Aging in Place in Washington: Homeowners Have Options

Editor’s note: This post was inspired by a recent HousingWire interview with Cameron Carter, CEO of Rosarium Health, on why aging in place is shifting from a lifestyle preference to a financial necessity. You can read the full interview here.

Aging in Place Is Becoming a Financial Necessity, Not Just a Preference

For years, “aging in place” has been talked about as a lifestyle choice — the version where you simply prefer your own kitchen to a facility dining room. That framing is changing. In a recent HousingWire interview, Cameron Carter, founder of health-tech startup Rosarium Health, made the case that aging in place is increasingly driven by cost and capacity, not preference: skilled nursing and assisted living have gotten more expensive, and in some states the wait list to get into preferred institutional care runs two to three years. People aren’t just choosing to stay home — in many cases, they’re staying home because there’s nowhere else to go yet.

Carter also pointed out something worth sitting with: he estimates that fewer than 5% of U.S. homes are truly accessible for an aging adult, largely because roughly 90% of housing stock was built before the Americans with Disabilities Act existed — and the ADA never applied to private homes in the first place. Most of us are living in a house designed for a 35-year-old with young kids, not for the person we’ll be at 75 or 85.

Here in Washington, that gap shows up in a specific way: a lot of home equity, built up over decades in King, Pierce, and Snohomish County homes, sitting next to houses that were never built with grab bars, zero-step entries, or a ground-floor bedroom in mind. The good news is the equity itself is often the tool that solves the problem — and for many seniors, there’s also a lower-hanging fruit worth checking first: property tax relief. If you’re 61 or older and on a fixed income, you may qualify to reduce or defer a significant portion of your property taxes, which can free up monthly cash flow before you even look at financing.

Read: How King County Senior Citizens Can Reduce Their Property Taxes

The Financing Basics: Reverse Mortgages, Senior HELOCs & Renovation Loans

I’ve already put together a detailed breakdown of the core retirement mortgage strategies — reverse mortgages (HECMs), the senior HELOC, the first lien HELOC/sweep structure (the closest thing the U.S. market has to a UK-style offset mortgage, since true offset accounts aren’t available here for tax reasons), and renovation mortgages for accessibility retrofits. Rather than repeat all of that here, start with that page if you want the full comparison:

Read: Retirement Mortgages for Washington State Senior Citizens

What that page doesn’t go deep on — and what I want to focus on here — is the strategy that speaks most directly to Carter’s point about aging in place being reshaped by necessity: building a smaller, purpose-built ADU for yourself, and putting the original home to work.

Build an ADU Designed for Your Needs — and Rent Out the Primary Home

This is the option I think gets overlooked, and it maps directly to another point Carter made in that HousingWire interview: for a growing number of families — he specifically called out African American, South Asian, and Latin American households — multigenerational living isn’t a compromise, it’s the plan. Instead of leaving the family home or selling it to downsize, you build a smaller, single-level accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or detached ADU (DADU) on the same lot, designed from the ground up for your needs at 70 or 80: no stairs, wider hallways, a curbless shower, better lighting.

Then the primary home — the one with the stairs and the room for a family — gets used one of two ways:

• Rented to family — an adult child and their kids move in, you’re steps away from grandkids, and everyone gets their own space
• Rented on the open market — the rental income helps offset the cost of building the ADU and supports retirement cash flow

Washington is one of the more ADU-friendly states in the country, and King, Pierce, and Snohomish County zoning has been moving in that direction for a few years now. A few things worth knowing before you get attached to a design:

• Financing the build. This typically runs through a renovation/construction mortgage or a HELOC on the existing home, depending on scope — the same programs covered on the Retirement Mortgages page.
• Rental income changes the underwriting. Once either structure gets rented out, that affects how the property and any future refinance get evaluated — worth walking through with me before the design is finalized, not after.
• It doesn’t have to be a permanent decision. Some homeowners start with a family member in the primary home and shift to open-market rental later, or vice versa.

Read: Mortgages for ADUs & DADUs in Washington State

What If Staying Isn’t the Right Answer?

Everything above assumes staying — in some form, on the same lot — is the goal. For some homeowners, the honest answer is that downsizing to a smaller, already-accessible home, or a 55-plus community closer to family or care, makes more financial sense than retrofitting or building on a property that was never going to work long-term. That’s a big enough question that it deserves its own post, and I’ll be writing one soon: Should I Downsize? If you’re weighing that decision right now, don’t wait for the post — let’s talk it through.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the best way to pay for aging in place in Washington?

There isn’t one “best” option — it depends on what you’re solving for. A reverse mortgage works well if you need ongoing cash flow without a new monthly payment. A senior HELOC fits if your costs are variable and you want flexible access to equity. A renovation mortgage makes sense if you already have a defined accessibility retrofit and contractor bid. And building an ADU is worth considering if you want to stay near family while creating rental income. Many homeowners combine more than one of these.

How can I eliminate monthly expenses without selling my home?

A reverse mortgage is the main tool built for this — it can pay off your existing mortgage balance, which eliminates that monthly payment entirely, while you continue to own and live in the home. You’re still responsible for property taxes, insurance, and upkeep, but the mortgage payment itself goes away. Beyond that, checking whether you qualify for property tax exemption or deferral can reduce another major fixed cost, and renting out an ADU or part of the property can offset expenses with income rather than eliminating them outright.

What if my retirement income isn’t enough? How can I stay in my home longer?

This is usually a combination question rather than a single-product answer. A reverse mortgage can supplement fixed income without adding a monthly payment. A senior HELOC gives you a reserve to draw from as needed rather than all at once. Property tax exemption or deferral programs can lower a recurring cost. And building an ADU to rent — to family or on the open market — turns the home itself into an income source. The right combination depends on your specific numbers, so this is worth a conversation rather than guessing at it on your own.

Can I get a reverse mortgage and still leave my home to my heirs?

Yes. When the loan becomes due, your heirs can sell the home and repay the loan while keeping any remaining equity, or refinance the loan and keep the property. Heirs are never personally liable for more than the home’s value. More detail is available on my Retirement Mortgages page.

Do I need to be a senior to use these financing options?

Reverse mortgages require at least one borrower to be 62 or older. Senior HELOCs, renovation mortgages, and ADU financing don’t have an age requirement — they’re commonly used by adult children helping a parent retrofit or add housing to a property, as well as by homeowners planning ahead for their own future needs.

Can I build an ADU and rent out my primary home at the same time?

Yes, and it’s one of the more effective aging-in-place strategies I see — move into a smaller, purpose-built ADU and rent the primary home to family or on the open market. Rental income affects how the property and any future refinance are underwritten, so it’s worth discussing financing before the ADU design is finalized.

What if I’d rather downsize instead of aging in place?

For some homeowners, selling and moving to a smaller, already-accessible home or a 55-plus community is the more practical path than retrofitting or building on a property that was never going to work long-term. That decision deserves its own dedicated look — watch for my upcoming post, Should I Downsize?

 

If you’re a Washington homeowner thinking through any of these options — for yourself or for a parent — I’m happy to walk through what fits your situation. Schedule a call or check your home’s current equity position with my free Homebot tool as a starting point.