Building, marketing, selling, and operating a successful senior housing project (active 55+ retirement community, continuing care retirement community, senior rental, assisted living, or skilled nursing care facility) today is a lot more complicated than it was just a decade ago.  Today getting zoned, financed, built and occupied within budget is much more difficult.  Not having the proper skill sets and experience on any of these steps can derail your mature market project. These 13 steps, if managed and handled properly, will lead to your project’s success.

1. Due Diligence

2. Demographics/Best Use

It’s also important to analyze potential partnerships with local service providers that can complement your property/product … providing additional insight into the best use for your property while offering additional cost savings.

3. Product Development

Henry Ford Village, Dearborn, Michigan

4. Master plan and Pro forma

An attractive master plan that maximizes your unit count, parking, and open space is the first step in developing a successful pro forma.  Having a realistic master plan that represents reality rather than a designer’s fantasy prevents zoning officials from becoming fixated on the front end of the process with amenities that could ultimately crush your pro forma.  If not avoided, these subsequent changes can be viewed as bad faith on the part of the developer (you) and ultimately derail your project.  In short, once you present town or city officials with any amenities it becomes almost impossible to take them away.  More importantly, developing a pro forma grounded in experience and realistic estimates is the backbone to a logical decision making process of whether to proceed or not.  A working pro forma that accurately includes development, construction, marketing, and operations — along with projected absorption and revenue is key to creating a successful package for attracting financial partners.

5. Pre-Marketing Test

6. Obtaining Entitlements and Approvals

In addition, having prior experience with multiple jurisdictions is often very helpful in getting officials through the unique requirements of senior facilities.  Not having this unique collection of skills and experience can be very costly.

7. Secure Financing/Letter of Commitment

There are still several banks and lending firms providing new construction financing, but the majority of new senior housing construction activity is coming through Housing and Urban Developments’ 221 and 232 programs.  Understanding HUD’s process for loans and time schedules is a very specialized skill set.

It takes more than good connections and a solid pro forma to secure your letter of commitment … understanding how to present your project is vital to achieving success.  A good financial request should include a portfolio of experienced industry players and their track records, a thorough explanation of both macro and micro conditions, projected project returns and an exit strategy.

8. Select and Manage the Design/Pre-Construction Team

9. Create Pre-Construction Advertising and Marketing Program

10. Close Financing

11. Oversee the Construction/Architect’s Administration Process

12. Furniture and Fixture Selection and Installation

Charlestown Retirement Community, Catonsville, MD

13. On-going marketing

Finally, getting in to senior housing or expanding an existing community requires a passion for the people and the industry. Make sure that … you’re working with people that share that passion, what we do is more than bricks and mortar!

Editor’s Note: Tom Mann of Love and Company co-wrote this article with Kevin Glover of KGRW & Associates. The senior management team of these two companies have worked as a team on some of the nation’s most successful senior housing projects over the last decade.

On the horizon is a DVD player so he can watch M*A*S*H reruns and other programs and movies he so enjoys.  And he’s on the waiting list for “Honor Flight” next year, a program that transports World War II veterans to see their memorial in Washington, D.C.

Great Grabz Wave grab bars offer beauty and safety

Mature Market Experts: more boomer, senior, and mature market news and stats you can use – Shared Housing – The Next Senior Trend? Many baby boomers find themselves rattling around in a big, empty house, alone and overwhelmed by the upkeep and financial drain. But they may wish to age in place rather than move on to assisted living. Other folks’ finances simply will not allow them to buy a home. So why not match these two groups up, and perhaps they can help each other out? That is exactly what the Shared Housing movement is advocating. The National Shared Housing Resource Center lists organizations attempting to get participants connected, either in a match-up program (which helps find a compatible boarder who either rents or offers services to the homeowner) or a shared living residence (where a group of unrelated people share a large  home). Taking this desire for symbiotic living a step further is the Co-Housing movement, where a community is planned and built around the concept of common living spaces, cooperative decision making, and shared work. If a senior needs some physical assistance, a willing house member or neighbor may reduce or eliminate the need for a health care aid. Both Shared Housing and Co-Housing are naturals for mature populations who may have lost a partner and are lonely, or would enjoy sharing a ride in return for babysitting. Maybe it takes a village to raise a child, but it is good for the 65+ age group too.

