Why is it so hard to find an economical home that's designed in an elderly-friendly manner?

My sentiments exactly ibzook. I live in upstate NY. We are in our 70's and looking for a simple ranch style home - one story so we can remain independent with something manageable. We have a large colonial and its too much for us. I can't keep carrying the laundry down to the basement!
But, we are not old enough to want to give up 80% of our possessions to move to independent living.
Senior communities are great but the homes they offer have no basement, no storage building for hubbies tools and hobbies, and usually garages too small for his pickup truck (used to pull camper). Also, most IL's don't provide a lot or place to park a boat, camper because you can't put it in the driveway.
Every newer home is a mini-mansion with open floor plan and 10 foot ceilings, lots of stairs and not senior friendly (or appealing). We would like to stay in a "residential neighborhood setting" but builders don't want to put up small homes because they "don't fit" with their mini mansions with peaks and gables. None are building "starter homes or senior homes". We considered buying land and building but it will cost us more than staying where we are and its hard to find single lots that aren't on a main road of some sort .
We have found plenty of "older" single story homes in older developments - all needing a LOT of remodeling and money to update them.
I wish we could go back to the "good old days" when a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch (of about 1500-1800 sq ft) with a basement and garage was the norm, not the rarity. Why won't IL housing provide more choices?

New houses are all about form - function is way down the list. I'm convinced that new homes are designed by people who never cleaned a day in their life. My plan is to buy a piece of land (not sure where yet) and put a prefabricated AD/mobility home on it. I'm hoping that by then, geothermal will be more mainstream and there will be a real health care system in this country, regardless of whether I choose to live in a rural or urban setting.

I had 4 spinal surgeries before I was 55, so in as much, I was forced to deal with and consider many domicile changes to accommodate my limitation. The washing machine had to go and the new front loader on the drawer base & dryer we needed. The toilet had to me the high profile type; and the counters everywhere had to be raised to island height so I didn't have to bend in the bathrm., or kitchen. The shower had to be changed to the hand held type and grab bars and a shower bench we needed. The refrigeration was changed to the new cabinet 2 door style top with the freezer drawer. We also got a new bed which is a dual king motion bed, which by the way does use regular king sheets, with enough elastic expansion to raise and lower each side, head & feet, independently just fine. Of course, this doesn't address everything, like the dishwasher being to low but I was told that located correctly with the ability to raise it up higher with a counter type shelf on top for decor and/or storage would solve that problem. Door handles should also be changed to the lever style as many elders have trouble using their hands to grip a knob, as well as, single lever faucets for ease of use.Wall ovens are another great advantage to consider, as bending into a hot over can be quite dangerous Just some quick thoughts on changes to assist daily living with physical limitations. Stairs need chair lifts, no two ways about that. Having wide open space, doorways and turn radius for walkers and/or wheelchairs is very good too. We even considered putting in a dumb waiter and/or personal elevator from the lower level which as my husband's aging process kicks in may be needed too. Right now he carries up the clothes baskets and groceries etc.

Equillot, I checked out some of the Generations homes - they're beautiful, and they're also green homes.

During the energy crisis of the 70's, there were a lot of what are now called "green" concepts - earth sheltered homes are the only ones I remember now.

It's a really positive sign that another builder is focusing on these aspects again. This is the kind of community in which I'd like to live - enough of these 'WE LOVE LAWNS!" communities!

There's a builder in the NW that is building what they call "Generations" homes. It's a MacMansion, but with a suite for your elder to live in downstairs with their own bedroom, bath and small living area/kitchenette. Or, it could be used for your aging kids who won't leave home ;)

We though ahead when we bought our second forever home and bough a ranch style home, and boy am I glad we did! Now, my knee arthritis would never be able to do the stairs as in our old house! Ilove 5he ig open concept high ceilings my house has, and it sure has come in handy for my 85 yr old FIL who lives with us! We are he envy of my siblings. One thing we did right! Whew!

