Since you said she lives in Tampa Bay area she could probably sell the house and find an apartment for a lot less than $1200 a month .
Well, it might just come to that, but we'll exhaust all other options first. Her home has, essentially, been the family home for years. A lot has been put into it by various family members, I painted most of the rooms, neighborhood friends installed tiles, fixed easy plumbing issues, etc. It truly is an attachment...
Push comes to shove, I'm thinking using her 401 and equity to buy a 2 bedroom condo in a 55+ community, resulting in a tiny mortgage. However, given current market conditions, selling a home is going to take a lot of time. Beautiful time to have retirement forced upon someone...