Reverse Mortgage Guide

A few years ago on a visit to Bulgaria we had saw the 100-year-old home of a wealthy village merchant which had become a museum. The outstanding feature of this home, a residence with many rooms and excellent construction, was the bedroom — there was just one. Virtually the entire room was one mattress (maybe 15 x 25 feet) and the whole family, including several generations, all slept in the same place.

Things have changed a bit.

It turns out that 29 percent of home sellers age 65 and older move into an active-adult community or senior-related housing, according to the National Association of Realtors.

This is an interesting number in that it represents a lot of money, but it also represents a new social trend — but which social trend?

___ Is the growth of senior-related housing a result of a decline in the number of adult children willing to aid older parents?

___ Is the growth in senior housing the result of a growing number of older parents who do not want to be a burden to their adult children?

___ Could it be that both seniors and adult children are happy for a little space?

___ Is it that senior community provide a social life that may be missing when seniors live alone?

___ Do many seniors believe that it’s great when adult children come to visit — and equally great when they leave?

___ Do many adult children welcome senior parents for a brief visit — and then relax when the parents leave?

___ Is better health simply allowing more seniors to live independently in traditional homes and communities?

I don’t know the answer — or that the list is complete — but what seems true is this: There will be more over-55 communities and projects in the coming years.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Reverse Mortgage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.