What to know if you rent out your home
Cynthia Kent and her husband, John, didn’t set out to be landlords, but career choices made it necessary.“We have rented out our home in Florida for nine years because we move all over with the military,” said Kent, who recently relocated her family from Nevada to Alabama for yet another posting.Some people become accidental landlords because of a job change or difficulty... READ MORE
Why consider a housing referral service?
Arlene Scherr had been looking for a residential community for her mother for five years.“Every time I asked for help, though, I just got a piece of paper with a list of communities,” said the Owings Mills resident. Until, that is, Scherr was referred to Paula Sotir of Care Patrol.“Paula not only gave me a list of communities that she had already narrowed down as being a... READ MORE
CCRCs pair housing with health benefits
When Monica Rotchford couldn’t handle the stairs in her house anymore, she knew it was time for a change. She and her husband Charles had lived there for many years, but the house just didn’t make sense for them anymore.In their 90s, the Rotchfords were still very independent and didn’t require assisted living or skilled nursing care. They decided to look into continuing... READ MORE
Taking charge of how we live as we age
The following is adapted from the introduction to the recently published book, With a Little Help from Our Friends: Creating Communities As We Grow Older (2014, Vanderbilt University Press) by Beth Baker, a writer living in Takoma Park, Md. The book explores many creative housing options for older adults, from home sharing to cohousing to aging-in-place villages.Lynne Moore, a 50-something... READ MORE
New technology enables aging in place
From wireless monitoring systems to devices that call for emergency response, technology that helps older adults live at home is growing by leaps and bounds. Below are five devices that have recently gone on the market. They not only allow people to live at home longer, but let them communicate with family members quickly and easily.The GrandCare System connects via Internet and... READ MORE
The retirement community of the future
With retirees increasingly worrying about outliving their savings, Friendship Retirement Community is looking to address the concern with the assistance of architecture students.The Roanoke retirement community that currently is home to nearly 900 people is in the early stages of developing a research partnership with two of Virginia’s leading architecture schools. The aim is to... READ MORE
Villages help older homeowners stay put
According to many surveys, most retirees would prefer to remain in their present home in a familiar, intergenerational neighborhood rather than move to a retirement community. But what about all the chores? And how can homeowners obtain qualified healthcare and transportation when needed? One solution can be to form supportive neighborhood “villages,” where residents pool their... READ MORE
Cottages bring caregiving to the backyard
Virginia minister Ken Dupin heard the worries over and over again from parishioners. There were older church members wondering how they could remain independent when their daily living needs increased with age, and younger members concerned about frail loved ones living on their own. So he envisioned a high-tech, fully-furnished diminutive modular home that could be placed in a... READ MORE
What’s a ‘continuing care’ community?
It’s an intriguing but tricky sell: Leave your home and neighborhood while you’re still relatively healthy and move to a retirement community that offers a range of housing, country-club-style amenities and access to future care.To pay for your new setting, called a continuing care retirement community (or CCRC), you fork over a hefty entrance fee, stiff monthly fees or both.... READ MORE
Caregiving from a distance? Plan ahead
Visiting her mother a little more than a year ago, Ann Hofkin confronted a harsh reality: The 84-year-old was slipping. Checks weren’t cashed, the cat’s litter box was dirty, and there wasn’t much food in the refrigerator. The usually tidy home was in disarray. Hofkin’s mother also seemed depressed. She had little interest in eating. “I was concerned that she was taking very... READ MORE
