Homelessness Among Boomers

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by rodentraiser

Look at it from the viewpoint of the people owning a house. If you're in your 60s, have had health problems, and/or have someone vulnerable living with you (a spouse or a grandchild), do you really want to rent a room to someone you may not know? The person you're renting a room to will have access to your entire house, including the bedroom where you sleep at night. They can invite their friends over to party or drink and if they choose to use drugs in their room, there's not much you can immediately do about it. Evictions take months and in the meantime, you've got someone living in your house and maybe trashing it and threatening you.

Thousands of younger people have found out the hard way that roommates cause more problems than they solve by cutting expenses. And those younger people are renting a room in an apartment that they can leave if they want. How would you like to be a senior in your own house having to face leaving because your renter is threatening you or stealing from you?

Do you personally take rides from strangers or pick people up on the road and ask them to share the cost for gas? Do you open the door to people you don't know? Do you invite strangers into your house for a meal? Do you trust strangers you don't know around other members of your family and around your belongings? Do you give strangers unlimited access to your own house? If you don't, I don't understand why you think seniors should do as you won't do. It's essentially the same thing. You can check out a person until the cows come home but you don't really know anyone until you live with them. You might find the perfect renter or you might rent a room out to a serial killer.

As a senior person, you go into your house and lock the door when you feel threatened. When you rent a room to someone, that person is already in your house. Seniors want privacy, yes, but they also want safety.

All those are possible but there are millions of people that have roommates with no problems. It's not something I would do but many have done it successfully. That was only one suggestion someone made.

Downsizing is another. For some it could be a reverse mortgage. The point was homeowners have more options than lifetime renters and the majority of seniors own a home.