For more information on Co-Housing click here.

To read further on Co-Housing read this.

To read further on Shared Housing read this.

Colin Milner, Founder and CEO of International Council on Active Aging

Medicine And Technology Advancing At Record Pace, ‘Middle Age’ Extended

Colin is the founder and CEO of the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA). He and his organization are dedicated to changing the way people age by working with professionals in the retirement communities, assisted living, and wellness fields. ‘Wellness’ refers to the expanded focus of health professionals on promoting life and vitality, and not just on avoiding disease. Colin believes the wellness trend will expand in the years ahead.

New Insights About The Body … And Mind

“With so many people in the industrialized world having issues with physical energy levels and depression, science and fitness will begin to look for holistic ways to boast your energy levels,” Colin says. “We’ll begin to look at exercise, diet, and sleep on a personalized level with measured results. The difference from today’s approach is that we will soon look at each of these variables (exercise, diet, and sleep) not as individual variables but as highly intertwined variables that affect each other.” This change in focus will encompass not just the body, but the brain as well.

“One in eight baby boomers is expected to have Alzheimer’s by 2050 and one in five adults over 50 has memory issues,” Colin says. “Just ten hours of the right brain fitness exercises can have a significant and long lasting impact on health care costs and outcomes, according to a report in the ACTIVE study funded by the NIH and published in BMC Health Services Research. “The National Institute on Aging recommends keeping the brain active because mental exercise lowers the risk for developing Alzheimer ’s disease by 47%. The body of evidence linking mental activity to the delay or even prevention of dementia continues to grow. All of which means that preventive measures or brain fitness present a huge opportunity.

“Yes, there are some companies already focused on brain fitness, but we have to do better,” Colin points out, noting that it will take more than scientific studies to induce people to modify their habits. “We have to make brain fitness fun, if it’s going to become part of a true lifestyle change,” he says. “If it’s not fun, people will quit after a short spell, just like they do with a restrictive diet plan. Right now, most of the programs are too rudimentary, too scientific, and too boring! The ICAA’s three preferred providers — LEAF Ltd., Conductorcise, and Cognifit — are doing some very innovative things and I expect to see other companies join them in this very competitive field.”

‘Participation’ vs. ‘Engagement’

Companies which provide services to seniors will need to look beyond traditional approaches to aging, Colin notes. “There is a difference between participation and engagement,” he explains, pointing out that ‘engagement’ will become more important in the years ahead. “The example I always use is my school career. While I was a participant, I was not engaged and my grades suffered. Similarly, it’s not enough for seniors to be enrolled in a health plan’s fitness plan or be just living at a retirement community. People are looking to be fully engaged because they understand that engagement is a key component to being healthy.

“Technology has already changed how we are aging and we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg,” Colin continues. “I think one of the most exciting possibilities rests in 3D Holographic projection. Just like we used to see in the old Star Trek adventures, soon your fitness instructor will be projected into your home to work out with you. The technology is not that far off. Don’t believe me, just check out what Musion Systems Ltd. is doing!”

Effect On Companies

Colin believes that companies which don’t adjust to the new expectations of people entering their retirement years are likely to struggle. “Today’s mature market has very different expectations for how they expect to age,” he says. “The dinosaurs of the last generation — like outdated senior centers and retirement communities — are a complete turnoff. In fact, just string the phase ‘senior center’ in front of most boomers and you’ll see a clear reaction. For example, retirement communities and golf destinations are being replaced by urban, multi-generational settings with proximity to restaurants, shops, gyms and theaters. Simply put, outdated products with obsolete names and terminology must change … or face extinction.”

