Your reasoning is an exact match for the way my lovely wife and I feel. We are not disabled and are doing pretty well, but we have seen how older people fare when they get older and frail and have to rely on ever increasing outside help, even if it is from family. My wife is pretty social, and I would not want her rattling around in this big house cooking for one and dealing with all the issues of home maintenance.I never thought I would move from my home in the country. Over the last 10 years of living there, I started facing the fact that I could not live there as a disabled older person. I was in a miserable situation (and marriage) and started researching where I could move and how. I moved to a senior living apartment complex downtown in a small city. I guess that is all to say about it. Happy that I did it.
Wise thoughts.For me, the important thing is to do the preparation and the planning now while I'm still in relatively good shape. I'm afraid that if I wait until I actually need to move I won't be in any shape to deal with the changes that such a move will require.
I think that you have nearly all of the big issues covered and it should not be hard for you to hire someone for a few hours a week to help out. Having nearby family members is another big plus for you. You should be able to stay there for a long time.I'm hoping to be able to age in place because:
~I own my unit and currently our carrying charge (aka HOA fee) is about 25% of what the site below says is the average housing cost for 2 bedroom apartments in my city. Our mortgage is paid off.
~I'm located within walking distance to retailers, financial institutions, a supermarket, post office and public transportation which takes me or links me to just about anyplace I'd need to go (though since the pandemic I've been using Uber and Lyft).
~When I had my bathroom remodeled 22 years ago, I had grab bars installed in the shower and next to the toilet.
~My apartment is considered a small space (in the 700 sq ft range) so the upkeep is not that hard.
~I do have to go up five steps to get into my building then 3 steps down to my apartment which is actually the first floor. I'm hoping I never get so bad that I can't maneuver those few steps. And hopefully I'll never need to be in a wheelchair. But they have installed ramps on patios of other owners on the first floor who were wheelchair bound.
~All maintenance of common areas are the responsibility of management, so I don't have to worry about those things.
https://www.apartmenthomeliving.com/sitemap
That is against the ADA, and you can take a picture and send in a complaint. You don’t have to live there to do that. Anyone in there who needs a ramp or lift could sue and win. The law is the law is the law. It is a minimum 5000 fine last time I looked.So it's an exercise in futility for me since Huzz refuses to move out of our big place, but--I guess to torture myself? IDK--I'm always looking at places around here that'd be better for us to live in and I'm looking online at a really nice mobile in one of the nicest (i.e., most expensive, sigh) parks around here and it's showing how nice the mobile home itself is and it's showing what a nice, beautiful park it's in, swimming pool, tennis courts, how nice, yada yada and then I notice it says, "No wheelchair ramps or wheelchair lifts are allowed in this park." And get this, you have to be 55 or over to live in this park but I guess you have to not age and stay 55 forever since you'll never be able to have to use a walker or wheelchair in this place! Good grief...no wonder it's hard to find a good place to age in sometimes.
Thanks, Aneeda, good to know. I'd heard that this state is really lousy about enforcing the ADA but maybe that's just been people talking who are nervous about trying to use the law.That is against the ADA, and you can take a picture and send in a complaint. You don’t have to live there to do that. Anyone in there who needs a ramp or lift could sue and win. The law is the law is the law. It is a minimum 5000 fine last time I looked.
You mentioned major repairs & upkeep of a home being a factor in deciding to move or not. That's something I;m finding out to be true. I'd like--and really think we need--to move to a smaller place but Huzz is dead set against it. Welp, as a house gets older and older (and wasn't top-of-line even when it was new as is the case with ours), it becomes to where there's a repair needed more and more often. (Just coming off of a major plumbing repair with ours, went on for almost a month since the plumber took a while to find the leak, sigh.)I would like to age in place and I try to make things easier for myself as time goes by. I've replaced most rugs with flooring so it is much easier to use a mop than drag a vacuum around. I keep cleaning supplies in the kitchen and bathroom so I'm not running back and forth.
I have lowered shelves in my kitchen cabinets and keep what I use daily on the lower ones.
I also have a kneeler for inside the house with handles so when I get down I don't have to crawl to a chair to get up and I've been purging which helped a lot
My son just bought us these safety bars for the bath tub. He will install them when I decide exactly where I want them.
The only thing that would make me move is how many major repairs and upkeep our home will need in the future.. View attachment 144997
I have to crawl to a chair to get up off the floor, so I don’t get on the floor. Can you post a picture of the kneeler you use and explain how you use it to get up?I would like to age in place and I try to make things easier for myself as time goes by. I've replaced most rugs with flooring so it is much easier to use a mop than drag a vacuum around. I keep cleaning supplies in the kitchen and bathroom so I'm not running back and forth.
I have lowered shelves in my kitchen cabinets and keep what I use daily on the lower ones.
I also have a kneeler for inside the house with handles so when I get down I don't have to crawl to a chair to get up and I've been purging which helped a lot
My son just bought us these safety bars for the bath tub. He will install them when I decide exactly where I want them.
The only thing that would make me move is how many major repairs and upkeep our home will need in the future.. View attachment 144997
Our money pit of a house is nothing but repairs. We have a little extra money during winter because, unless it’s an emergency, no repairs since it’s so cold.You mentioned major repairs & upkeep of a home being a factor in deciding to move or not. That's something I;m finding out to be true. I'd like--and really think we need--to move to a smaller place but Huzz is dead set against it. Welp, as a house gets older and older (and wasn't top-of-line even when it was new as is the case with ours), it becomes to where there's a repair needed more and more often. (Just coming off of a major plumbing repair with ours, went on for almost a month since the plumber took a while to find the leak, sigh.)
Exactly what I was going to ask!!! I need something like that in my apartment.I have to crawl to a chair to get up off the floor, so I don’t get on the floor. Can you post a picture of the kneeler you use and explain how you use it to get up?
Is this the house he owned when you guys married or did you buy a new house?We’re renovating our house currently, upgrading and modernizing the look of the 60’s ranch house. Structurally it’s in really good shape.
As we renovate we’re making decisions to accommodate being able to age in place for as long as possible. The house is all one level so that’s a plus. There’s an addition which was added in the 70’s....the garage was turned into a den, and two additional rooms and a bathroom we added on next to that, which is now our master suite and large laundry room/mud room.
There’s a step up from the laundry room (we enter from the back door into that room) to the den, and another step up from den to kitchen. There’s more than enough room for a gently graded wheelchair ramp if one is needed.
The biggest problem would be the lawn/yard maintenance. We live on almost an acre on a corner lot, and Ron’s been slowly redoing the landscaping so that there’s a minimum of weed eating, no flower beds (all our flowers are in pots) and no other landscaping needs except some mulching around the trees.
If he should pass before me, I wouldn’t stay here for long. I’d sell the place and buy something with a zero lot line so no yard to tend or other exterior maintenance.
@Aneeda72 ,The kneeler is really for outside. I bought another one for inside. My son bought a tube of foam insulation at Home Depot, really cheap. He cut 4 pieces and sliced it open to fit on the handle part. He use zip ties to fasten it but I'm sure Duck tape would work. This makes it easy on the hands and also will not scratch the floor. It comes assembled and closes up. You can flip it and sit on the other side. I got it on Amazon for about $30.00. The first one arrived bent but they replaced it with no problem.I have to crawl to a chair to get up off the floor, so I don’t get on the floor. Can you post a picture of the kneeler you use and explain how you use it to get up?