Aging in Place: When to Outsource Home Maintenance Instead of Moving

I always get very attached to the places that I live. I bought my first house as a young adult, and it was UGLY. But I was so very attached to my ugly little home that I had to keep it as a rental when I bought a different house. I turned myself into a landlord just so that I didn’t have to deal with the sadness that would have come if I sold it. That house had very few merits to entice me to be attached to it, yet I was. 

I am EXTRA attached to my current home and property. I built my home in 2021 and have a lovely 18-acre property that requires a lot of ongoing maintenance. Luckily, my husband loves doing the work on the property and keeps plugging along with it every week.

At some point, hopefully in the very distant future, I will be facing a decision: move so we don’t have to do all of the work anymore as it grows more physically difficult, or outsource some things so we can stay in our home longer. I guess there is also a 3rd choice, which is to stay, fall behind on the maintenance, and pay the price later in more complicated property problems and lost property value, but I certainly only recommend that option as a last resort. 

So how do you evaluate whether or not you should stay in your home and outsource personal and property projects such as cleaning, landscaping, lawn care, snow removal, cooking, and laundry, or move and sell your property? There are many ways to look at it, so I will suggest a few things to think through.

Safety

Are the property maintenance projects the only reason you feel like you need to move? Or are there also safety or mobility challenges with your current home? If your home is not safe for you to live in, then outsourcing might not be worth thinking about. If there is a way to mitigate the safety concerns in your home so you can stay though, let’s make that the first thing you outsource! Hire an expert to get your bathrooms set up, stair lifts installed, flooring changed, etc.

Budget

Is financially maintaining your home already stretching your budget? Or do you have some budgetary flexibility to enable you to add in extra expenses? Outsourcing will most likely cost money, unless you can get connected to a volunteer organization that will help you for low to no cost. If you’re barely making ends meet as it is, outsourcing your home maintenance might not be an option for you. Bringing people in to help you could cost upwards of $250-1000 per month or more, depending on what services you need and how many services you tap into. Make sure your budget can sustain that.

Partners

When you outsource, you will be bringing other people into your world. You will have to coordinate, communicate, and manage these folks. You will have to vet them to make sure they are trustworthy and dependable. Does the thought of becoming an “employer” scare you? Do you feel like you have the leadership and managerial skills to keep everyone organized, on task, and to provide direct and important feedback when people are or aren’t meeting your expectations? Turnover in some of these roles can also be very high. Be mentally prepared to regularly need to search for replacement contractors.

Attachment

Attachment to your home is the final item to think about. Attachment is real, but it can’t be your primary driver for making this decision. If any/all of the other items above aren’t doable for you, you’ll have to stay grounded in reality, no matter how much the decision hurts to make. Don’t stay in your home for longer than you should and end up having to watch your beautiful property that you cared for so well all these years fall into disarray. I find many people avoid the decision and do nothing until it’s almost too late. They knew all along that they needed to make that decision but put it off because they couldn’t deal with the emotions. Waiting doesn’t make it easier to deal with your attachment and feelings. You’ll have to do the same emotional work now as you’ll have to do later. If you do that work sooner rather than later, consider the years of quality life you gain by not avoiding your feelings and just doing what you need to do.

There is a lot to think about here. I personally hope everyone can stay in their home until they’re no longer for this earth, but the reality is, that won’t work for some. If you can comfortably outsource to gain some additional time in your home, I would encourage you to explore that option. If you can’t, just know that you will get through all of the hard things that come with a move and hopefully have less stress on the other side of the decision.