So how does Colin and his wife, Julie, try to age well? “First, we try to create new experiences. Because I’m on the road so much, I rack up frequent flier miles which we try to put to good use. My wife, kids and I each get to choose one place to travel to for a new adventure, which is important for the brain,” says Colin. “I also try to exercise, with some form of cardio exercise five times a week, while at the same time trying to reduce stress in my life.” Colin continues, “I’m a lucky man. I love my job, I love my wife, and I’m doing something that really contributes to society. What more could I ask for!”

Are the financial gyrations you are asking your customer to perform - to move into your retirement community, assisted living, or nursing home - natural?

Very often when our firm, Love & Company, receives a call from a senior housing developer, the patient has cancer. By this I mean, that the retirement community, assisted living, or nursing care facility is struggling with occupancy and the bank is knocking at the door. Both the client and the bank want to know the same thing, “Can this be saved?” But before we discuss the cure, I’d like to discuss a little bit about how we got here.

One of my first questions if often, “how is your pricing?” To which I am almost always greeted with, “As you can see from our feasibility study, we are right in line with our competitors.”

This response once caused me physical pain. Unfortunately, I’ve gotten so use to it that I no longer flinch. Sadly, if you could see your competitor’s occupancy and cash flow, you would know that they too are going out of business. Yes, it’s true; misery loves company … why else would your project have bench-marked itself to someone else’s proforma rather than the realities of your market?

Can your customer afford your product? Do they perceive that they can afford your product? What is the true strength of your site’s 20 mile radius (and more importantly, your 10 mile radius)? At your current pricing, what is the required penetration rate for each of your units to sell? I have actually seen projects that require a 65% penetration rate for their high end units (in other words, 65% of the age and income/asset qualified prospective buyers would need to buy). This, my friends, is feverish logic.

Worse yet, often as communities get further and further behind, they make poor budget decisions that dramatically effect marketing (cutting their advertising budget and staffing budget).

Of course, price is not the only variable that can get out of whack. The next, most common mistake we see is placing a community where the population won’t support the project. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “Oh, but we’re a retirement destination” or, my other personal favorite, “the surrounding area is filling in around us.”

OK, now what?

Sadly, when confronted with reality, most developers (and many banks) initially reject the medicine of lowering prices, “if we lower our pricing, the proforma doesn’t work. And remember, our pricing per square foot is very competitive.”

What they’re really thinking is, “why can’t you just sell our way out of this problem?” and “we’ve already tried special incentives and they didn’t work!”

This is an honest reaction, after all, no one likes to see their investment NOT make money, or even worse lose money.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. The community is losing blood on multiple levels:

1. Vacant units are not only not collecting revenue, the carrying costs are getting heavier
2. The community operations (i.e. dining, transportation, medical, etc.) are not realizing any efficiencies because staffing and supplies costs are being carried by a small number of residents
3. The community is not enjoying the full effect of one of its most powerful tools, referrals. One, there aren’t very many residents to give referrals. And two, the resident’s are scared to give a referral for a community they know is one shaky ground (and trust me, they can see what’s going on)

The Doctor’s Advice

Usually, the cure rests in two areas: Marketing and Pricing. With marketing there are usually two variables at play. Most of the communities we have visited are simply not generating enough leads and they’re not converting the leads they have. Usually, we can easily solve the first issue of generating enough leads with an experienced, cost-efficient marketing approach.

Unfortunately, the second issue, conversion rates, is a tad bit more difficult. Many communities have experienced sales people who flourished during the easy 90’s but who are struggling mightily in today’s environment. Sometimes the issue is not their issue (see discussions above). However, sadly, sometimes the issue is that individual sales person is not a closer. What makes these situations difficult is that often that sales person was part of the team from day one. The teams that can’t face reality and don’t make the difficult decisions, go down as a team.

As Love & Company works with clients around the country and as we discuss the state of the industry with peers, a reoccurring theme pops up again and again. It is extremely difficult to secure and retain good sales people. This phenomenon has been particularly acute since the real estate and retirement community industry collapse. There’s a reason real closers are not choosing our industry …. PAY! It is also, our opinion, that the role of sales has been under appreciated (for example, Love & Company places priority of top sales directors and sales people over that of an executive director in startup communities). Getting the right sales person, a true closer, is paramount to your community’s success.

