Aging in Place Safely: Home Modifications with TruBlue Home Services Ally

In this episode of Senior Living NTX, host Paul Fritz, Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®), talks with Joe Gautier from TruBlue Home Services Ally about creating safer, more comfortable homes for seniors who want to age in place.

Joe shares over 40 years of experience in ADA-compliant remodeling, offering practical advice for:

• Easy DIY fixes that reduce fall risks
• Minor upgrades that improve daily living
• Major renovations done with style, safety, and home value in mind
• How a 127-point home safety assessment can uncover hidden hazards before they cause problems

Whether you’re a senior homeowner, a caregiver, or a family member helping loved ones, this conversation is full of valuable tips you can use right away.

📞 For senior real estate support in North Texas, call Paul Fritz, SRES® at 469-789-6769.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome back to Senior Living NTX.My guest today is Joe Gautier, the field services oper- field operations- Field operations, yes.with True Blue.Yes.Joe, why don't you introduce yourself and tell them a little bit about yourself?Yeah.Uh, hello, everybody.Uh, my name's Joe Gaucher.Uh, I'm field operations for True Blue Ally, which is a, remodeling service, handyman service, which is focused on senior care.So, my background was ADA, which is the Americans with Disability Act, so I have a very lengthy, uh, ex- um, I guess you'd call it resume in senior services.And, uh, met Paul, and we kinda hit it off, and he paid for my coffee, so I figured I owe him.And, uh- All is fair in love and coffee.We had a goodWe had a really good conversation, and then one thing led to another, so I'm really happy to be here.Yeah, that's cool.Well, thanks for being here.Yeah, absolutely.I think there's a lot of good information, um, things that even I learned just in our conversation we had, so I look forward to future episodes with you and to working together into the future.Um, so let's jump right into it.Sure.Do you want to tell us anything about, uh, True Blue Ally, what they do, uh, the nuts and bolts, and then we'll get into some more specifics for the people?Yeah, absolutely.Um, True Blue is, uh, again, is a handyman remodeling service.We do larger projects like bath remodels, kitchen remodels, but our primary focus is to help seniors stay in their home absolutely as long as they possibly can.Okay.Um, we, we do that by trying to blend, uh, some maintenance aspects to staying in your home with also preparing for longer-term care.So, it has to do with perhaps installing grab bars or ch- or looking at lighting and, uh, and, you know, the flooring.Are there transitions that are gonna be issues?Uh, we also look specifically at, and we have a, uh, n- a home assessment process for this, where we sit down and talk to clients about, you know, what are they dealing with in terms of health.And so it's a very personal, uh, approach to remodeling, if you wanna call it that.And, um, and it's an uncomfortable conversation for a lot of people.Nobody wants to say, "I'm getting older.I've got arthritis.I've got this issue with my sight now.Um, my husband's dealing with some dementia.I'm dealing with, you know, pain in my hips," whatever things.Right.Um, we, we try to be very sensitive.Uh, it's almost a doctor-client sort of- Right.uh, conversation, you know?Um, and a lot of times, we are dealing with n- not necessarily the parents, but the children of the parents- Mm-hmm.who end up being ad hoc caregiver.Right.Um, so, and, and again, those conversations, sometimes we can be a little more, uh, straightforward in our questions.Um, you know, "How, how is your mom dealing with this?How is your dad dealing with this?What health things are going on?"Um, we like to talk with the physical therapists, occupational therapists.Uh, you know, if there's social workers involved, we like to see what's going on with that as well,And that's one of the things, so there's a lot to unpack.Um, but one of the things I really liked, coming from the real estate side, is the aging in place, right?Right.Let's right size.It's not always an answer to downsize or to move to independent living, assisted living.We want the senior to be able to age in place as long as they can.And there are some simple things you can do to make it more comfortable, more inviting, um, to try to stay in that family home for as long as possible.Uh, the consultation part really stood out to me also, where you don't just go in there with a, "Here's a prescribed thing that we do."You actually ask the questions, you listen to the needs.Right.And we have all these ideas.We, part of the company already.Um, you have