Some older Americans splurge to keep homes accessible while others struggle to make safety upgrades
Living at home as long as possible is preferred by a vast majority of adults over 50
NEW YORK — Brenda Edwards considers the four bedroom ranch-style house where she has lived for 20 years her forever home. It's where the 70-year-old retired nurse and her 79-year-old husband want to stay as their mobility becomes more limited.
So she hired an interior designer for $20,000 and spent another $95,000 to retrofit their house in Oakdale, California. She had the kitchen aisles widened to accommodate a wheelchair in case she or her husband ever need one. The bathroom now has a walk-in steam shower and an electronic toilet seat that cleans the user when activated.
“We felt comfortable," Edwards said in explaining why the couple decided to invest in the property instead of downsizing. «We have a pool. We have a spa. We just put a lot of love and effort into this yard. We want to stay.»
Even if they wanted to move, it wouldn’t make financial sense, Edwards said. Their house is almost paid for, and “it would be too hard to purchase anything else,” she said.
Like Edwards and her husband, a vast majority of adults over age 50 prefer the idea of remaining in their own residences as long a possible, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. But staying put is becoming less of a choice. Some baby boomers and older members of Generation X are locked into low mortgage rates too good to give up. Skyrocketing housing prices fueled by lean supply further complicate the calculations of moving house.
Despite feeling tied down, a subset of these older adults have enough extra cash to splurge on upgrades designed to keep their homes both enjoyable and accessible as they age. The demand for inconspicuous
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