Real Sage Advice

Step #5 - Tour Senior Housing

I've written about the steps to take when you or the senior in your life is looking at making a move.

• Step #1 and #2 of moving for seniors
• Step #3 to senior move plan - don't procrastinate
• Step #4 - can you afford the home you want?

Now that you've figured out your ideal home, and have examined your finances, it's time to get in your car and start touring senior housing. This step can really be quite fun. Just get out there and start asking questions, have lunch at a few different communties, get a guided tour then snoop around yourself and talk with the people that live there. Have fun with this! You don't have to move today, nor do you have to make a decision. As a REALTOR I look at between 40 and 60 single family homes per week, and that doesn't include poking my nose into local senior housing communities. It's really fun, and your bound to find a couple of pleasant surprises!

Some tips for when you're touring:

1. Bring bottled water with you
2. Carry a clip board with some blank paper so you can take notes on what you like and don't like about each senior community.  You'll likely leave with a handful of reading material from each place you visit. Tuck your notes inside those materials so you can remember your impressions of the place.
3. Ask Lots of Questions.

Minnesota Senior Housing-Presbyterian Homes

Drive through the suburbs of Minneapolis or St. Paul, and you'll see a LOT of new senior housing. Many of the new developments are independent senior housing communities bloated with amenities and high association fees. You won't see many of these high stake kinds of senior housing communities in Minneapolis or St. Paul. The land for new development simply doesn't exist. These land-locked communities have to get creative.

As a REALTOR and Certified Senior Advisor, I work with a lot of the senior housing communities in the Twin Cities. Presbyterian Homes stands out as one of the forward thinkers in the metro area. They are expanding their portfolio and trying some daring new strategies that have the potential to make a huge impact on the seniors living in the cities and first-ring suburbs such as St. Louis Park, and Edina.

Presbyterian Homes development in the north gateway area of Cottage grove is taking place where a 14-acre shopping center used to be. They are replacing the shopping center with 86 new independent living units, 42 assisted living units, and 18 rooms in a memory-care unit. The project will also include retail space to serve the senior residents who live there. You won't find many senior housing developers in the metro that are willing to take an existing space, and reform it while holding retail space in their portfolio. It's simply not done.

They also hold a Roseville shopping mall and a Nicollet Mall Office Building in their portfolio.  (If anyone from Pres Homes reads this, hold me a unit in that new Nicollet Mall site!)

The Twin Cities is fortunate to have a plethora of senior housing options, and it' only going to get better.

A map of Presbyterian Home properties:

Other Articles:
Avoid these 5 mistakes when choosing Senior Housing
Types of Senior Housing in Minnesota
Shop for the right senior community

Senior Personal Ads

When I teach the REALTOR Senior Advisor class with the Minneapolis Association of REALTORs, I usually throw in a few jokes to keep it fun. Keeping the attention of professionals who are used to constantly moving, and interacting with people is like trying to nail jello to a wall!

This one is a favorite:

SENIOR PERSONAL ADS

The following "Senior" personal ads seen in Florida and Arizona
newspapers: Who says seniors don't have a sense of humor?

FOXY LADY: Sexy, fashion-conscious blue-haired beauty, 80's slim,5'-4" (used to be 5-6), searching for sharp-looking, sharp-dressing companion. Matching white shoes and belt a plus.

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT: Recent widow who has just buried fourth husband looking for someone to round out a six-unit plot. Dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath not a problem.

SERENITY NOW: I am into solitude, long walks, sunrises, the ocean, yoga and meditation. If you are the silent type, let's get together, take our hearing aids out and enjoy quiet times.

WINNING SMILE: Active grandmother with original teeth seeking a dedicated flosser to share rare steaks, corn on the cob and caramel candy.

BEATLES OR STONES? I still like to rock, still like to cruise in my Camaro on Saturday nights and still like to play the guitar. If you were a groovy chick, or are now a groovy hen, let's get together and listen to my eight-track tapes.

MINT CONDITION: Male, 1922, high mileage, good condition, some hair, many new parts including hip, knee, cornea, valves. Isn't in running condition, but walks well.

MEMORIES: I can usually remember Monday through Thursday. If you can remember Friday, Saturday and Sunday, let's put our two heads together.