Once you have your lead generation problem fixed and the right sales team in place, you need to give the team the tools to get the job done. Namely, you need to have your pricing aligned with the reality of the current real estate market … which means that seniors in your market can trade the equity in their house for your product (again, the sale price or equity they will trade needs to accurately reflect today’s real estate market). Or, if you run a rental community, that they feel their equity will last their life time.

A Dose of Reality

We’re not saying that reality is always pleasant but we do know this, the sooner the team (management company, developer, and bank) come to grips with the real challenges in front of them, the closer they are from emerging from these difficult times.

Love & Company specializes in marketing senior housing. This experienced team creates realistic feasibility studies and marketing plans designed to protect and maximize investments in this valuable industry. They are experts in accessing troubled properties, retirement communities, assisted living, and nursing care facilities and then providing solutions.

PS  I’ve been amazed at the response our blog, “Death of the Continuing Care Retirement Community” has generated. The changing likes and dislikes of today’s mature market, along with technology, is changing this industry at record speeds. Also, if you’re in New York on May 14th, I hope to see you at the Marketing to Boomers and Beyond event. When you register, make sure you get the Mature Market Experts discount. On the individual registration pull-down bar, select “Individual Registration (10% MME discount) $157.50.” Workshop guests can reserve rooms for the night of May 13 at a discounted $259 rate on the Marriott website: www.nymarriotteastside.com but to receive the discount, you’ll need to CALL reservations and provide them with the  Group Code: BUMBUMA (this code won’t work if you try it online)

Today's retirement communities like The Heritage of Green Hills defy the stereotypes of continuing care retirement communities.

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats you can use on seniors, boomers and the mature market – Death of the “Continuing Care Retirement Community” – I am about to make myself some enemies. At Love and Company, we believe that marketing your retirement community as Continuing Care retirement community may be one of the worst decisions you could ever make (note: there are rare exceptions to this rule but I won’t get into that today). In fact, I would put as much distance between my retirement community and the term “continuing care retirement community” as possible. Why?

Semantics are important. They shape how your staff interacts with your clients. They also shape your customers’ opinion of your offering — and how they feel about themselves. Your job is to make them feel good about themselves in relation to your product.

Less than 3% of the age and income qualified population will ever move into a Continuing Care Retirement Community. “Why is there such a huge gap between the wonderful truth of what Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) are . . . and what the general public perceives them to be?”

What we know:
Today’s modern-day continuing care retirement community is an extraordinary social invention. Residents of CCRCs often say, “I should have done this years ago.”  If you are over 70, there is no denying that a continuing care retirement community can help you avoid the trappings of social isolation that are hard-wired into your house in the suburbs. Anyone who has ever worked in the industry has seen the wonderful transformations that people make as they rediscover their social side.

What the public thinks:
What’s the number one objection retirement community sales people hear from prospects? “I’m just not ready for THIS  kind of living.” Most often, this statement is coming from a senior who is over the age of 80! Sadly, most people think “CCRCs” or “Lifecare Communities” are assisted living, nursing homes or old folks’ homes in disguise. What breaks my heart is that this perception prevents seniors from enjoying both the social and medical support that would dramatically improve their lives today. Worse yet, by waiting, your potential resident dramatically lowers their chances of getting into a truly “independent setting” in the future. The problem then compounds … moving when you HAVE TO, as opposed to moving by choice, significantly lowers the odds of successful transition.

What we know:
The retirement community industry has put its foot in its mouth. After all, what do you hear when someone says, “CONTINUING CARE?” When people hear “continuing care” they view it as inevitable that they will cycle through the full system . . . in their minds they think, that’s why they (the operators) call it “continuing care.”  We know that the vast majority of people will not need the higher levels of care available in continuing care retirement communities. Yes, it’s valuable if your retirement community offers these higher levels of care but you need to be very, very subtle about how you portray these services.

