Approximately 79% of homes in the US are owned by people aged 65 and older.  Aging in place is fine, but many of the more-affluent seniors are opting for luxury accommodations and paying a hefty price – and there is no shortage of demand. The better units at La Costa Glen have a three-year wait list – plan ahead! From the WSJ:

In the heart of Silicon Valley, well-off baby boomers enjoy meals of porchetta and cheesy polenta, prepared with herbs plucked from the community garden. Thirty-foot-tall windows offer a view on a quiet creek winding along manicured grounds.

Spending later years at this community, Vi at Palo Alto, comes with a price tag that starts with an upfront payment that can range from $1.17 million for a one-bedroom apartment and up to $7.3 million for a three-bedroom unit. Ongoing monthly fees up to $13,800 cover services such as housekeeping and valet parking, and amenities. Residents can attend lectures by professors of nearby Stanford University or a performance by opera singers.

For wealthier Americans, greater options exist for how to spend their later years. A growing crop of high-end communities, called life plan communities, allow residents to start in an apartment and then move to more nursing-like care as they age. Occupancy rates are rising, with the rate in the independent living units above 80% today, according to NIC MAP Vision, a data source for senior housing research.

Resident contracts typically work like a membership and, depending on terms, lock in rates so that costs don’t escalate when higher levels of care are needed. Inclusive care contracts come with higher upfront fees, but allow customers to sidestep having to find, and pay for, different levels of care as they age.

Many baby boomers who watched parents or friends struggle to age in their homes—and scramble to find nursing or home healthcare—say they are determined to do things differently, for their own peace of mind and that of their children.

“It’s a gift to our kids,” says Virginia Pollard, who lives with her husband, David, at Vi at Palo Alto.

Finding the right life plan or continuing care retirement community is like looking at colleges, say residents. The ideal is a place that feels personally comfortable, whether in the city or country, and where they can be among others with similar accomplishments and interests.

Kendal Corp. has life care communities near Oberlin College in Ohio and Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. The Forest at Duke neighbors Duke University. Like colleges, they often have wait lists.

Ron Litvak, 66, a retired lawyer in Denver, says he and his wife are on two wait lists, one for a premier life planning community in Denver and another for La Costa Glen in Carlsbad, Calif., and plans to get units in each.

Litvak saw his own parents grow isolated in their 17-story Denver condominium, his dad, with Parkinson’s, and his mom, with emphysema. Litvak brought them groceries and managed their care as their needs increased.

“I don’t want my kids to do that,” he says, adding that he thinks people live better and longer if they have a good social network.

“If we could get ourselves into a community at a time when we are able to enjoy it and make new friends, I think it will make for a better existence for both of us,” he says.

Entrance fees for life plan communities, which have both independent living and nursing care on one campus, average between $100,000 and $400,000 and can go as high as $7 million, according to industry surveys. The upfront fees can be partially refundable depending on the contract and often reflect the local real-estate market.

“You’re not going to find a $6 million entry fee in the middle of Iowa,” says Lisa McCracken, head of research and analytics for the nonprofit National Investment Center for Senior Housing & Care, which tracks the estimated 1,900 life plan communities. Most are located in larger metropolitan areas. Some, such as Willow Valley Communities in Lancaster, Pa., are in smaller cities.

Monthly fees average about $4,800 and are subject to annual increases that have historically averaged about 3% to 4% in the last decade, but have been higher in recent years, according to NIC MAP Vision.

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Jim the Realtor
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