all the ideas of what we can do to make it more comfortable for the senior to get, whether it's a year, 5 years, 10 years, still in their home, right?That's the ideal situation for as long as possible.Right.Um, so real quick before we jump into some things that people can do themselves, what does that consultation look like?You already talked about it a little bit, but what are probably, I don't know, 3 of the biggest questions or, uh, modifications you make coming from those consultations?Well, the very first f- uh, modification, if you wanna call it that, is to talk about what the handyman needs are in terms of maintenance.Okay.Where is your air filter, right?If it's in the attic, uh, you know, do you trust husband to go up and down a set of attic stairs, uh, if you're, uh, by yourself?Do you want your, you know, adult son or adult daughter climbing up into the attic- Right.to swap the filters?How long's it been since you swapped a filter?Um, those things provide for air quality.Sometimes we go in and they're just matted with dog fur, because people are like, "I can't get up in the attic.I can't do that."Right."Um, I've got water flooding in now through the eaves of my house because I can't get up and clean my gutters out.My down spout's clogged."Um, we do a whole house assessment, which has some of those questions in it.A lot of times, people can go simply from a 60-watt bulb to a 100-watt bulb.Okay.And they can actually see the floor.Okay.Right?Um, and it's, it's, it's funny, not funny, uh, how many times you walk into somebody's home and they only have one light bulb in the vanity light.Right.Because it bothers them.And yet, uh, they got lipstick that goes up like this up their ear because they can't see what they're doing.Right.Nice.And that becomes extraordinarily important when there's water on the floor or when there's, you know, they're trying to grasp something or see something and the, and the, the vision is maybe not as good as it used to be.So, doing some of those basic things- Okay.uh, that's where we start.Um, and then, uh, as you mentioned, we, we do a whole house assessment.It's 127 questions, and it literally has to do with do you have puddles in your yard?Well, if you're, if you're trying to get from the house, right, to the Cadillac- Mm-hmm.on Sunday morning, but you gotta pass through 3 inches of water to get there-right?That, that- That's a problem.It's a, it's a tripping hazard.It's a, it's a nuisance.There's all kinds of things.It's a very simple fix.Right.You're bringing in some dirt.You're, you know, you're making something there, um, to keep it dry.Um, those are very, very basic things that we start with.And it sounds likeSo, a couple of those I hadn't even thought of, and it sounds very proactive.Like, even if you're not experiencing a lot of these or starting to experience some of them, just that consultation end in of itself with thatYou said 127 questions?127, yeah.I couldn't come up with 127.Good on you.Um, but going through that, maybe pointing out things that you didn't even realize existed, right?That are justYou've kind ofI think earlier in our conversation, you used the analogy of the frog and the boiling pot.Right, right.You put the frog in the cold water and you slowly turn up the heat.You don't realize it.Same thing with aging in place.A lot of things you don't realize are happening.Right.So, I think that's a greatEven if there's no modification to be made, there's nothing to do to, at least have that preventative mindset to get that done, um, looking forward, isI think just that is huge.Like, that's a nugget you can take away from this video, this podcast- Right.in and of itself- Right, right.um, and get some value.Well, and you mentioned modifications.There's one thing that's really important in that, is that my background is in design, right?Okay.So, I started in the ADA community, which was modifications which were part of civil law.Right.It wasn't criminal law.It was civil law, so if you owned a commercial building, uh, you had to make those modifications to account for certain people with abilities, right?Disabilities.Um, and as, and as things have come down the line, we now understand that instead of having, you know, just a shower, um, sprayer that you have to pull off a hook, we have those now.Moen makes them.American Standards make some that are magnetic.Right.So, if your upper body strength is not what it used to be, that simple $50 fix helps you just slip the shower head up there.Boom, it's done.You're not struggling to try and find a hook, especially you're in the shower.You don't have your glasses on.I don't know how many people- Right.shower with their glasses, but, uhRight?Even this part of it's trying to find the