Who wouldn’t want to avoid expensive assisted living and nursing care?  More importantly, who wants to live in a nursing home? This huge perception gap between what today’s CCRC communities really are, and what the public thinks they are is keeping the vast majority of the people (96%+) away from an incredibly rich lifestyle.

Notes from the field:

• Modern-day Continuing Care Retirement Communities are awesome.

After working with retirement communities for over two decades, I say this for two reasons. One, seniors who move into a continuing care retirement community have more social interaction . . . more social interaction equals happier people. Research has shown that the active, social lifestyle found in modern-day continuing care retirement communities helps to reduce the risk of disease and disability. By the way, dining is a HUGE component of this – nutritious, balanced meals are very often not the norm for seniors living alone. Not to mention, the benefits of dining with friends.

Two, seniors who move into a CCRC are able to practice preventative medical care rather than reactive care. This, my friends, is a HUGE advantage! For example, would you rather improve your balance through exercise or spend months recovering from a broken hip? My parents moved into a CCRC over eight years ago (Charlestown Retirement Community) and it turned out to be one of the smartest moves they ever could have made.

• The terms “Continuing Care Retirement Community” and “Lifecare Retirement Community” should be banned from your sales person’s vocabulary.

Look carefully at these two terms:
•  “Continuing Care Retirement Community” – hmmm, this is the place I go for “Continuous Care.”  Sounds a lot like “Skilled Nursing Care.” The industry throws around a confusing array of terms and acronyms, most of which are medically related, and none of which the general public understands. Mudding the situation even further are the distinctions between type A, B, and C continuing care retirement communities that few people in the industry, let alone the general public, understand. And all reinforcing negative perceptions.
• “LifeCare Retirement Community” – am I going to need care for the rest of my life? Do I need “Life Support?” Clearly, my neighbors will be sickly if I move in here. I can’t wait to share dinner with a guy in a wheelchair drooling (sorry, but it’s what the customer is thinking).

Sadly, the industry suffers from murky, medical sounding terms and definitions (in fact, in many cases, there are purposeful “misuses” of terminology designed to confuse the customer, ie. the assisted living facility that wants to sound like a CCRC). Here’s an example of what the today’s top 3 Google internet listings were for term “life care”:

LIFE EVENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES : LIFECARE
LifeCare.com is the nation’s premier provider of human resources work and family benefits. Our services include child care and adult care counseling, …
www.lifecare.com/ – 24k – Cached – Similar pages

LIFE CARE CENTERS – AMERICA’S NURSING HOMES
Life Care Centers of America provides skilled nursing homes, assisted living, long term care, retirement, home care, and Alzheimer’s centers to help you and …
www.lcca.com/ – 45k – Cached – Similar pages

LIFECARE HOSPITALS – LONG-TERM ACUTE CARE (LTAC) SERVICES AND …
LifeCare Hospitals, national healthcare service / hospitals for long-term acute care (LTAC).

None of these sound like a fun place to live.

Both “continuing care”  and “lifecare” are infused with medical, nursing home connotations that make the customer sound and feel weak. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, do you want to look and sound weak in front of your friends and family?

• The industry has to move from a “nurse mentality” to a “service” mentality.

And it can’t just be our words (think of the subtle message your community’s shuttle bus currently offers, if you’re a potential resident do you want to arrive on the scene in a bus that could easily be confused for your county’s senior center bus? Or better yet, one of Jerry’s kids? Wouldn’t you prefer a nice sedan or a trolley with no community labeling?

Now, I hear some of the more sophisticated marketers retort, “yes, but we don’t use this language in our marketing!” You don’t? Take a look at your contracts, the directories you’re advertising your retirement communities in, and the associations you belong to.

• Applying an industry label doesn’t help the customer feel better about your community or themselves.

Today’s retirement community offerings are not your father’s Oldsmobile.  By calling our retirement communities a CCRC we are putting the negatives first. As Scott Bedbury, the genius behind Nike and Starbucks once said, “Brands, like coffee beans, are highly sensitive sponges that absorb whatever is around them. And they don’t discriminate between the good, the bad, and the ugly.” There have been plenty of ugly CCRCs in the last 25 years, do you want that association?

