Home Sharing is Helping Retirees Save

Barbara Basler | 10.19.08

AARP Bulletin Today

Carrie Swinson still lives in the neat four-bedroom Cape Cod-style house in Bay Shore, N.Y., where she and her late husband raised their 10 children. The house is shaded by big oaks and ringed by thick red rosebushes. It’s a welcoming home, full of memories. But for Swinson, 74, living there was getting harder and harder.

“I was putting aside hundreds of dollars a month just for property taxes, and I had to watch every penny I spent,” says Swinson, a retired registered nurse. And there was another, subtler problem. >> More

In Babylon, a Home-Sharing Program for the Elderly

Diana Shaman | 6.15.97

The New York Times

After living all her life in North Babylon, Virginia Goldsmith had no wish to leave the comfortable four-bedroom turn-of-the century Victorian with the wraparound porch that once belonged to her grandparents.

But when she turned 80, her two children, a daughter in Washington and a son in Islip, began to worry that her living alone might not be safe.

Last December, Mrs. Goldsmith, widowed 10 years, got a roommate and new friend, Dolly Palmer, 73, through Babylon Home Sharers, a house-sharing program sponsored by the Town of Babylon Senior Citizens Community Services, a nonprofit group. The eight-year-old program matches older homeowners with older people looking for a place to live. >> More

Tips for Match-ups:

Patience

It can take awhile to find a good partner. Spend several hours all at once with the person before making a decision. Trust your intuition. A bad match will be misery. A good one will be priceless.

Honesty

Tell your potential partner anything that he or she will find out anyway. If you are a messy housekeeper or allow your pup to eat from the table, say so up front.

Privacy

Do not assume your partner will know what you wish to keep private. Speak up. It's important.

Kindness

No two people get along perfectly all the time. Expect some lumps or bumps along the way.

Values

Have a discussion about values with your potential partner. If you are deeply committed to religion, say so. If have strong feelings about opposite sex visitors, speak up. Anything you feel would cause resentment or disapproval should be discussed before you begin to share a home.

Moving an Aging

America Forward

Mary Kay Buysse | Executive Director NASMM

This excellent article provides more details about the Association and services of Senior Move Managers.>>Download

Alternative Lifestyles

Home Sharing

Home sharing for seniors can solve many problems. There are two main forms of home sharing. Match-up programs, and shared living residences. These programs can provide financial relief, safety, and companionship.

Senior Homesharing a Win-Win

Monica Steinisch | University Credit Union | Los Angeles

Decades after saying goodbye to college roommates, some older adults are finding their way back to the idea of shared housing. Whether motivated by economics or one of the many other benefits of homesharing, participating seniors with a spare bedroom provide a place to live in exchange for rent, companionship, or household services. Though not ideal for everyone, home sharing has proven an excellent solution for a growing number of aging adults who want to maintain their independence and stay in their homes as long as possible. >> More

Shared Housing Directory

Match-up Programs

These programs match home owners with someone looking for a home (called a home seeker) The home seeker pays rent or can combine support services with some rent in exchange for a place to live.

The process for match-up programs normally includes an application, interviews, home visits, reference checks, and a homeshare agreement.

Shared Living Residences

These are usually fairly large homes with six or seven bedrooms. Seniors share the whole house and each has his or her own bedroom.

Elderly Share A Home, and Their Warmth

James Bennet | New York Times | 12.30.92

As usual, Mary Daniels, who is 88, started rinsing the dishes as Mike Stenson, 81, scraped the remains of the meat loaf and mashed potatoes into the garbage, and the others, amid considerable chatter, cleared the table and prepared tea and dessert.

The others, that is, except Bill Mahoney, 72, who stayed seated, drumming his fingers on the table in Harvest House, a Long Island group home for the elderly. "There's too many cooks in there," he said, a bit defensively. "When I cook, I like to cook alone."

"When you cook," observed his buddy Joseph Donovan, 90 years old, as he deposited a stack of ceramic dessert plates on the table, "it's a miracle."

The tiny society of Harvest House, a powder-blue clapboard home where six elderly people and one nun who acts as manager eat, sleep, banter and occasionally squabble together, is an experiment in communal living for old people. The house is part of the emerging patchwork of long-term living alternatives for the growing number of elderly Americans.

>> More