hook, right?So, uh, and the same with, with the, you know, hardware for your house.Mm-hmm.Um, um, a grab bar in the shower can be champagne.It can be oiled bronze.It can beIt doesn't have to be some sanitary, um- Industrial.Industrial- Hospital-grade.like, so it looksEverything looks like, uh, um, you know, one of the handicapped suites- Yeah.at the, at your Days Inn.We do the same thing when it gets to more major renovations.In other words, we'll suggest maybe a low-boy, uh, shower.Mm-hmm.I mean, excuse me, a low-boy tub, so you can still have the tub for the grands and bathe your dog or whatever, but you're not stepping over that 18 inches or, or whatever to get into the tub.So, you don't need as much support for that.Right.Uh, as well as roll-in showers- Okay.which are actually becoming more and more popular, even in new homes.Mm-hmm.Um, which is, uh, where we pour a custom pan and you can literally back your chair in, or back if you want to put a shower seat in there or something like that.Um, but the idea is to make the modifications so that when itWhen you do move on to maybe some senior care or you decide to sell your home, you're not having to restyle the entire thing, right?Absolutely.Like you were talking about your, um, your, um, your open house this weekend.Mm-hmm.That you were surprised to see grab bars in the shower.Right.You didn't even recognize them- Yep.as being'Cause they matched the oiled bronze hardware.Yep.They were done so well.They matched the hardware.Um, aesthetically pleasing.It wasn't anything that jumped out to you.And we're gonna talk more about that here in a little bit.Um, there was one other thing you mentioned, and I was trying to go back to it in my brain.Uh, give me one second.Um.I'm watching the clock.Don't literally count to 100.Um, we'll, we'll come back to that.Okay.So, um, you mentionedSo, there's the maintenance aspect, right?Right.There's the preventative aspect.Um, let's go ahead and tell the people real quickWe kind of talked about it.There are 3 levels of modification, if you will- Right.to the home.There's a DYDIY level.Right.Um, there's a minor modification and there's a major modification.Right.Right?So, let's, let's tell people maybe 2 or 3 things or some things they could do themself that they'll be like, Oh, wow, this really does help.And then help them, better quality of life, but also see in the future how they can progressively age Right, right.Well, it's a, it's a much larger conversation- Okay.as you know.Um, but some of the ideas in terms of DIY, my father has a little bit of dementia and he's 91, and he forgets that we have a sliding glass door in the backyard.So, one of the very simple things to do is to put a decal on that glass, right?Okay.Right, right.So, as you're approaching the glass, you're like, Oh, there's something in my face.That's right, there's a glass door here.Right?So, he's not walking into it, uh, slamming, you know, bumping his nose or whatever.And then now, he's had a crisis event, he's looking to grab something to sturdy himself, right?Cause he's a little, has some dizzy moments and things like that.The simple modification, it's a $5 patch, right?Right.It goes on the window.Um, so those are some DIY things that you can do.You can have your son or your grandson going with double-sided tape, make sure all the rugs in the house have a heavy duty- Yes.double-sided tape.2 things, one is that makes it easier to vacuum.Mm-hmm.Cause it's not coming up getting sucked into the vacuum.But the second thing is you're not tripping over it, you're not, uh, you're not lifting your legs like you used to.Uh, you have a tendency to shuffle a little bit.I don't know if you know that.Um, but, um, when you hit a edge of a rug now you've got a crease and now you've suddenly lost your balance and now you go to grab for something.Right.Our whole purpose in that, in the DIY, is to prevent that crisis moment from happening.Mm-hmm.Very good.What we don't wanna do is wait for a crisis moment to happen.That's when Mom fell and broke her hip.Mm-hmm.It could be a simple thing like gluing down the rugs, uh, looking for how the furniture is placed in the house.Because again, people learn to live with the way they lived.Yes.Right?And that's what- Not go in that room, not take that path, and that starts to limit you- That, that's exactly it.in your home.Yeah.And we want you to be free.Yeah, absolutely.And the other part of that is that, um, dealing with clutter is another sort of hard conversation, right?Mm-hmm.Um, uh, dealing with pets, that's another part of the conversation because as you know, pets aren't always, uh, um, keeping to themselves.Right.Sometimes they're under foot.So, we have a lot of people who end up falling