Those of us in marketing have often said, “the customers’ house is our biggest competition.” The truth is that our biggest competition is the perceived safety that their house represents vs. the negative perceptions about CCRCs.  We need to distance ourselves from these negative perceptions by dropping the old labels and visuals queues (CCRC accreditation logos, shuttle buses, etc.), and then by associating fun, exciting visuals and descriptions. Today’s retirement communities ARE different.

Today’s sophisticated retiree is looking to protect their quality of life and their financial health. We need to eliminate the excuse, “I’m just not ready for THAT style of living.” It’s time to rethink our message and reach out for a new identity.

Mature Market Experts: More news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – New Industry Helps Seniors Downsize and Relocate. Getting people past the fear of downsizing has long been a hurdle that those of us who sell retirement communities, assisted living, or nursing care have long had to deal with. There are over 78 million baby boomers, plus their seniors, who may need to move to more suitable housing in the future. With that comes an awful lot of hand-wringing and resistance, in addition to the physical challenges moving presents to an elderly population. Enter “move management” consultants, who do everything necessary; decorate the new residence to look like the old familiar one, reassure the client, and coordinate the actual movers. Here’s an excellent article by Thomas Heath of the Washington Post that captures some of the challenges of downsizing, click here.

PS    The TR Mann Consulting team … and the loose band of compatriots at Mature Market Experts would like to wish you a Happy New Year!

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – Here comes “Nana Technology.” Andrew Carle, assistant professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, uses the term, nana technology (as opposed to nanotechnology), to describe the technology being developed to assist baby boomers as they age. We’ve all heard of life line pendants, that can send an alert when an elderly or disabled person needs assistance. Carle and Russell Bodoff of the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) relate how future technology will offer many other forms of help to seniors. Several companies are creating intelligent phones that could help those with memory loss by showing a picture of the caller, their relationship to them, and notes on their last conversation. Smart walking aids will be able to avoid obstacles, come when summoned and perhaps even detect irregularities in gait (that may predict a fall), along with a locator beeper so the device can be found if misplaced. In as soon as two to three years, robotic “nurses” may be available to help lift a patient. Shoes that aid balance, trackers for Alzheimer’s patients, smart pill dispensers and medicine cabinets are all in development. To read more in an  click here.

It will be interesting to see how these products are marketed.

Heritage Pointe of Teaneck, a full-service rental retirement community.

Mature Market Experts: more stats and news you can use on boomers, seniors and the mature market – Tools of the trade for retirement communities – As many of you know, TR Mann Consulting’s stable of mature market clients (our firm specializes in marketing and advertising to boomers and beyond) includes senior living developments (active 55, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living, and skilled care). In the 20+ years that I’ve been involved in the retirement community industry, I can happily report that the industry has evolved leaps and bounds … better product, better management, and better financial reporting. In short, today’s retirement community doesn’t look, feel, smell, or taste anything like the last generations’. That’s the good news. The bad news is that seniors still need to sell their houses to move in to your fantastic community.

Here are some tools our retirement community clients are using to help their prospective clients move forward:

1. Move-in coordinators – Move-in coordinators have been around as long as retirement communities have but their roles are evolving. Once you have a prospective client, the real process begins. I’ve seen way too many retirement communities stop driving the process once the contract is signed. Great move-in coordinators become the “trusted daughter” who makes certain that the move is flawless. They arrange for the real estate partner, the appraisers, the stagers, etc. In short, they do whatever it takes to make the sale go through.

2. Commission for Real estate partners and SRES Designation – Simply put, realtors are motivated by money … if you don’t have enough meat on the bone no one will come to dinner. Motivated realtors can be some of your retirement community’s biggest allies. They know who lives where (as in were your clients are living) and who is getting ready to sell their house. Plus, they can be excellent representatives of your community with some of the hottest prospects.

In addition to offering healthy commissions to all realtors, you want to have a team of realtors that you refer to when a prospect is ready to sell their house. Remember, you want the process to keep MOVING.

