Gerda H.: "This is how I found my senior living community"

When my husband died a year ago, it was clear that I would no longer be able to look after our large house on my own. And one of the children didn't want to take it over either. I had no choice but to look for something suitable for older people. I opted for a senior shared apartment. But finding a suitable one wasn't easy.

As my health is still very good and I don't need any help in everyday life, a retirement home was out of the question. Nevertheless, I didn't want to live alone. Talking to my children Georg and Stefanie, we came up with the idea of a Shared apartment for senior citizens. Stefanie then looked for options on the Internet.

Setting up your own shared apartment?

As I wanted to choose who I lived with, I initially intended to choose a set up your own shared flat. But it quickly became clear that the effort involved was simply too great. Not only would I have to find a suitable rented apartment, but of course I would also have to find suitable flatmates. I was also unsure about how big everything should be. After all, the more flatmates, the more the shared costs would be.

Moving into an existing shared apartment?

So I quickly ruled out setting up my own shared flat. That's why my children and I decided to Existing senior citizens' shared flat in a care facility. That also seemed like a good decision in terms of perspective. Because who knows, maybe I won't be so fit after all.

Stefanie picked out a few facilities in her area. I then looked at three shared flats and got to know the flatmates. One mixed four-person shared flat was looking for a fourth flatmate. The other two shared flats were all-female shared flats.

At first I was skeptical because I was joining an existing group on my own. But I actually got on well with everyone. They told me about their experiences - after all, they had been in the same situation as me. In the end, I could have moved into two of the apartments. I opted for the mixed shared flat. I've settled in well since then.

What happens to the house?

As Stefanie and Georg each have their own house, neither of them wanted to move in. So we decided together to sell the house. As we didn't want to and couldn't deal with selling the house on top of looking for a flat share, we had a quality local estate agent do it for us. Everything went smoothly in a short space of time. I've already distributed some of the proceeds from the sale to my children and grandchildren as a pre-inheritance and I've put some of it aside for myself.

Are you thinking about how you would like to live in old age? Get in touch with us! We will be happy to advise you.

Notes

For reasons of better readability, the generic masculine is used in this text. Female and other gender identities are explicitly included where this is necessary for the statement.

Legal notice: This article does not constitute tax or legal advice in individual cases. Please consult a lawyer and/or tax advisor to clarify the facts of your specific individual case.

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