A desire among many seniors is to “age in place.”
According to the Senior Resource Guide, the term means,
“…that you will be remaining in your own homefor the later years of your life; not moving into a smaller home, assisted living, or a retirement community etcetera.”
Should I stay in my Boston condo?
There is no doubt about it – there’s a comfort in staying in a Beacon Hill home you’ve lived in for many years instead of moving to a totally new or unfamiliar environment. There is, however, new information that suggests this might not be the best option for everyone. The familiarity of your current Midtown home is the pro of aging in place, but the potential financial drawbacks to remodeling or renovating might actually be more costly than the long-term benefits.
A recent report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) titled Housing America’s Older Adults explained,
“Given their high homeownership rates, most older adults live in single-family homes. Of the 24 million homeowners age 65 and over, fully 80 percent lived in detached single-family units…The majority of these homes are now at least 40 years old and therefore may present maintenance challenges for their owners.”
If you’re in this spot, 40 years ago you may have had a growing family. For that reason, you probably purchased a 4-bedroom Beacon Hill Townhouse or a large Back Bay property. It was a great choice for your family, and you still love that home.
Should I downsize to a smaller Boston condo?
Today, your kids are likely grown and moved out, so you don’t need all of those bedrooms. You might be thinking about taking some equity out of your Bay Bay home and converting one of your bedrooms into a massive master bathroom, and maybe another room into an open-space reading nook.
It all sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? For the short term, you may really enjoy the new upgrades, but you’ll still have to climb those stairs, pay to heat and cool a home that’s larger than what you need, and continue fixing all the things that start to go wrong with a 40-year-old home.
Last month, in their Retirement Report, Kiplinger addressed the point,
“Renovations are just a part of what you need to make aging in place work for you. While it’s typically less expensive to remain in your home than to pay for assisted living, that doesn’t mean it’s a slam dunk to stay put. You’ll still have a long to-do list. Just one example: You need to plan ahead for how you will manage maintenance and care—for your home, and for yourself.”
So, at some point, the time may come when you decide to sell this Back Bay Townhouse anyway. That can pose a big challenge if you’ve already taken cash value out of your home and used it to do the type of remodeling we mentioned above. Realistically, you may have inadvertently lowered the value of your home by doing things like reducing the number of bedrooms. The family moving into your neighborhood is probably similar to what your family was 40 years ago. They probably have young children, need the extra bedrooms, and may be nervous about the pool.
Boston Real Estate & The Bottom Line
Before you spend the money to remodel or renovate your current Back Bay home so you can age in place, let’s get together to determine if it is truly your best option. Making a move to a smaller Seaport home in the neighborhood might make the most sense.
Boston Real Estate for Sale