because the dog is trying to get some place and they're trying to get some place and then end up falling.So, uh, having those conversations, um, and, uh, that's part of the DIY.It's here's what you can do on your own or to have your daughter do or your son or your grandson, uh, help you with these things, and here's our suggestions.That's part of that home assessment that comes out of that.Right.And that is a free service that we do.So, to sit down with people, say, Here's the things that are going on.Um, this is what we would suggest.It's in no way a prescription- Right.but it is a s- a suggestion based on, you know- Experience.almost 45 years I've been doing this.And that reminds me of what I was gonna say earlier.Um, it was in our, our initial conversation we had, so DIY, free, guys, do the assessments, let them tell you what you can do.But don't go so far DIY that you build a ramp at the wrong angle.We had a conversation about people trying to do this on their own and what are the pitfalls of kind of taking that DIY too far?Like, what have you seen?You know, the DIY is also unfortunately tied to a lot of what you call a handyman.Right.Right?You're, you go onto Next Door Neighbor app and you're saying, Hey, I need somebody to build me a ramp.Mm-hmm.We see a lot of them where the ramp is not 12'1", right?What does 12'1 mean for the people?Okay.So for every- Everything's varying for everybody.For every 12 inches, right?Mm-hmm.For every 12 inches, you only can go down one inch.Right.Right?So, if you're going 12 inches out like that, from here to here can only be one inch.If it's more than that, you can't get a wheelchair up that.You can't really safely use a walker.It has to be 12'1".So, you get some guy, some gal in the neighborhood- Right.to come out and build you a ramp, right?That you can't use.Right.Uh, the other thing is that the handrails are important.It's important that you keep handrails at 36 inches.There's a natural way that you move down a slope that helps you with that.That also has to do with the way you build the ramp so that the top plate, we use 5'4 by 6", so it's five and a half inches wide and it's, um, 5'4 thick.Okay.So, it gives you something substantial that you can hold onto cause you got your Bible and your purse in this hand- Right.you wanna make sure r- you, you can work out that- Get it down.Right, right, exactly.So, and it has so many things to do with how close the boards are together.You don't run boards downhill, you run them like this, right?Right.That adds to the slip resistance.We always put a slip-resistant mat on ours.It's just something you glue down and it's got a little bit of sandpaper kind of feel to it.Right.And helps you grip, so because every day is not sunny in Texas, right?Right.We have snow, we have weather, we have rain.We do.Right?So- Outside happens.That, outside happens, outside happens.Um, so it is c- it's, it is a, a process of hiring somebody to do those modifications- Right.who actually knows how those modifications need- What, what it needs.Yes.The same thing with p- installing a grab bar in the shower.Right.Um-as a for instance.Um, usually you can put something together like a shower head pretty easy, you know, you put a couple of cranks on it, you're good.But you put a shower, uh, put, excuse me, a grab bar in a shower, you gotta have something to grab to, right?So, there has to be meat back behind that wall or you have to use certain types of fasteners.Because the last thing you want to do is to grab that thing as you're falling and it comes out of the wall and you go into a glass door or- Right.or onto the floor, or now you've broken a hip or, you know- Right.bruised yourself or something like that.W- Wrist, um, breaks are very common because people go to catch themselves.Okay.It, it's, that becomes a crisis moment, now you're going to the ER, right?Right.So, uh, it, it almost always is worth a little bit more to have somebody, not necessarily us, but have somebody who's a professional, who understands design, they understand the aspects of how, how those improvements need to be made.Absolutely.And it's not just us saying it.The Americans With Disability Act, the ADA Compliance things we're talking about, it's science, it's the government, it's a lot of studies that have gone into that.I see a lot of times, I'll go to a home and they say, Well, I need to get from the driveway to my door.And when you get to that 12-1-the ramp is such that they can't really use the ramp.Right, right.And, and in reality, we've all seen the ramp have to kind of make like a zigzag- Yeah.so that they can actually use the ramp.It doesn't do you any good to have a ramp- Right.And you have toIf you have a, a landing, right, and you're