We have been researching also. Some of the contract terms are appalling. Some places seem reasonably fair. I am leaning toward the non-buy in full service places after reading the contracts but there were a few I thought seemed to be structured favorably. My top CCRC choice for us was:
https://www.homesteadvillage.org/about-us
I liked their 'Home Care' program where you can hire help through them to stay in your own home.
https://www.homesteadvillage.org/home-care/
If you are in an apt. you can convert to assisted living and stay in the same apartment, no moving. I like this also.
They also had alot of gluten free menu items printed on the menu. Very important for those of us with special diets.
Many places I looked at required you to move to the next level of residence to get additional help. This means the facility gets another buy-in, and often they don't have to give you your refund yet, if you bought in at a refundable level. I didn't like the motivation this gave them. If they had a budget shortfall, pick a few people to move to a higher level whether they needed it or not, and get a cash infusion.
One place in Washington State said they wouldn't allow you to receive benevolent care if you ran out of money and had hired in-home help. What?!?
Several places charged you excessive fees whenever you moved residences. So $10K to go from your cottage to apt. Another $10K to go to assisted living. Another $10K to go to memory care. Another $10K to go to skilled nursing. This was on top of a hefty entrance fee. Any place pulling this stunt was taken off my list. For two people progressing through the facility this would really add up.
The one thing that became clear after reading a number of contracts and disclosure statements was that there was no commonality. Even when comparing type A to type A.
For any place you are seriously considering get a copy of their disclosure statement, contract and residential handbook. Read every word of them. Some places seemed to have terms that advocated for the residents. Other's had terms that felt like every single term was in favor of the facility and nothing was in the resident's favor.