Selling a Home to Move to a Continuing Care Retirement Community

Sometimes it makes sense to sell your home and move into an active retirement community – but in some cases, it’s best to find a new home in a continuing care retirement community. For many people, continuing care retirement communities provide an opportunity for aging in place.

Whether you’re considering this type of move for yourself or you’re considering it for a parent or another loved one, here’s what you need to know about selling a home to move to a continuing care community.
Related: Active retirement communities: What’s right for you?

What is a Continuing Care Retirement Community?

A continuing care retirement community is one where people can simply age in place. Commonly called CCRCs or life plan communities, these facilities offer different types of housing and care levels based on residents’ needs. Residents can start out by living independently in an apartment, for example, and later make the transition to assisted living or specialty care – including skilled nursing care – to remain in the same community. That continuity provides a sense of stability and familiarity that people need as their health or ability levels change.

A Personal Story From Jack Cooper

My mother lived in Charlestown, a wonderful CCRC in Catonsville. It’s an independent living to skilled nursing community, which means seniors live independently and move to other types of arrangements as necessary. The staff there is incredibly wonderful – they’re helpful and accommodating, and they truly care about each person who lives there. It was heartening to see my mom get the care she needed while still exerting her own independence, and I’m always happy to talk about our experiences there with anyone. If you’re considering moving to one of these facilities, or if you’re researching it for a parent or loved one, I will be happy to help you understand how these facilities work and share our family’s experiences with you.

Selling the House: What to Know Before Moving to a Continuing Care Retirement Community

For some people, it just makes sense to move to a continuing care retirement community. Downsizing and moving to a senior-friendly area with planned social activities, athletic opportunities and on-site amenities (including medical care) can be a wonderful – and welcome – transition.

How to Find a CCRC

You can visit the federal Eldercare Locator to find lists of accredited CCRCs or talk to your real estate agent about local communities that may be good choices. It’s essential that you visit prospective facilities several times before you make a commitment – and while you’re there, ask plenty of questions. Find out:

How close the community is to your regular physician’s office or specialty care clinics
What types of medical facilities are on-site, including whether there is a pharmacy
Whether it’s convenient to local amenities, including grocery stores, shops, restaurants and other services (like dry cleaners and entertainment venues)
What types of credentials the staff members hold
Whether staff members are friendly, professional and courteous – to you and to people who live in the CCRC
What floor plans and options are available for living quarters
What amenities are in living residences, like dishwashers, washers and dryers, and other appliances
Whether the facility’s common areas are well-maintained
How the residents feel about the community and whether they appear to be happy and enriched
What types of meal programs the facility offers, including whether there are accommodations for special diets
What types of social events the community plans, as well as what recreational opportunities it offers and whether the facility offers off-site trips
Whether there are exercise facilities and fitness classes available to residents

You should also check the inspection report for the assisted-care portion of any CCRC. The inspection report should be posted somewhere in the facility, and staff members should make it available to you upon request. If a facility doesn’t want to provide you with its inspection report, you should look for another facility.

The Home-Selling Process

After you find the right community for yourself or your loved one, you can start exploring your options for selling your home. Sometimes the best option is to sell the home as-is, which means you offer it at its current market value without making upgrades or repairs. In other cases, homeowners make repairs and upgrades to sell the home at a higher price.
Pro tip: Before you make any major home improvements, talk to your real estate agent – some improvements don’t pay off at the closing table, and the last thing you want to do when you’re selling a home is to lose potential profits.
Related: Get a FREE home valuation now
Selling a home to move into a CCRC is a bit different from moving into another house in a different subdivision or a different city. Often, people selling to make this type of move hold an estate sale to help with the downsizing process. Your REALTOR® can help you find a company that specializes in estate sales, as well.
Related: Talk to a REALTOR® near you now

Are You Selling Your Home to Move to a Continuing Care Retirement Community?

If you’re thinking about selling your home – or helping a loved one sell his or her home – to move to a continuing care retirement community, you’ll benefit from working with a REALTOR® who understands the process (and who has been through it before).
Call us right away at 443-955-1227 or fill out the form below. We can explain your options, tell you how much the home is worth, and help you begin moving forward.