Senior housing - anyone using it

[emi guy]

Many communities now have "senior" housing available to those 55+ in retirement. Anyone out there using this as a way to minimize housing costs and one prong toward early retirement?

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CATAMAN Many communities now have "senior" housing available to those 55+ in retirement. Anyone out there using this as a way to minimize housing costs and one prong toward early retirement?

It is very hard to qualify. I wanted to get into a new really nice downtown high-rise. You pretty much have to living on nothing but SS to qualify. And, they are very unsophisticated, so they can't understand anything. I thought I could eventually qualify, but gave up in frustration.

Also, I am not too sure about the social ambiance. Maybe a little too reminiscent of assisted living?

Ha

[old woman]

Here low income seniors get really small apartments no matter what the net worth. My mom would qualify but she has a 3 bedroom house and moving to a studio apartment would be too much for her. Since her house is paid for and the taxes are discounted to 371 a year living there is cheaper than low income housing. She can't keep up the house now but instead of moving to assisted living or low income housing she is hiring people to clean and do yard work.

[OAG]

I have a SIL that is in "Senior Housing" "Section 8 Housing" or whatever they call it now. She is in Chicago (Morton Grove). Has a small but very nice place in a 4 story building with elevators. Has a on duty manager downstairs. Very secure building however all parking it outside (no garages) but off street. She loves it for the fact that she is close to friends, close to nice places to eat, and close to the Gym. I do not know her cost but it is very cheap. So cheap, secure, friendly, close to what she likes, what more could you ask for. But having said that I doubt my DW or I could live like that and we could NEVER qualify financially for something like that.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CATAMAN Many communities now have "senior" housing available to those 55+ in retirement. Anyone out there using this as a way to minimize housing costs and one prong toward early retirement?

Not quite sure what you're asking...... Since you mention "minimize housing costs," I'm guessing you're referring to subsidized senior housing as opposed to 55+ housing in the private sector, which typically isn't cheap at all.

Given that, I think the situation is a bit of an oxymoron. If you have enough of a portfolio that you're seriously working on FIRE, you have way too much money to qualify for subsidized housing.

[Running_Man]

In my area they have a new housing development where only 55 and older are allowed to reside. The properties have been exempted from all property tax and there are no income qualifications. The are new ranch homes in the 1200-1500 square foot range that run for 180-250K.

[emi guy]

Let me hijack my own thread....
After thinking about housing and reading the replies, is anyone out there sharing a property with family as in a duplex? As I think about the options of affordable housing in ER, wouldn't buying a two family with a family member work? That way you only need to be responsible for 1/2 the cost of up keep, maintenance etc... Anyone currently doing this? How is it working out?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CATAMAN Let me hijack my own thread.... After thinking about housing and reading the replies, is anyone out there sharing a property with family as in a duplex? As I think about the options of affordable housing in ER, wouldn't buying a two family with a family member work? That way you only need to be responsible for 1/2 the cost of up keep, maintenance etc... Anyone currently doing this? How is it working out?

Frank and I have thought about doing that, since we wish to retire in separate residences in the same community. However, I decided I don't want to live in a duplex with him. First, there could be arguments about things like when to replace the roof. Besides, what if one person decided to move? Then the other is left sharing a duplex with a stranger and that could result in problems. So this is not the solution for me.

One thing that we are doing to make ER housing more affordable, is to move to a very low cost part of the country. There, we will probably get separate homes a few blocks apart. Something I discovered is that in our ER destination, a duplex is not necessarily any cheaper than a separate home. That might be because the land value is very low, I suppose.

[sweetana3]

We have a lot of options here. The best one for us is to move to a condo that is on one particular street. For 5 miles in either direction, there are sidewalks and every store we would ever want. In addition, it intersects the big trail system, has other senior apartments close, and several malls. Since we will retire early, there are several decades (hopefully) where we can enjoy such a home. Then when we need more assistance, we will have the assets to pay for the care needed as it is needed.

Planning for early retirement and living below our means provides excellent security.