Elderly Parents Moving In: What to Consider

When it comes to senior living options, aging at home is the number one preference for 75% of adults ages 50 and over. However, independent living isn’t always the best living arrangement for the older adults.¹ Adjusting “at home” to living with you can provide your parents the privacy and dignity of a family residence without the dangers, upkeep, and isolation of remaining in their current house. 

If you’re an adult child working toward elderly parents moving in, read on for tips to help with moving day and the preparation leading up to it. 

Preparing Your Home for Senior Parents

There’s no single authoritative checklist for moving elderly parents into your home, but be aware—it’s more than emptying a few drawers for a houseguest. As the family caregiver, you’ll need to tackle: 

• Home Safety – To ensure home safety for seniors, tape down slippery rugs, add more lighting to dim spaces, and get rid of piles of clutter. For seniors, falls are the highest cause of fatal injuries, and the first incident doubles their chance of falling again.^2,3

• Accessibility – Making your home accessible likely will incur the highest cost of caring for elderly parents. Even if there are no walkers or wheelchairs in use, aging typically brings losses in strength, flexibility, and mobility that require home modifications. You can increase accessibility by creating wide, clear pathways and using specialty furniture, adaptive tools, and smart home technology. 

• Comfort – Helping an aging parent adjust from visiting your house as a guest to fully feeling at home in the house requires attention to their physical and emotional comfort. That could mean adding their well-loved recliner to your living room setup, providing a too-warm-for-you space for them to relax in, or having your kids use headphones during any bass-heavy video game battles in the family room. 

Make Room for Them

Your loved one has had a lifetime to develop strong preferences, collect treasured belongings, and create a home that fits them just right. While you can’t recreate that same home when they move in, you can: 

• Ask what they value about their furnishings and belongings

• Find out if they’re ready to hand down some treasures to friends or grandchildren

• Consider their sensory preferences—colors, textures, scents, patterns—and look for ways to integrate these elements into their new space

Make Moving Day a Positive Event

It’s easy to get lost in the stressful overload of the moving process, so beware of falling victim to irritation, impatience, and exhaustion. Set the right tone and keep spirits high by ensuring you: 

• Get enough sleep
• Plan time and menus for meals, snacks, and hydration breaks
• Start the day with a group hug, a pep talk, a prayer, or whatever works for your family 

Give a Joyous Welcome

Help elderly parents moving in feel loved and welcome with some early preparation and by taking a few moments together before everyone heads to bed on the first day. Consider: 

• Putting together a welcome basket of some favorite treats and toiletries
• Writing a heartfelt note ahead of time that you can give them on their first night
• Scheduling a short, casual open house during the first week for friends and neighbors

Tips to Settle In Together

No matter how well you get along now, adjusting to living with senior parents is a process. Ease the way with these methods:

• Communicate – Often, early, and in an even tone. If tempers get hot, step away and cool down. Take ownership of your feelings, preferences, and assumptions, and above all, stay calm. Consider family meetings with rules including “respect others” and “say it kindly,” rather than dealing with problems standing in a hallway while you’re between appointments.

• Gather – Even though you’re living on the same plot, be proactive about spending quality time together, such as sitting down for family meals at regular intervals. If you find that most of your discussions revolve around problems or complaints, schedule a classic movie night, a card game, or drive to a park. 

• Celebrate flexibility – None of you is going to have an uninterrupted continuance of your home time and house state. Adjusting to the changes on both sides requires creative thinking and a willingness to negotiate, try new things, and be flexible. 

Help with the Transition to a New Home

Welcoming your parents to their new home includes the big step of dealing with their old home—downsizing belongings, packing to move, and preparing for a sale. 

Truehold's sale-leaseback is a way to bridge this process. Instead of all the cost, time, and work involved in prepping a property for open house season, you can close on a sale quickly and continue to make use of it as a renter for as long as needed. 

Take your time transitioning parents to a new home and sorting through the belongings they’ve spent a lifetime accumulating. In the meantime, Truehold will take over responsibility for property insurance, as well as major repairs and maintenance. 

Ready to learn more? Contact us today to find out if a sale-leaseback is right for your family.

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Sources: 

¹ AARP. Where We Live, Where We Age: Trends in Home and Community Preferences: 2021 Home and Community Preferences Survey: A National Survey of Adults Age 18-Plus. https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/livable-communities/housing/2021-home-community-preferences/

² Lively. Falls in the elderly: statistics. https://www.lively.com/health-and-aging/elderly-falls-statistics/

³ CDC. Older Adult Fall Prevention: Facts About Falls. https://www.cdc.gov/falls/facts.html