Assisted living assist

Some retirement communities are offering creative help to encourage seniors to move in a stagnant housing market

Residents participate in a water aerobics class at Needham's North Hill senior community, which has started offering bridge loans to help would-be clients unable to sell their homes. (Globe Staff Photo / Suzanne Kreiter)

After his wife passed away in fall 2007, William Looney decided to sell his four-bedroom Colonial in Dedham and move into a retirement community.

After visiting a few in the area with his daughter, Martha McNabb, the Boston lawyer settled on North Hill, a "life care" retirement community in Needham. He put the family home on the market for $485,000, and planned to make the move once his house sold.

"I really thought it would be just a few weeks," his daughter said.

What followed reads like a script for a dark comedy.

First, the housing market slumped. So McNabb helped him spruce up the house and he lowered the asking price. They found a buyer - who died the day before the closing. McNabb lowered the price again, and again an interested buyer died.

"We couldn't have written something this crazy," said McNabb.

Meanwhile, the house had been on the market for more than a year and McNabb worried her father would not be able to make the move to North Hill.

"I just wanted him to feel settled," she said.

So, she fell back on a superstition said to bring good luck to home sellers. She buried a statue of St. Joseph upside down facing the house. Luckily for McNabb, she and her father did not have to rely on superstition alone.

In August, North Hill began offering a bridge loan program to attract clients like Looney - seniors blocked from moving into the retirement community because they cannot sell their homes. Looney took advantage of the loan program, moved into North Hill, and a few months later sold his house for $425,000 and repaid the interest-free loan.

"I'm not sure what we would have done had this not occurred," McNabb said.

"I think that in times of economic uncertainty, people are re luctant to make a major decision like this," said David Mackey, director of marketing at North Hill. "We've been in a housing slump for quite some time now. Then, when the economy started to sputter a little bit, we recognized that was kind of going to add to what people were feeling in terms of trying to sell their homes."

Last year, enrollment at North Hill dropped by roughly 2 percent, said Mackey, a statistic that prompted its board to launch the loan program. The decline is not unique to the Needham facility.

According to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry, occupancy rates at independent- and assisted-living facilities across the country also fell by about 2 percent through the middle of last year.

"Many seniors may have had to delay their decision to move to any senior community because their assets have been seriously compromised or affected by what's going on economically. And absolutely there is a definite impact on the industry," said Emily Meyer, president of the Massachusetts Assisted Living Facilities Association, based in Waltham.

The Esplanade, a community in Hudson for active adults ages 55 and over, is feeling a similar squeeze. The Esplanade opened in November 2005 and sales started out steady. More than a third of the 140 units sold in less than two months, said owner Antonio Frias. The units carried price tags of up to $500,000. But one year later, things began to slow down.

"A lot of people would come but they were still waiting to sell their houses," Frias said.

With more than 40 units still empty last February, Frias approached both town and Esplanade residents with a request to lower the age requirement, which had been part of the project's application for construction permits. He met overwhelming opposition, and this summer the town officially denied the request, Frias said.

Last month, the developer decided to drop prices by 30 percent.

"It's the way the economy is," Frias said. "We're trying everything we can think of, but we've got to face the music. The whole world is in the recession."

Other facilities have tried different solutions. Scott Plumb, senior vice president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, knows of one facility that is buying homes from prospective clients, provided they agree to move into the center. Plumb would not disclose the facility's name. He said declining demand for nursing home care has been a trend for years. Since 1990, 130 Massachusetts nursing homes have closed their doors.

The economy has played a role in the decline, said Plumb, but just as important are the choices seniors are making. Increasingly, the elderly are moving into assisted-living facilities or with family, Plumb said, or staying in their own homes and arranging for assistance.

Beacon Hill Village is a membership organization started in 2001 by a group of longtime residents of the Boston neighborhood. Today the community boasts almost 500 members who pay annual dues of $600.

The program allows members ages 50 or older to stay in their homes while having access to assistance as they need it. Already similar programs have begun to pop up throughout Massachusetts and across the country. Villages in Cambridge and on Martha's Vineyard are now up and running. Residents in Wayland, Newton, Winchester, Wellesley, Lexington, Bedford, and Andover have begun exploring the possibility of starting their own programs.

Beacon Hill Village's executive director, Judy Willett, said membership has not changed over the past few months, but she has noticed other trends.

"People are more wary and they're making sure they're using their membership to the maximum," Willett said.

That means taking full advantage of services, from personal trainers to car rides. And she expects members to take advantage of a new $10,000 emergency fund, which can help with anything from fuel assistance to grocery bills.

"I think people will be needing this more and more now," said Willett.

Bucking the trend is an upscale facility in North Andover, the Edgewood Retirement Community.

"We are doing very well, despite pressures on the housing market," said administrator James Rosenman. "We've maintained our occupancy where we would want it through this period and we've been very lucky."

Not only have rates stayed steady, but Edgewood recently broke ground on a $40 million expansion, Rosenman said. The expansion includes a new cognitive-repair unit and 22 cottages. He said the project is continuing on schedule, and 70 percent of the cottages have already sold. He declined to provide prices.

Like Edgewood, North Hill bills itself as a premier retirement community. Entrance fees range from $219,000 for a studio apartment to $738,000 for a three-bedroom unit. On top of that are monthly fees, from $2,300 to $4,600, which provide one meal per day, round-the-clock maintenance and security, and most utilities as part of its life care program.

Since North Hill began offering bridge loans in August, six residents have taken advantage of it and all six have repaid the loans. In the event that a new resident could not sell their home and repay the loan, it can be extended for up 24 months with interest. Should the resident decide instead to leave North Hill, 90 percent of the entrance fee would be refunded.

The challenge in the future, said Mackey, will be to ensure that seniors continue to get the care they need.

"Yes there is financial uncertainty at this time, but you also have to consider future healthcare needs," he said. "By postponing a decision, if certain medical conditions develop, you may not qualify to move into a community like North Hill and get the care you need."