Seniors stay at home with NORCs

I'm working with a young couple-Shelly and Sam- who is buying their mother's home. It's the home Shelly grew up in, and it's the home she plans to be in for the rest of her life. She told me "My children will have to carry me out of here!" Unfortunately for many seniors, this is the extent of their planning. They white knuckle their way from day to day all the while not knowing of community services that exist to help them STAY in their homes.

A Naturally Occuring Retirement Community (NORC)  is a neighborhood or community where seniors work together to stay in their homes and age as neighbors. Imagine a block consisting of the original homeowners that have organized weekly transportation to the grocer, pharmacy, doctor, and community events. A group of people who look out for each other.  Sounds like a hybrid of a community action group and an intentional community such as cohousing.

St. Louis Park, Minnesota is a pioneer. They have been working with the Administration on Aging to form a NORC group they have called Nurturing our Retired Citizens. They have formed parish nursing programs, senior resource directories, and a newsletter.

If you aren't able to find senior community resources in your area, reach out and ask. The Twin Cities has a vibrant community of senior professionals that network with each other on a weekly basis.  If you can't find the resource you're looking for, chances are there is someone in the senior profession who can point you in the right direction. 

The Crossings-Senior Housing in Brooklyn Center

There are so many senior housing options in the Twin Cities, it can truly be impossible to see them all and understand all of the amenities each of them offer.  I could spend a life time blogging about each of them! While you likely don't want to spend a lifetime reading about them, I thought it might be fun to show you some pictures of some of the senior housing communities I work with.

Here are a few pictures of The Crossings in Brooklyn Center

Memories from the Sixties

While snooping around the web I found this movie about the sixties. Enjoy!

   

Remember the Sixties

The Zimmers-a study in aging well

On the Tonight Show last night, Jay Leno interviewed these rockers. Now THIS is aging well. Click on the arrow below to see the video.

Read the BBC post on the worlds oldest Rock Band. You can also read about The Zimmers here, and here. Ironically, Zimmer is a prosthetic joint company, and it's also a walker!

On Caregiving...

Women born in 1972 or later are statistically all but guaranteed to take care of their mothers longer then their mothers took care of them. 

~Andrew Zolli, futurist.

CaringBridge - resource for caregivers

I'm a little behind on my blogging.

My Mother-In-Law has been in the hospital after suffering an aneurysm. The prognosis is good, she has a close-knit family that is pulling together to make sure she has everything she needs. It's times like these I'm reminded first-hand of how taxing care-giving can be. It's a full-time job just communicating with the health care team, and translating the information to the family and friends who want constant updates.

Please share this resource if there's someone in your life who is dealing with a loved one with a sickness. This resource is just right for you bloggers to communicate updates on your loved-ones health!

CaringBridge® (www.caringbridge.org) is a free, nonprofit web service that connects family and friends  to share information, love and support during a health crisis, treatment and recovery. Updates can be posted to update everyone on your loved one's progress, and there's a place for family and friends to send well-wishes.   It takes just a few moments for you to create your own personal and private CaringBridge website.

Shop for the right senior housing

My parents grew up at a time when they knew their neighbors, would invite them over for coffee, and would walk next door to borrow a cup of sugar.  This hasn't been the way I interact with my neighbors in my adulthood. Busier lives, women working, the TV and the Internet have all influenced changes in the way we socialize. Take a look at the way homes are built. They aren't built with front porches that invite social get togethers anymore, we build back-yard havens with privacy fences instead.

These differences are strikingly apparent when you visit different housing communities. I was at an open house at Lee Square in Robbinsdale this weekend. Lee Square is a 50+ active adult community that exemplifies the kind of community spirit younger generations just haven't experienced. There were women going grocery shopping together, a group of people sitting outside enjoying the weather, people greeting each other in the lobby and asking "How are the kids?".  One way members of the silent and GI generations define themselves is through their community--their neighbors and social networks. Subsequent generations such as the Baby Boomers and Xers have a different definition of social belonging--very seldom will a Baby Boomer say their "community" is their immediate neighborhood.

Tip: When it's time for you, your parents or other elder to start looking for new housing, consider the implications of the community. When you go to look at senior housing go on a Saturday morning and make time to sit in the lobby. Be a part of the community. For our elders, the community will be as important  a consideration for happiness as the square footage of the apartment, and other senior housing amenities.