Ideally, your realtor should be “Seniors Real Estate Specialists” certified (SRES). SRES realtors are trained to understand and address the wants and needs of seniors. The SRES Council awards the SRES Designation to those realtors who have successfully completed its education program.

SRES realtors have the necessary knowledge and expertise to help your prospective resident through major financial and lifestyle transitions involved in relocating, refinancing, or selling the family home (and as we all know, their home is your retirement community’s biggest competition). These SRES realtors have received special training, get regular updates, and know how to skillfully offer the options and information that your mature market client needs to keep them moving forward.
It is also important that the realtor/s that you choose as your partner have the skill set that allows them to get the house listed at a realistic price. Too often we see realtors get the listing by presenting an unrealistic price … letting the house languish on the market for too long. This can seriously demoralize your customer and risk the sale. In short, interview this partner the same way you would interview a prospective employee. Then arrange for a standing weekly half-hour meeting for updates on how each of your prospect’s houses are fairing. 

3. Stagers – before your prospective resident puts their house on the market, you should arrange for a “House Stager” to visit their home. A good stager can tell them what they need to do to get the house ready for sale … from painting the outside of the house to removing the clutter of too much furniture and keepsakes. The stager should already have existing relationships with experienced, trustworthy service people (painters, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, appraisers, storage facilities, and more). But before you accept your stager’s choice of supporting vendors, make sure you meet each of them in person.

4. Appraisers – a good appraiser is worth their weight in gold. What makes a good appraiser? Obviously it’s important to have someone who is able to accurately evaluate the value of your client’s belongings, but more importantly, you are looking for an ally who will help your client (and you) keep the downsizing process moving. Again, interview this person as you would any of your employees. Look for energy and empathy, they’ll need them both!

5. Bridge Loans – moving at any age is difficult but making this type of lifestyle change can be overwhelming. Remember, anything that can stall momentum is an enemy to the process and to improving your client’s life. Do not let a slow moving real estate market stall the process. Work closely with a bank to provide low interest bridge loans to your clients. This way they can make the move while the house is on the market rather than waiting for a sale. Being out of the house while it is showing will be easier on them and will be better for the realtor. Plus, once they start experiencing your community’s wonderful lifestyle, they’ll be more willing to price their house realistically.

The important thing to remember when creating a partnership with a bank is that the process should be as seamless to your customer as possible. Don’t let the bank scare or confuse your prospective resident with a truck-load of paperwork. Insist on simplicity!

In fact, some of TR Mann Consulting’s clients have simplified the process by acting as the bank themselves. They simply tack on an additional fee to the resident’s monthly community fee to cover the interest on the loan they are floating them (sidebar: in our client’s marketing materials, our residents don’t have “monthly service fees” they have “monthly service packages”).

6. Life Settlements – Many seniors don’t realize that they are sitting on a HUGE untapped asset. Whether term or whole life, they could receive cash for their life insurance policy … found money they could use towards their retirement at your senior community!

Don’t let their hard earned cash value slip away – 85% of all life insurance policies never pay a death benefit and life settlements provide 300% of the cash surrender value on average. How does this happen? Most people don’t understand there are better options than giving up a life insurance policy or getting only the life insurance cash surrender value. In fact, for many seniors the premiums become too much of a burden to pay … and for others, it just doesn’t make sense to continue to pay (if they’ve outlived a spouse or the kids are all grown up) … so they just stop paying the premiums. The bad news is, when they stop paying the premiums the policy often starts to eat itself down (paying the premiums out of their principle). Again, let me repeat, 85% of all life insurance policies never pay a death benefit. And, life settlements provide 300% of the cash surrender value when compared to the life insurance cash value the insurance company will give them.

My retirement community clients are using this tool and getting SALES because of it. Most of their prospective residents have never even thought of their Life Insurance policies as an asset. In fact, many have totally forgotten about their policies until the community sales person mentions it!