coming down a certain angle, that landing has to be at least 36 by 36.Right.At least, right?Because it doesn't do you any good to get to the bottom of the ramp and then you're kind of like, you're, you're, you're doing the hokey pokey trying to get- Yeah.the right- 180 point turn to turn around.Right.Uh, unless you're on a carousel when you get down there, right, you're gonna have to make that turn yourself.That has to do with where your elbows are and all of that.So, there's some n- A lot that goes into it.Exactly.Minimum specs to, to all of that.Awesome.As well as lighting, because you're coming down the ramp.It's not, it's not just that you know there's a ramp there.Right.Um, but you need to be able to see where you're going right?So, we focus on, if you're getting out of the house, you're going from a lit environment to an unlit environment at night or early, early in the morning.So, how the lighting is done is a, is a part of that.And it doesn't have to be expensive, right?You can use solar lighting- Right.uh, for a lot of those things.Um, we use a lot of the solar pucks under the handrail, right?Right.And that shines down on the, on the ramp- On the top.of your door.Yeah.Okay.So, that's a good segue into we talked about DIY.What are some, what we would call minor improvements or modifications to the house?Like you mentioned handrails.To me, that would fall into a minor- Mm-hmm.improvement or modification.Mm-hmm.What's important about the handrails and what other things can they do to give you a call and come out and fix it up?Yeah.So, part of it is looking s- honestly at what your abilities are and what maybe abilities are starting to slip.Okay.It could be sight, it could be memory, it could be, uh, a sense of w- being woozy.Um, I've had clients who started on certain medicat- medications.Mm-hmm.That now they're having some issues with inner ear, um, and so they're looking for, How do I do this?Right?Um, another, another fairly easy modification is to put a levered handles on the door.Okay.Right?So, you start to get a little bit of arthritis and inflammation in your hands and you can't really grasp those doorknobs anymore.Yeah.Or maybe you've got a doorknob that's 720 years old, right?It doesn't turn like it used to.Right.It's a simple $40 fix or $30 fix to do that.Mm-hmm.Make sure that that's workable.Putting in a levered handle helps you all the way around the house because then you're not having to grasp everything constantly to make those turns.The same thing with a handrail, the, the handrail is, the idea is are you left-handed or are you right-handed?Um, a- are you dealing with, um, using a walker?Because a walker has a different dynamic on a ramp than, than a wheelchair does.Okay.So, we ask all those questions and those are very sort of personal questions.Right.Um, and, and people are sometimes hesitant to answer those questions.So, try to be- A gent-gently encouraging - Gently encou- and as forthcoming as possible.Yeah.Cause it's all there to help you and to help quality of life.Yeah, absolutely.Absolutely.And everybody has that goal.Yeah, yeah.The best qualityWe had, umI just wantA sort of anecdote is that a client called me, and every time I call her to say, How are you doing, Miss June?How are you doing, Miss June?She'll say, You're never gonna believe it, but, um, Walt is in the shower and he's showering himself, and he now, he knows how toAnd you know, thisI think the gentleman's like 88 years old, right?He's, he's learned to pull the magnetic shower head down, turn the water on, uh, cause we put scald prevention, right, onAnd I went and turned their water heater down to 125 already.Okay.But we haveWhen we did the remodel, we put scald prevention in that, so whenShe's on the other end of the house and, or the grandkids decide to flush the toilet, all the cold water goes away and grandpa s- gets- What?burned, right?So now, he takesHe can take the handle down and hold it down here while he adjusts the temperature.Gets it just right, then he puts theSo, getting those, th- some of that feedback is justIt's, it's, it's very encouraging to us, right?Absolutely, to know that you helped somebody's quality of life.Right, right.Man, that's awesome.Full disclosure, I do that too.Magnetic one, and I will take it and then get it to my temperature.Oh, you get it to your temperature, right, right.They work great.Right.Um, okay.So DIY, rugs, uh, double-sided tape.Um, something on glass or, or doors, that way you know that's there.Um, minor modifications- Mm-hmm.would be, uh, doorknobs.I love that one.Lighting.Thought about that.Lighting, doorknobs.Yep, yep, yep.Um, maintenance can also come into play, making sure that, you know, even mayIf it's a dimmer switch.Right.Um, another