JB, good question. I'm an AARP member only b/c I get a discount on my insurance. I rarely do anything more than skim their magazine, but their bulletin occasionally has some good reliable news. I don't recall, however, whether it's taken a position on building codes or the whole issue of senior housing specifically. Maybe all of us AARP members should start lobbying them.

HUD does have grants to fund emergency and health related repairs for income qualified people. And the VA also does have programs for veterans, including the home purchase program. I don't know what the interest rate is though. The VA is really challenged now with so many injured vets returning from the in country deployments.

I still think the answer is incentivizing the private sector, but that's easier said than done.

ArmyRetired, I think the McManson plague is unfortunately too widespread. But I'm wondering how it will cost more to educate the children living in those monstrosities? Are you thinking that their parents will pressure the public educational system for improvements in curricula?

Florida and Texas have I think made efforts to accommodate seniors, and the Winter Texans and Snowbirds help the economy, so there's definitely the financial incentive to cater to seniors.

I don't think that will ever happen in the North or NE - not many people would want to come to Michigan's UP to battle monstrous snow piles. Those states that are geographically positioned to exploit the need to escape winter will probably use that to encourage senior populations. Your point is well taken.

freqflyer: You said it so well - we really want to get away from cities, traffic, etc and find a nice small comfy home in the quiet country - but at our age, doctors and good hospitals become part of the must have! For all those people who expect the government to care about us seniors having a nice little cottage - remember, in the past 6 years the government took millions out of medicare funding (my copays have doubled, medical deductions for taxes went from 7% to 10% of income), it isn't giving us social security increases even to cover the rising cost of food. I don't think it will help us in any way until such time as we haven't one penny to our name, then we get to qualify for medicaid and go to a state run nursing home for free where we will be left alone to sit in a chair all day. Nope, we are on our own! I keep hoping there are a few builders out there who care enough to make a small profit instead of a big one building McMansions! But most of them have it set up so those small homes also come with a big maintenance fee.
I would be happy to move into one of them soon just to get out from under the "stuff" but the big stopping block is my husband and all his "toys" in the basement - power tools, a street rod, extra engine parts and every little scrapped motor, and junk! I could reduce my possessions to four rooms of furniture, my clothes, a few momentos and pictures and my 2 puppies! I feel overwhelmed with stuff that fills a 9 room house - stuff I will never use, rooms I never go into except to dust or for an occasional guest. Stuff!

Here in the northeast, towns want macmansions built instead of smaller homes. Supposedly better tax revenue, yet it will cost more to educate the children of the families that move into these humongous homes. Senior housing is definately cheaper for the community than family housing. Look at Florida's housing, senior friendly, affordable and mainly ranch style.

I just sometimes wonder ------- where is AARP working with builders and city/state governments on this? Why doesn't HUD or VA (for returning veterans, do anything like grant lower interest rate for houses built using an universal design model?

I'm literally convulsing with laughter at Windy's plan for his retirement home.

I love the idea of the giant strobe light!

If I fell and tripped in the kitchen, believe me I rather hit my head on Formica than Granite..... and if I hit the floor let it be that soft rolled vinyl flooring of the 1980's and not ceramic tile. I'd be more apt to live through it :)

Remember that Formica pattern that looked like small boomerangs?

Windy, interesting concept for your home to age in... especially like the drain in the middle of the floor.

Oops ... correction" I did not put in a railing.

I think Garden Artist mentioned granite counter tops. Exactly. How on earth did we get through life with Formica? How down market is that. When did it become fashionable for the basic features of our home to be made from "Unobtainium".

Well here's the plan for my old age home:

Large metal pole barn, half house, half garage.
Concrete floor with indoor outdoor carpet in living space.
Large bathroom with shower that you can ride into on your garden tractor.
All counter heights just above height of my Rascal.
Big drain in middle of floor to facilitate hose down by caregiver in event of adult diaper failure.
Driveway to street with vertically mounted roller pads on sides to facilitate launching car onto public roadway.
200 ft tower with strobe light beacon that can be seen from nearest Walmart to aid in return to domicile.

Jeanne, thanks for the explanation. I can visualize that configuration now. I was initially thinking of one similar to our houses, with a step down onto a small porch and another 2 or 3 steps down to the sidewalk.