I hope you found these tips helpful. There are many, many more tools to discuss but I thought this would be a good beginning. Helping your clients move in to your retirement community is a true service to them. We know they’ll have happier, healthier lives once they’re in their new home. In fact, research statistics from the U.S. Office of Disability, Aging and Long Term Care show that CCRC residents are healthier and live one to two years longer than non-CCRC residents (www.retirement.org/newsletters/trinity/winter2006/care.htm). You owe it to them to be as creative and energetic as possible in your efforts.

Good luck,

Tom

PS      On another day we’ll discuss why none of TR Mann Consulting’s clients call themselves a “CCRC or continuing care retirement community.”

Nursing homes may be the most cost effective, unless… First of all, even though today we seem to be in a ‘no nursing home, no way’ mindset — it may be at some point in the future that the pendulum will swing back to nursing homes as the more economical place to be when 24-hour Medicare-certified care is needed. Once Medicare coverage expires we are going to be abandoned to our own devices…

…Remember that technology has lowered the cost of every other industry. If, as we seem to insist, we want to be in our own homes, then what can drive down the cost of that home care? Will it be telehealth diagnostic technologies for chronic conditions as validated by the VA (see our Trends page)? Will it be smarter in-home monitoring of our well-being — including safety and medication adherance? Will it be comprehensive transportation services like SilverRide that bring us to where we can interact with others? Or will it be virtual interactions — using cheap cameras that connect us to doctors?

To learn more, I guess you’ll just have to watch this space.

Mature Market Experts: more news and stats on boomers, seniors and the mature market more often – The next decade promises massive growth of the mature market population, especially in suburbs unaccustomed to housing older people. According to the Brookings Institute, “As the first wave of baby boomers reaches age 65 in less than two years, the senior population is poised to grow by 36 percent from 2010 to 2020. Their numbers will grow fastest in the Intermountain West, the Southeast, and Texas, particularly in metro areas such as Raleigh, NC; Austin, TX; Atlanta, GA; and Boise, ID that already have large pre-senior populations (age 55 to 64). Because the boomers were the nation’s first fully “suburban generation,” their aging in place will cause many major metropolitan suburbs— such as those outside New York and Los Angeles—to “gray” faster than their urban counterparts.”

Note: Looking for more real estate stats and figures? If so, click here. Also, I (Tom Mann) should point out that TR Mann Consulting has a team that specializes in developing and marketing communities for boomers and beyond. Our clients include developers of condo projects for boomers to retirement communities around the country (active 55 retirement communities, continuing care retirement communities, full-service retirement communities, assisted living, and nursing care).

What are we supposed to make of this Mature Market Experts? What is arguably (forgive me, Erickson) the most dominate brand in senior housing is trading at less than 50 cents a share as of this writing. That same share was trading north of $26 on the first trading day of this calendar year.

For a bit of perspective on how Sunrise might emerge from these straits, I recommend long time industry analyst and skillful writer Steve Monroe’s blog www.levinassociates.com/dealmakersforum/dealmakers%20blog.htm.

As a marketer, here is what I take away:

1. Aging continues, as far as I can tell. Although with all of the news being financial, it is possible someone has found a way to prevent it and the media hasn’t picked up on it yet.

2. With aging, comes change. I’d argue that a retiree experiences more change in a shorter period of time than any other age group, save perhaps infants to 3 year olds.

3. These changes create specialized needs for a constellation of products and services.

4. Unfortunately, most of the changes aging brings are negative – can’t drive at night, lost a spouse or a friend, grandkids are off to college, a health issue …

5. We work for companies that provide services and products to meet the needs these changes create.

6. Being in marketing, we are responsible for half of the most critical financial equation in the financial world – revenue. Bringing in more revenue than expenses still carries the day.

7. Inspiring people to purchase your company’s products and services is, in most instances, a noble pursuit. You improve people’s lives.

Now is the time to market like hell — write stronger copy … fight for that marketing budget … attend to the myriad of details … establish stronger relationships with prospects … dig deeper into that database … do more and do better.

All in the name of inspiring more people to buy than ever before. The times demand that we deliver extraordinary results for our customers, our companies, and ourselves.

That’s my two cents. Add another 48 and you too can attend Sunrise’s next annual meeting.