Maintaining a house can be expensive. The property taxes — even with senior freezes — plus insurance, utilities, water, sewer, trash collection and repair and maintenance can really add up. If home health care is required and the person isn’t receiving Medicaid-funded care, that will be an additional substantial expense.
People are living longer and longer. We have worked with quite a number of clients who still try to live in their houses but are fast exhausting their money. In some situations, applying for a reverse mortgage will be the solution because the available equity might enable them to stay in the home a few years longer. However the base income — Social Security, pensions — has to be enough to cover at least the property taxes, or the senior won’t even qualify for the reverse mortgage.
When the senior runs out of cash and needs to sell in a hurry in order to move to a health care facility such as assisted living, gaining admission can be near-impossible because the facilities require payment every month and generally won’t just wait until the house is sold. Although a person whose available resources are below $2,000 could be eligible for Medicaid if the house is on the market, that strategy can only work for a person who moves to a nursing home; not to Assisted Living. The reason is that most Assisted Living facilities require approximately two years of private pay before they will accept Medicaid payment for a resident.
Not only that, but the senior could encounter hassles within the sale process when, for example, an underground tank has to be removed and there’s no cash to pay for it, or other critical issues are discovered. Another example is that the house might require a substantial clear-out, clean-out which the senior just can’t manage on their own – not all vendors can do the work and wait for post-closing payment. Having to deal with all this at break-neck speed can be extremely stressful for a senior especially someone who is in frail health. Senior relocation specialists can be very useful in these situations.
Careful Planning can Prevent a Crisis. Call for advice on your elder care planning before the crisis hits ……………. 732-382-6070