one I had somebody do was move where the phone is.Yep.Right?Because having to go to the other side of the house and putting multiple phones in, um, like the cordless and changing the base really helped him aWe also do a lot of, uh, what we call sort of security modifications- Okay.where we'll install a Ring doorbell.That Ring doorbell- Gotcha.as simp- as simple as it is, somebody comes to the door, your phone opens up, the app opens up- Right.and you can see who's at the door and you can talk to them.So you could be across town at church.Somebody comes to the door to make a delivery and you can have the conversa- Oh, I'm at church right now.Please leave that in the barn or put that next to the garage or set it behind the bush.A simple modification like that, um, um, it's, it's a wonder how we haven't, you know, lived with stuff like that before, right?Yeah, like how do we make it before?Right, right.Yeah, thatYou know, nobody answers the door anymore.Right.It's allAnd it's a very, it's a very simple, uh, setup.You set it up very simply for that.Last question- Yeah.from you and then we'll talk a little bit about the home in value.Major modifications.What would a majorI'm assuming, but you tell us, bathroom remodel, kitchen remodel, things like that.What would go into a major renovation?Yeah.So, uh, obviously, kitchens and baths are a big one.Right.We do a lot of those.Uh, the modifications have more to do with non-slip flooring- Okay.low boy toilets.Um, we have a tendency to, again, to, to install plumbing that's updated a little bit.Mm-hmm.So things aren't dripping, things aren't wet.Um, uh, towel bars that are, uh, coming off the wall, right?Uh, soBut, but a lot of it has to do with safety in the bathroom.Another one that's a big one is that we install, for a lot of clients, what's called a chair height toilet.Okay.So if you're, if you're squatting way, way down to get on the commode, which was installed in 1984, right?Right, right.The little tiny one.Right, thatAnd now you don't have the upper, uh, leg strength, the thigh strength to lift yourself up anymore, um, getting a chair height toiletKohler makes a beautiful one.Uh, several, several companies now make a chair height toilet.And it just simplyIt's a, it's a taller commode that allows you to get up and down much easier.Um, so, so those typically go into a bath remodel.What goes into a kitchen remodel, a lot of times, is simply getting a faucet that's easy to maneuver.Uh, in some cases we've installed the touch faucets, right?Because they're a little bit more, but you got stuff on your hands, you've been cooking, you got meat on your hand.You touch it with your wrist, the faucet comes on.You wash your hands, it goes off by itself.So those are simple modifications that we take into account when we're doing, major remodels.Right.So, um, another part of them.Well, we've talked about this before in terms of valuation on your home.Mm-hmm.You don't want to make, uh, the mistake of investing 60% of what you should have.Right?Right.You put in 60% of yourOf, of maybe what you should have put into the home to make that modification.Now comes time for that home to be sold.Right.You have to go back and spend another 60% more rather than going ahead and spending what you should have spent to make those modifications.Right.And some of that has to do with swapping out, um, appliances that match.Right.Um, uh, another simple oneI know this sounds really simple, but, uh, having a freezer drawer on the bottom doesn't always work for everybody.It's a, it'sItHaving a side-by-side or a French door freezer may be even with an ice maker, right?Right.There's a reason why that's called a convenience, right?Mm-hmm.Because it allows you to open up the door and you can see what's going on.A drawer, you've got to, you've got to have this kind of strength to actually pull that drawer open.And some of them have a 2phase, it's a lock with a lock that goes back with those hinges.Mm-hmm.You don't necessarily, if you're getting a little bit older and you're dealing with balance issues, you don't want a door on the bottom.Right.You don't want a drawer, right?Um- I didn't even think about that.Yeah.It's the more you learn, right?The more you know.Uh, in some of our, uh, homes, we're actually doing a 2piece dishwasher now.Yeah.It's just mom and dad at home, right?So, they don'tUnless they have big parties and the grandkids and everybody's coming over, uh, a lot of times we're installing a 2piece dishwasher.Right.So, the dishwasher, at the top is just a drawer that opens up.You can put your daily stuff in there, and you're only washing that little bit.S-, uh- You're not washing all of it.Interesting.Yeah.That's great for just people that are