Living alone in a home can take a huge toll on the life of senior citizens. So, sometimes to avoid the negative impact of alone living, they prefer selling their property and shifting to an old-age home. There are a lot of things seniors need to consider Before Selling Your House And Moving To An Old-Age Home in their retired years.

“People who are nearing retirement age constantly worry about two things—community support and social life. Given the condition of lifestyle and choices made during productive years, the narrative often changes fast once retired”, says Ajay Sharma, Managing Director, Valuation Services, Colliers India.

One needs to keep several aspects in mind before leaving your home. Here’re some crucial points to remember before selling your house and moving to an old-age home.

Assess Your Emotional Attachment To The Home, Medical And Other Needs

You must have spent a long time in your home, and leaving it suddenly can result in an emotional setback. You need to prepare yourself very well before deciding to sell your home.

Changing a home during the last leg of your lifecycle also requires a serious check of your medical needs. It’s essential to stay closer to where you can get quick medical support such as a medical in the surrounding, 24-hour doctor support, regular health check-ups, etc. Access to recreational activity is also essential because you would initially need to divert your mind to settle down easily.

The Level Of Privacy And Independence In An Old Age Home

At an old age home, you may not get privacy and independence at par with your home. Often the old-age home has specific timings for eating, sleeping, activities, etc. You may find many people of your age group in an old-age home, and it allows you a familiar environment, but you may still miss your old neighbourhood, children and friends.

Keep Plan ‘B’ Ready If You Can’t Adjust At The New Place

What if you cannot settle down in an old-age home after selling your home? Where would you go? How would you spend the rest of your life? These are a few questions you should ask yourself before you decide to sell your home to shift to an old age home. You must keep a Plan ‘B’ ready for such a situation. For example, if you can’t adjust to an old-age home, you may shift to a rented apartment in a senior living society.

Explore Other Options

As mentioned above, you can explore other options as well; for example, you can shift to a rented apartment in society for senior living, or instead of selling your home, you can borrow money from a bank through a reverse mortgage facility and use the fund for getting better support at your doorstep.

Before shifting to an old-age home, you must try living there for a few days. Usually, people without family support or financial constraints shift to an old age home. At last, it should be your well-thought personal decision, so make your choice based on your preferences and needs.

The author is an independent financial journalist