Housing & Home support center
Home safety and housing stability guidance so retirees can stay independent and avoid preventable setbacks.
What you'll find here: Home setup plans, safety checklists, and practical upgrades you can complete this month.
Time-sensitive update
Heating equipment is a leading cause of home fires in the colder months, and carbon monoxide has no color or smell to warn you. Schedule a furnace and chimney inspection and test every carbon monoxide alarm now, while there's still time to fix what you find.
Date to note: Before the first hard freeze
Read related action guide
A scheduled hip, knee, or cataract surgery gives you weeks of notice that most falls don't. Use that lead time to line up rides, meals, and a safer recovery space before you check in.
Housing & Home
Rent increases alone haven't grown senior living margins this year, so operators are leaning on staffing efficiency to close the gap. Here's what to ask on a tour before you sign anything.
Housing & Home
Cold weather brings heating fires, carbon monoxide risk, and icy entryways into homes retirees plan to stay in. Check your furnace, alarms, backup power, and steps before the temperature drops.
Housing & HomeCheck the highest-risk rooms, note urgent fixes, and print a room-by-room list.
Organize rides, meals, pickups, and check-ins with dates, helpers, and follow-up timing.
Rules, enrollment windows, and filing dates can close quickly. This guide is the best next step if you only have 10 minutes today.
What a Senior Living Tour Doesn't Show You About StaffingA scheduled hip, knee, or cataract surgery gives you weeks of notice that most falls don't. Use that lead time to line up rides, meals, and a safer recovery space before you check in.
Housing & HomeRent increases alone haven't grown senior living margins this year, so operators are leaning on staffing efficiency to close the gap. Here's what to ask on a tour before you sign anything.
Housing & HomeCold weather brings heating fires, carbon monoxide risk, and icy entryways into homes retirees plan to stay in. Check your furnace, alarms, backup power, and steps before the temperature drops.
Housing & Home
A grab bar or ramp installed by the wrong contractor can cost more to fix than it did to install. Check licensing, insurance, and the estimate itself before you sign anything.
Housing & Home
The senior living conversation usually stalls because it feels like an accusation. A room-by-room safety walkthrough gives families a fact-based starting point instead.
Housing & Home
A Housing Choice Voucher pays part of your rent in a private-market apartment you choose yourself, not a dedicated senior building. Here's who qualifies, how the waitlist works, and what happens once a voucher is in hand.
Housing & Home
PACE lets eligible older adults get nursing-home-level medical care, meals, transportation, and daily support while staying in their own home. Here's what it actually covers and how to check if you qualify.
Housing & Home
HUD's Section 202 program funds apartment buildings built for very-low-income seniors 62 and older, with rent capped at 30% of income. Here's who qualifies, how the waitlist works, and how to apply.
Housing & Home
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are changing residents' health needs faster than senior living communities can plan for. If you're touring communities now, here's what that uncertainty means for your own decision.
Housing & Home
Most states offer some way to lower a retiree's property tax bill through exemptions, freezes, or deferrals, but few people ever check whether their county runs one. Find out what applies to you before the deadline passes.
Housing & Home
The Weatherization Assistance Program pays for insulation, air sealing, and sometimes furnace repair for income-eligible households. Here's what it covers, who typically qualifies, and how to apply through your state.
Housing & Home
A federally insured reverse mortgage can fund the repairs and modifications that let you stay in your home, but it comes with real costs and rules. Check what a HECM actually covers before you call a lender.
Housing & Home
If you're 62 or older, own your home in a rural area, and don't have much income, a federal program called Section 504 can pay for the repairs your budget keeps pushing off. Some of it you never pay back.
Housing & Home
Senior living operators are reporting occupancy near full capacity in many markets. If a move is even loosely on your radar for the next few years, waiting for a firm decision could cost you the location you actually want.
Housing & Home
More retirees are skipping the next mortgage and renting instead when they downsize. Less upkeep and more flexibility come with real tradeoffs. Weigh both before you sign anything.
Housing & Home
Nursing homes answer to federal inspectors. Assisted living communities mostly don't. A new government report shows the gap. Here's what to ask a community directly before you commit.
Housing & Home
A facility tour shows you the lobby, not its safety record. Massachusetts just tightened long-term care oversight. Here's how any family can pull a facility's real inspection history first.
Housing & Home
A continuing care retirement community asks for a large entrance fee and a long-term commitment. Learn the three contract types, what happens to your entrance fee, and the questions to ask before you sign.
Housing & Home
Medicare and Medicaid together spend billions on assisted living, but coverage gaps are common and confusing. Check what's actually covered before you weigh staying home against a move.
Housing & Home
A safer home does not require a full remodel or a weekend of panic-cleaning. Work room by room, fix the hazards that matter most, and leave the cosmetic fuss for later.
Housing & Home
Home safety fixes often cost more than retirees can cover out of pocket, but that does not mean the search ends at the hardware store. Start with the programs that screen for safety, age, income, and disability needs.
Housing & Home
Bathroom safety comes down to traction, support, light, and less awkward reaching. Start with the upgrades that prevent the fast, stupid falls that happen in a room people use half awake.
Housing & Home