Your house's configuration is exactly like my sister's; it was so much easier for my father to get inside - large porch, railings, lots of handholds... unlike ours which had to be retrofitted with grab bars. I've been fighting a losing battle on getting a ramp from the front door though.

Ironically enough, there were 2 ramps from a bedroom and the adjacent nurse's room when my parents bought the house. It had been owned by a family whose patriarch was paralyzed - I believe he was a paraplegic. There was a sink in the bedroom, ramp outside the bedroom, adjacent nurse's room, and ramp from that room as well.

Dad removed all except the ramp from his bedroom, which was fortunate he kept that because the paramedics used it the second time he fell.

Still, I'd feel much better if we could retrofit the front porch with railings and a ramp.

AmyGrace, I have the same issue with my house, the house has gotten too big and the yard feels like it doubles in size each summer. I would be more than happy to downsize, but my sig other refuses. Of course he's not doing all the house/yard work :P

I've started looking, too... and yes, many of those 55+ communities have large monthly HOA fees. But I am ready to pay that to have a cooked meal waiting for me in one of the community restaurants when I get home from work :)

So many times I hear about couples saving their retirement to move to some romantic island to live where everything is so much cheaper.... then I think what about health care? Does Medicare follow you no matter where you go? What about secondary health insurance, is that limited to only the States? Language issues? Would I need to be air lifted to a trauma center because there isn't one on the island?

Also depending on what State one moves to, sometimes the State offers a good deductible to seniors on their State income taxes. I was so surprised when the Commonwealth of Virginia gave me a nice tax deduction once I turned 65 :)

GardenArtist, I live in a suburb that has no along-the-street sidewalks in residential areas. So our personal sidewalk went from the two steps, along the front of the house, and ended in the driveway. I had that entire sidewalk removed and replaced with the gradually sloping one. (The section immediately outside the door is flat and large enough to park a wheelchair and maneuver the doors.The slope starts where the stairs were. It is a very gradual slope, as per codes.)

My husband did not go out alone; someone was always pushing his wheelchair. I did put in a railing. The ground was also sloped, so there was no risk of "falling off" the sidewalk. But if I become disabled or someone buys the house who needs to pull themselves with a railing it can easily be added. It probably isn't officially "handicap accessible" without the railings, but it sure made our lives easier!

Windy, my parents 3 story house has the laundry room off the kitchen, good location.... but what does Mom [97] do?.... she will run the wet clothes in the dryer for a few minutes, put the still damp clothes into a laundry basket and take those clothes down into the basement where she hangs the clothes on laundry lines that Dad had installed. Oh well, she's been doing laundry like that for over 65 years, she's not going to change now.

Growing up Mom use to do the laundry in the basement with a ringer washer, carry the wet clothes outside to dry on the line [guess that is when laundry competition started as to who had the brightest sheets], but if it was raining, Mom would carry the clothes up the basement stairs... then up to the 2nd floor... then up into the large attic where Dad had clothes lines for her. Hmmm, the fresh smell of a stuffy attic :P

Jeanne, I'm curious about your yard renovation, and removal of the steps. How did you handle the distance from the house to the sidewalk, or was all of this sloped? If so, did you add handrails or something to grab onto along the sidewalk?

Glad, as I recall, ranch homes because of their larger lot size also invoke higher property taxes. Ugh.

Amy, I think the maintenance fees and the HOA strict regulations (read sometimes "meddling") is the main drawback of that retirement community concept. The transportation, central meeting places, etc. are great, but a little power in the hands of some people can be an onerous headache for homeowners.


To our British friends:

Years ago I corresponded with a gardener whose occupation was to visit seniors after it became necessary for some retrofitting to be done to their homes. As I remember (and this has been some 20 years ago), these retrofits were paid for by either the local community or some national agency and were free to citizens.

Is this the case? How does it work now? Are there certifications required, any co-pay from the residents?

When a person is still able to live at home and maintain their home, wouldn't it be nice if we could find ranch style senior community homes that have a decent yard that WE could hire someone to maintain so we didn't have to pay those really exhorbitant maintenance fees!

