When Your Home Takes Care Of You

How Homes Help Pay for Long-Term Needs

We often talk about the ways in which we care for our homes, keeping up with repairs, replacing aging systems, or adding new updates over the years. But something we’ve seen quite often is that, eventually, our homes begin to take care of us.

Over the past couple of years, we have noticed a similar theme among many of our clients: when health starts to decline, aging parents need care, or a family’s circumstances shift, the home often becomes the resource that financially makes the next chapter possible. Without the fine print, waiting periods, or limitations on what’s covered, a home can offer the stability and flexibility that insurance often lacks.

What we’re actually seeing

This was the case for one of our recent listings in Monterey Park. The home received 10 offers and the sale of this property is now funding the care of its owner, as he has moved into assisted living.

Similar scenarios played out with two other clients who were able to tap into their equity in order to build ADUs, both of which allowed multi-generational living arrangements that will keep families close and allow aging parents to remain independent for longer.

Others have chosen to remodel their homes to make aging in place more practical, adding features like single-level living, accessible bathrooms, or improved lighting and safer entryways. In each case, the home has become a living support system, adapting alongside its owners.

These stories are not unique. They reflect a growing reality for homeowners who are realizing that the investment they’ve been paying into for decades is, in many ways, a form of long-term care insurance. Increasingly, we're seeing homes act as the financial “backstop” that supports care costs, accessibility improvements, or the next move.

The scale of the issue

Many homeowners, especially those who have owned their homes for 20, 30, or 40 years, now have significant housing wealth. Home equity held by the Boomer generation in the U.S. is in the trillions and that housing wealth is becoming increasingly important as a source of support in retirement.

At the same time, the cost of long-term care continues to climb. Recent cost-of-care surveys put the median annual cost of assisted living in the U.S. near $70,000 per year (and higher in many metro areas like Los Angeles). For many retirees, even those with pensions or Social Security, that expense is a serious burden.

Practical next steps we recommend to clients

1. Start with numbers. Get a current market value estimate for the home and a clear picture of expected monthly costs for care or a new living arrangement (we can help with this!).

2. Explore short-term and long-term options. Run scenarios: sell and downsize, build an ADU for renting or multi-generational living, remodel for aging in place, cash-out refinance, explore a vetted reverse mortgage, etc.

3. Talk to your team. Coordinate with your CPA, estate attorney, and a trusted lender. Having aligned advisors makes decisions faster and protects outcomes. Let us know if you'd like referrals to vetted service professionals.

4. Plan the logistics early. If selling or remodeling is likely, map a clear timeline of repairs, updates, or listing preparation. We regularly help clients develop this roadmap and manage the project end-to-end.

5. Remember the non-financial values. Homes carry memories and community ties too. Solutions that preserve these connections, like aging in place, building ADUs for family proximity, and/or phased moves are often worth pursuing.

Final thought

We sometimes hear people call homeownership a “burden” because of maintenance and cost but often times we see homes actually return that investment. For many clients, a property can become the tool that funds care, independence, flexibility, and dignity in later life. Our job is to help you see which option fits your goals and to manage the process with compassion and competence.

If you’re curious where your home stands (market value, ADU potential, or options for funding care), we’re happy to talk through scenarios with you and your loved ones.