A housemate can be a great way to get your parent the help they need around the home, as well as provide them companionship. From helping with grocery shopping, remembering to take medications, or doing chores around the house, knowing that someone is in the home with your parent is a great relief to many adult children.

Friend of Silvernest Annamarie Pluhar has been homesharing for twenty years and now helps housemates with expert tips and advice through her website, www.sharinghousing.com.

Below are some of her tips for determining what you want in a housemate and identifying the characteristics  that will make or break the relationship.

Matt Paxton is one of the country’s top extreme cleaning experts—you might know his name if you were a fan of the popular A&E TV show Hoarders.

Matt is especially passionate about helping older adults declutter and downsize. His expertise and deep compassion stem from the year Matt lost his father, stepfather and both grandfathers. Matt was called upon to help his mother with their possessions. As Matt says, “We had four houses to deal with! I had to figure it out, and I’m still doing it 18 years later.”

As a guest on Silvernest’s Share Your Story podcast, Matt offered a huge insight that transformed how we think about decluttering and downsizing.

Your house has been with you through thick and thin. The walls you’ve carefully decorated with memories have served as home to lots of love, laughter and growth. Aging is a part of life, and the adventure that comes with it can be exciting. It also brings challenges.

As you move through the stages of your life and into your golden years, don’t feel as though you need to slap a For Sale sign on your beloved abode just yet. It is possible to age alongside your home. Look to these tips for creating a safe home that can effectively support your later years.

Beginnings of a homesharing experience are important. They hold the potential to form a solid foundation for a great relationship. It’s important to treat your new housemate relationship with tenderness and care, while also setting the tone for the future you’d like to create. In other words, start off on the right foot in order to lay the tracks for a successful and sustainable living situation!

Now is the perfect time to tackle that spare room or guest room that has become the receptacle of old wrapping paper, craft projects or “re-gifting” items—and turn it into a source of income. Cleaning your spare room is the first step toward turning your home into a source of income. Renting out that room can help you earn an extra $750 or so each month, and you might even develop a friendship with your new housemate. 

But taking the first step can be overwhelming, especially if that spare room is more than a little cluttered. Here are a few suggestions to help you get started.

There are so many books and articles these days about organizing your life or simplifying your existence. REAL Simple magazine is devoted to the idea that simplification leads to happiness – or the act of creating more physical space in your home (or office) can actually give you more emotional space for happiness and contentment. Whether you buy into the Zen of organization or not, there is something very satisfying about clearing things out and organizing what’s left. Marie Kondo’s book is a guidebook – with specific steps – for getting through the process of tidying up your life.

As the warm weather begins to return, those living in cold climates may tolerate the last spring storms, but are seeing the tulips start to pop through the ground, and those in warmer climates are feeling the strong sunshine return.

One of those warm weekends is a great time to face down that spare room or guest room that has become the receptacle of old wrapping paper, craft projects or “re-gifting” items—and turn it into a source of income. Spring cleaning that spare room is the first step towards realizing an average extra income of $8,000 per year!

So you’ve made the decision to share your house, but now you need to get it ready. If you don't know how to get started, you are not alone.