Ranch style homes cost more to build in terms of the lot area they require. With more than one story to a house, you can get twice or more living space on a relatively small lot. What about a patio home? They are usually ranch style, but on a small lot, usually yard maintenanceis included in HOA fees.

Instead of putting in a ramp when my husband mostly got around by wheelchair, I had out sidewalk replaced, removing the steps and making one long smooth pathway from the driveway to the door threshold. (This also involved re-landscaping so the lawn made the same slope.) This is a much more practical entry way for strollers, wheelchairs, wagons, wheeled luggage -- I now wonder why more homes aren't built like this from the start. Walking around the neighborhood I calculated that less than 10% sidewalks had a sufficient length to meet the slope requirements. I'm so glad mine did! I have a cousin who built a new house shortly after his wife was diagnosed with a progressive disease. She wasn't in a wheelchair immediately, but he had the sidewalk done in the same way. Too bad there isn't more planning ahead in this way! (I think they are easier to shovel, too -- especially with a snow-blower!)

Look in HUD developments built right after WWII. Many of these developments are filled with practical 3 BR, 1-1/2 BA ranch homes. Toughest part is probably retrofitting the baths for wheelchair accessibility...but it can sure be done.

Keep looking. Ideally look for a house from an estate where it has already been retrofitted for an old person. Sure you need carpet and paint, but it is do able. Be willing to downsize. If there's just the two of you, you only need one bedroom.

Oh yes! You are so right. We have a colonial, and the stairs are getting to me. My laundry room is in the basement. The house is too much for us. We tried finding a single story - either they were old and in bad shape (very few built) or they were newer (open floor plans) and more expensive than ours (although much much smaller with 1/2 the property and twice the taxes. Five years ago we started looking for a ranch style. For three years we made trips to western Va, then we looked here in upstate NY. In VA, affordable homes were far far away from medical facilities, old, in bad locations, etc. New homes are built on smaller lots, most of them are two story with open floor plan with kitchen and family or LR all one room and high ceilings, not the type of architecture we need for a cozy retirement. Even the 20+ year old ranches would end up costing us about $50,000 plus our home - (and ours is in good shape with almost an acre of land (remember you have to pay a realtor 7% to sell yours, then pay more for the smaller one - with much less property - and higher taxes. You are so right - we don't know what we are going to do. I love our home, but we're getting too old for it - breaking my ankle was an eye-opener! Getting up and down the stairs on my bottom, not being able to get the walker through the bathroom or closet doors, getting in and out of the tub with a shower seat perched in it. I don't know what we are going to do - nothing around her to accommodate seniors we can afford. Ridiculous really, not to be able to afford to downsize to a smaller home. No longer do they build little ranch homes with 3 bedroom/2 bath, simple but with wider doors, etc. We found one community in upstate NY - They wanted $250,000 for the house, and then $3600 a month for meals and maintenance! (Only good deal is they will buy back the house for what you paid for it) Gees, we can't afford a house PLUS maintenance like that!

Great topic. Old age ain't sexy and doesn't sell houses. And, no one thinks about this stuff in their 40s and 50s. We built our current house when we were in our mid 40s. (We're early 60s now). About the only thing we did for the future was to make all doors three ft wide, and even with that I was just thinking about moving the furniture in and out.

No one wants to admit that the retirement to assited living to Memory care joints are starting to make sense for them. I'm thinking our next move will be to one of those places.

I was in the building trades for many years and worked on lots of high end retirement homes for rich people. These things would be gigantic, several levels, lofts, stairs, landings, just ridiculous structures for any purpose. In many cases I would work with the owners and designers on the lighting, power, security, sound systems etc (electrician) and these were OLD rich people who could hardly walk. What the F... Are they thinking?!

I think it's like the issue of getting your affairs in order. Mom and dad are in deep sh..... Before anyone thinks about a POA. The federal, state, and county govs ain't gonna do it. There's some good programs here and there but really it's up to individuals. The U.S. must be one of the worst developed countries in terms of how we deal with the elderly, and if the tea bag slingers get their way it's only gonna get worse.

