Because sharing a home is a very personal experience, it’s natural for questions to arise. At Silvernest, we receive questions about everything from how our website and features work to general inquiries about creating a happy shared home. If you want to learn more about these topics, this is the place to start! Here are some of the most common questions we get about our offerings, our pricing and homesharing in general.
When people ask how to prepare for a roommate, most of the time they’re thinking about things like rearranging furniture and cleaning out closets. Sure, those practical matters are important. Just as crucial, however, is being emotionally prepared for a new or first roommate.
If you’re not fully ready from an emotional perspective, that’s okay. Here are our biggest dos and don’ts to help you get your heart and mind in the right place.
The first tasks you need to do to welcome a new roommate seem pretty obvious: declutter and clean the guest (or spare) room and bathroom. But what about the rest of the home? Your roommate will also be sharing the living room, kitchen and other common areas, though right?
A pre-move-in house cleaning is a pretty obvious goal, but people tend to forget about certain tasks that really make a difference. Read on to discover five overlooked ways to prepare for a roommate ahead of time.
When you’re preparing a room to rent, it can be hard to know where to start and what matters most. If you clean the guest room and bathroom in a simple yet methodical way, the whole “roommate readiness” process will be done in a snap.
Read on for six expert tips on how to prepare a room for rent and make your roommate’s space as welcoming as possible.
It’s no secret that life after 55 is full of challenges. Whether you’re confronting formidable changes or enduring uncomfortable monotony, it’s normal to feel like your empty nesting and retirement years look more lackluster than golden.
The pandemic has compounded the problem by adding social isolation to the mix. We’ve been cut off from our friends, families, communities and routines. Our sense of certainty—unfounded as it may have been—has disappeared.
In the past, openly acknowledging sadness, uneasiness, hopelessness or restlessness has been taboo. But if you are experiencing those feelings, you are far from alone. In fact, according to an August 2020 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in four (24%) adults ages 65 and older reported living with anxiety or depression.
This summer, the Silvernest team started wondering: How do older American homeowners feel about their retirement finances and ability to age in place, 15 months into this new pandemic-framed reality?
Because we love data, we commissioned a survey to find out. The 2021 Silver Survey went out to a group of older homeowners, none of which are current Silvernest members. Armed with pre-2020 research on retirement and aging in place, we wanted to see whether older Americans’ plans and prospects are changing—and, if so, how.
As we prepare for the Fourth of July holiday and take a moment to reflect after a difficult 15 months, we can see the American Dream is evolving. For decades, the rhetoric and messages we have received have been about the importance self-reliance—that being self-made and independent is simply part of being American. But when the pandemic made the formal and informal social connections and communities in our lives instantly inaccessible to us, the repercussions were severe. We learned that perhaps being “independent” isn’t always in our best interest.
We’ve all internalized the narrative that to be successful we need to do things on our own, but we know from experience that success is rarely if ever achieved in a vacuum or on an island. Even though we know we need each other, we insist on denying our interdependence. We judge and shame others and ourselves for needing help—even though all of us need help at some point(s) in our lives. How much better would our world be if we could embrace our interdependence and let it inspire us to create solutions that benefit us all?
The abundance of tech jobs. The beautiful natural scenery. The environmentally-conscious lifestyle. There are plenty of reasons to fall in love with Portland, Oregon, no matter what you’re into. The City of Roses has a unique culture and universal appeal: it was ranked as both the #1 best place to live for seniors and as one of the 10 Safest Cities for Families with Young Children. It’s also been highlighted as a tech hub in recent years as well as a dream destination for hikers thanks to its 180 miles of trails. While the rain can be a downside, what few realize is that almost any climate you desire is only ever 90 minutes away—beach, year-round skiing, dry desert. It’s all within reach if you need a quick escape.
With such diverse appeal, it’s no surprise that Portland has exploded in popularity and population. In the last decade alone, the city has seen an influx of nearly 400,000 new residents. This growth has led to a spike in rent prices and overall cost of living: the average Portland renter looking for a one-bed apartment can expect to spend $1,500/mo in rent, while home buyers are facing a median home price of $500,000.
We’re long overdue for a redefinition of “retirement.” According to the U.S. Census, the percentage of Americans at the traditional retirement age of 65 or older has more than doubled since 1950—and, with the Baby Boomers reaching their golden years, that percentage is projected to continue to increase.
If you are among the 63% of Americans who are unsure about the sufficiency of their retirement savings, you may be wondering what you're supposed to do as age 65 approaches (or is already in your rearview). After all, the average Social Security payout of $1,177 is a far cry from the 80% of current annual income that the IRS recommends having saved to comfortably retire.
To make things even more complicated, the definition of “comfortably retiring” has changed over the years. Especially after COVID-19, we’re acknowledging that our health and relationships are the most important things in life. Retirement isn't about life on the golf course or walks on the beach for most people—it's about finding creative ways to stay financially stable, socially connected and a valued and contributing member of society.
According to multiple studies, the vast majority of Americans want to age in place, which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as “[living] in one’s own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level.” It’s no surprise this idea is so popular—as a society, we have begun moving away from institutional living and back towards our homes and communities.
But if I didn’t know the definition of “aging in place” and someone asked me if I wanted to do it, I would probably say no. Honestly, aging in place doesn’t sound that great. The term suffers the same mistreatment as many ideas and catchphrases we use to talk about the latter years of our lives—it’s negative, joyless and lacks nuance.
So “aging in place” has a branding problem—who cares? I think we all should. Language shapes the way we see the world and even helps us recognize objects, and my suspicion is that we are narrowing and stifling what aging can be aging by the way we describe it.