisted.

Remember, assisted living is just that, assisted. That means somebody is there to take care of the residents.

Senior housing can evolve from independent living, because the conversions are covered in the initial startup. Senior safe homes are usually pre-equipped with the following:

  1. Bathroom grab bars in the tubs and next to the toilets;
  2. Carpets with thick padding underneath;
  3. Slip prevention measures for trip hazards;
  4. Widened doorways for walkers and wheelchairs;
  5. Hallway grab bars;
  6. Outdoor sprinkler systems;
  7. Available parking;
  8. Digital surveillance and alarm monitoring system; and
  9. Electronic systems like hard wired smoke detectors.

The Residential Assisted Living Academy trains homeowners and operators how to build successful and sustainable businesses leveraging the best real estate opportunity for the next 25 years.

Perhaps your thinking, you don’t want the hassles that come with assisted living.

Remember, owners are not always operators, and someone else can manage the daily operation of cooking, cleaning and caregiving.

Assisted Living Is About Providing Quality Care

In addition to operating a senior safe home, converting your house to assisted living must consider the care that will be given.

Most importantly, assisted living requires assistance. That means there will be caregivers available 24/7.

Caregivers do not necessarily live in the house with the residents.

Assisted living will never provide a skilled nursing or nursing home dynamic inside the residential home. Residential homes are not nursing homes or hospitals. However, some homes do offer a live in caregiver.

If this will be your approach, provide a room that’s designated specifically for the caregiver, preferably on the second floor.

Experience has taught us that an ideal floor plan calls for seniors on the first floor, caregivers on the second level, and a basement area for a break room.

This blog is not an all inclusive plan.

Residential Assisted Living Academy outlines the complete requirements for assisted living.

Contact us to learn how you can get all the tools you need to transform your home for senior living.

Assisted Living Strategies for Interior to Exterior

Residential Assisted Living Academy introduces owners and operators to an advanced perspective of senior living, from the interior to the exterior.

For example, location is also Key.

Living nearby different activities such as Libraries, grocery stores, shopping centers, movie theaters, those kinds of things are important, even more so for independent living.

For either model, the exterior of the home is essential.

It’s important for residents to be able to easily pull up in a car and get out at the front door. Therefore, circular driveways are great.

Parking should also be considered. Seniors in independent living will need somewhere to park their vehicles, assisted living residents typically do not have cars.

What a home looks like to people pulling up or passing by will determine the success of your business – curb appeal is always a plus.

Providing the exterior maintenance and landscaping is a big part of word of mouth marketing.

Let us help make this transition a reality for you.

Instead of renting or selling, get excited about the low risk transformation of your house into senior housing.

Whether it be golden girls and golden boys’ concept, or residential assisted living, we can help you maintain and maximize your ownership by transforming your home into senior living.

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