So, start thinking about your sore back and bad knees now. Build the laundry room on the first floor, use 3 ft doors, and a huge old age bath with grab bars every damn place.

Add garage doors to your list. I have to stand on tip toes to get mine pushed all the way open.

Maybe we should all get together and start a turnkey elderly friendly home supply store.

Reminds me of those sunken living rooms with two steps down, the rage back in the 1970's. But not middle-age proof as we get older. And bedroom doors right next to the stairs, too easy to lose footing and tumble down.

Then I think on how non-friendly appliances are for elders. Even for myself, with my HE top-loading washer, I need to dive in to get that one sock on the bottom. Neither of my parents could do that. They have a new set of a regular washer and dryer, but the writing for the controls are in light blue and very hard for them [and me] to read. Come on GE, re-think this.

I have yet see a user-friendly refrigerator for an elder. I know I am ready to get a side-by-side as bending down and reaching into the back of the top shelf is getting to be a challenge. Don't care for the freezer on the bottom, another dive into an appliance to get something out.

Sinks and toilets need to be a bit taller... harder to bend down to the sink, and to land on the toilet. Love the walk-in showers, and forget about those large oval sunken tubs, a royal pain to get in and out, and to clean.

I suspect that demographics and of course desire for the big bucks plays a large part, as well as the income associated with different age levels.

Look at the tv shows that feature upscale, sometimes impractical homes with all the high end features. Who advertises on these shows? Who provides the equipment and appliances for them? All of these groups have more to gain than the few companies that supply grab bars and advocate wider hallways.

But what demographic group can afford those? Certainly not all seniors. Those who can don't need to worry about these issues. I'm sure the Bushes or the Kennedys aren't worried about who'll care for them as they age.

But young and upcoming people with dual careers, dual incomes (both of which are in the upper ranges), and in my biased opinion a need to validate themselves through visible material acquisitions are I think the target group for the upscale homes that are so impractical.

Contractors, builders, even communities that want bigger property tax revenues all go for the more glitzy houses. Practicality? Who worries about that? Aging in place? They're too young to worry about that either.

I think the retirement communities are moving toward better homes for seniors, but some of them are also ridiculously micromanaged. Someone on another forum I visit wrote that in the community of one of his relatives, the HOA rules include keeping the garage door shut at all times except for ingress and egress. How stupid. Is an open garage door going to make a negative impression on other residents? How are woodworkers and people with home shops supposed to work in closed environments if they don't have adequate lighting or ventilation?

The lack of forward planning for an aging population isn't dissimilar to the approach of many communities that obsess with lawns and believe that these are actually hallmarks of great places to live. The amount of money, pollution, and carbon footprints created, increased and expended for these high maintenance showpieces could be put to much better use.

These are all such shallow approaches. There is actually one forward thinking community in this area which has acquired an abandoned goat to substitute for gas guzzling, loud, noisy, odor belching power mowers. The goat is assigned to munch his way to happiness by freely consuming all the weeds, wildflowers and grass he can eat in a certain area.

This community is also forward thinking in providing activities for seniors.

So perhaps what it might take is more environmentally and age aware people in office, as a start.

My self esteem isn't based on whether or not I have a granite countertop.

I wish Congress would assist in this effort through the VA and FHA housing programs through providing discounts on loans on houses that are built elderly or handicapped accesible (on a varying scale based on the degree to which they are accessible). My elderly Mom and I are looking ro relocate from Maryland back to her longtime home in Ohio. During this process, we have looked at sever ranch-style, and unbelievably, immediately upon entering the back door (where homeowners enter and exit through, there is immediately the basement stairwell straight ahead, as well as a step-up to the right for the bathroom and master bedroom along with a step-up to the left for the kitchen. Think about this: you are elderly and you wake up in the middle of the night (groggy) to go and use the bathroom, make a wrong turn afterwards, and immediately fall down the one step and then tumble tumble to the basement --- ending up in a trip to the hospital or graveyard.