Having a Senior as a Roommate

Rooming with a senior

You have a great job, you’re responsible, you just want to buy a house. But coming up with the downpayment is difficult. How are you supposed to save tens of thousands of dollars while you have to pay rent, buy food, pay for public transportation or for gas and insurance and maintenance for your car? The list goes on. What if you could rent a room in someone’s home, someone who is a senior and could really use the company? 

Housing affordability is definitely the topic of the year in Niagara, and across the country truthfully. Shocking, I know. What actually is shocking is that according to the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) who does a ton of research every month, this is the first time in history that Canadians are not sure they or their children will be able to afford to buy a home. That blew my mind when I learned that.

This fact also exists in conjunction with the fact that baby boomers are the largest generation in the country at the moment and the majority of them who own a home, own it outright. 

The baby boomers are also just past the age of retirement, which is historically 65 years old. Many of them also are beginning to need more assistance with daily living as they age, just like we all will, of course. They don’t all want to leave their current home either, but many baby boomers feel they are over housed. The kids are gone and they don’t need all that room themselves, but they’re not ready to move either. This is a huge dilemma. 

Their adult children (if they have any) want to help them out. They’ve probably talked about moving in with mom and dad, or having their parents move in with them, but they themselves are still working and have their families to look after as well. The adult children worry about mom and dad being home by themselves ‘just in case’ something happens. There’s frequent visits to the house and daily phone calls, but boy, it would be great if someone was just there with them, all the time. Someone they could trust who they could hang out with and keep them company. Someone who could help them out with house chores, doctors appointments etc.

If you’re actively saving up for a downpayment for your first home, why not consider renting a room then from an elderly neighbour? And hey to the elderly folks out there: why not rent a room in your home to someone who is trying to get into the housing market. People have been doing this for decades. 

Here’s 5 benefits of living with seniors:

1. Learn life skills: Maybe you didn’t grow up learning how to pay bills, cook, budget, fix things. Your age experienced roommate can likely help you out with these things. I WISH I could be in the kitchen with my grandma just one more time. She was the best at whipping up a quick meal that was so good! 

2. Elderly people are living history: You want to learn some history? Talk to the elders in your community. They are encyclopedias of a wealth of valuable information from decades of experiencing life on this planet. This is a great opportunity to have vivid, fruitful conversations about, well, really anything you’re both interested in. What’s important here is listening and discussing to learn and understand. How awesome is that!? 

3. You’re teaching and learning from each other: Let’s close that generation gap. Each generation has its good and, well…not so good. How cool to be able to share information with a totally different generation. We all have so much to offer. 

4. Gain valuable perspective: Like I mentioned above, when you’re really having an open chat with someone who grew up in a different generation or geographic area, you’re going to gain so much insight into what others have experienced and have to offer you. You’ll each help each other to see things in a different light, which will help you in future relationships, guaranteed.

5. Social interaction: If the covid19 pandemic taught us anything, it was that social human interaction is a must for all of us to maintain proper mental health at any age. Way too often seniors are isolated in their homes. A lot of the time, this has zero to do with mobility. It has to do with depression and lack of social interaction. A lack of conversing and synergizing with other human beings. Seriously, just sitting with someone and watching a movie with them is enough to boost anyone’s mood.

I suppose the question now is: How do you all find each other? I would start with your family and friends. Is there an elder in your family or a friend's family that may need some companionship and help around the house? Reach out and see if this may be something they would be interested in.