5 Questions to Ask When You're Thinking About Staying Home as You Age

If you are planning to stay home as you age, the big decision may already be made: you want to remain in the home and community you know.

What is often less clear is whether the home will continue to support the way you want to live over time.

Thinking ahead does not mean assuming something will go wrong. It means giving yourself more choices before decisions become urgent.

These five questions can help you begin that process.

1. How do I want to live over the next 5, 10, or 20 years?

Start with your life, not the house.

Think about:

• How independent you want to remain
• How much home and yard maintenance you want
• Whether you want to stay in the same neighborhood
• How close you want to be to family
• Whether you expect to travel more or less
• Whether you want more privacy, less space, or easier daily living
• What kind of support you may want around you later

The better you understand how you want to live, the easier it becomes to evaluate whether your current home still fits that plan.

2. What parts of my home may become harder to use or maintain?

A home can work very well for years and still become less practical over time.

Look at the spaces you use most often. Questions to consider include:

• Are important rooms on different levels?
• Are stairs necessary for everyday living?
• Is the bathroom easy and safe to use?
• Are entrances and pathways easy to navigate?
• Is there enough lighting?
• Are there areas that require more maintenance than you want?
• Are there spaces you rarely use?
• Would the home still work if your mobility changed?

These are the same trouble spots national data points to. In a Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies analysis of the 2019 American Housing Survey, the most commonly reported challenges were getting into the home and using bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens.

The goal is not to identify every possible future problem. It is to notice the parts of the home that may deserve attention before they become obstacles.

3. Who may need to live with me, near me, or help support me?

Aging in place is often connected to family, and multigenerational living is more common than many people assume. The share of Americans living in multigenerational family households more than doubled between 1971 and 2021, to 18 percent, according to Pew Research Center.

Over time, you may want or need:

• An adult child to live closer
• A parent to move onto the property
• A caregiver to have nearby living space
• A family member to help with everyday tasks
• More privacy between generations living together
• Space for children or grandchildren to stay more often

Thinking about these possibilities early can affect decisions about bedrooms, bathrooms, entrances, parking, privacy, and how the property is used.

It can also help families talk more openly about expectations before a need becomes urgent.

4. Could my property support changes such as a remodel, addition, or ADU?

Sometimes the issue is not whether you want to stay. It is whether the property can be adapted to support that choice.

Possible options may include:

• Modifying the existing home
• Reconfiguring the floor plan
• Adding a bedroom or bathroom
• Building an addition
• Creating an ADU
• Creating a Junior ADU, a unit of up to 500 square feet of living space within the existing house
• Improving accessibility and safety
• Using different parts of the property in new ways

What is possible will depend on the property, local rules, budget, and long-term goals.

The important point is that there may be more than one way to make a property work better.

5. What should I plan for now, even if I do not need it yet?

Some of the best planning happens before the need is immediate.

For example, a remodel being completed today may be an opportunity to:

• Put in a curbless shower
• Widen doorways and hallways where the layout allows
• Reduce unnecessary level changes
• Improve lighting
• Add blocking inside bathroom walls so grab bars can go in later
• Make entrances easier to use, including a zero-step entry where the site allows
• Run wiring or plumbing now for changes you may want later
• Think about how a room could serve a different purpose later

You may never need every future feature you consider. But planning ahead can make future changes easier, less disruptive, and less expensive than starting from scratch later.

The goal is to understand your options

There is no single right answer to aging in place.

For some people, the existing home may work well with only small changes. For others, a remodel, addition, ADU, or multigenerational living arrangement may make more sense. And for some, another home may eventually be the better fit.

The important part is making those decisions intentionally.

Thinking through these questions early can help you better understand what matters most, what your home may be able to support, and which choices are worth planning for now rather than later.