just- Yeah.one or 2 people that live in the house.Empty nesters.Right, right, right.Absolutely.We can't do that.We need 2 dishwashers.We are too, yeah.But eventually, we're gonna get that one.Yeah, yeah, yeah.Yeah.Okay.So, so, and the other side of the major remodel, and I wanna make sure we talk about this or point this out, um, a lot of times if you don't have somebody with, that has the experience, the knowledge, the eye for the aesthetic, I guess, we'll call it, thinking about the future, um, I see a lot of seniors who have modified their homes, and they'll put in the sit-down tubs- Mm-hmm.that are really tall and have the door.Mm-hmm.Um, and that can hurt you when you go to resell the home, right, which if you need it, you need it, absolutely no problem.But I wanna make sure people know they have options because there are things we can do, and that's what we were talking about earlier at the open house.The, the pool bars and the toilets and all that stuff was done with an eye for the aesthetic-so they don't have to undo that.And I think you just talked about 60% in what you're investing.Right.Go ahead, spend the money so that you have your quality of life, you enjoy your home, you don't have to undo stuff later or redo stuff later when you go to sell the house- Right.because that's just gonna hurt your equity, and that's gonna ha- make you less money, right?Right, right.So that was theI think one of the first conversation we had- Mm-hmm.at the very, very beginning.Right.You're one of the few people that kinda understood that.Right.Wait a minute, I need to know more-and learn more and get with this guy a bit more.Right.Um, so do you wanna talk about that a little bit?Like, how do you look at that, or did we kinda cover it all?Yeah, I think that one, just one simple example might be that instead of having to put in a sit-down tub, which again, you're, you're s- you're gonna spend some money to put something like that- Right.into your house because they're typically not standard width or length, right?So it's a modification you've to ask- You're gonna remodel the bathroom.You're gonna remodel the bathroom to get one of those in.And instead of that, um, a lot of times, we'll either do a roll-in shower- Mm-hmm.which is easy to walk into- Mm-hmm.that has glass doors that, that close or has a glass panel which allows the water to stay on one side of the shower.Mm-hmm.And then, we'll use a teak bench, right?Teak.That's what it was.Yeah, so- I was gonna ask you about that.So the, uh, the teak bench, so we have a grab bar that's, uh, that, well, you c- it's, it's called, uh, you know, a horseshoe, right?Right.It's up against the wall.And so, you're holding onto this and you flip the bench down.Right.It's made of teak.It's water-resistant.You know, teak is- Right.like a marine plywood.Um, you flip it down, you can sit, you can bathe your feet, you can ha- you have something to steady yourself.It's not really much different than the cockpit of one of the, what I call the cockpit of one of those, uh, walk-in tubs, right?Mm-hmm.Um, if you look at the value for the cost-you're almost better off doing the modifications, uh, with a sense of style in mind and with a sense of longevity.So, not necessarily you're thinking about resale, but that is a practical aspect of keeping the home in a shape so that your son, your daughter, uh, you, your realtor is not coming to you to say, Mom, I need $25,000 to undo the remodel that you and dad did 2 years ago.Um, those are hard conversations to have, right?Um, we also talk a little bit about, umBecause I have friends in the industry, talk about reverse mortgages.We talk about how to maybe do some financing, um, to, to afford some of those modifications.So, uh, there's tax breaks in that.There's, there's c- certain benefits to doing something like a reverse mortgage.Absolutely.And I love that, and the, the, the teak fold-down- Mm-hmm.Um, I love that idea and I would like to see more of that.Um, so instead of spending, um, I'm just gonna throw some numbers out there, $10,000 to $20,000 to put the stand up, sit down tub- Mm-hmm.whatever you call them, with the door, that's gonna be a comparable expense.Yeah.Now, you don't have to discount your house when you sell because majority of buyers don't want that.Right.Um, you don't have to spend money putting a regular tub back in for maybe the buyers like it or they don't.This looks like a nice designer- Mm-hmm.you know, somebody's gonna love it, you know, somebody who just wants to sit down.Shaving legs, any of that kind of stuff.Absolutely.It's still a functional thing for the home.Right.And whether it's selling the house, it's the family inheriting the house, one of the kids coming to live in the house, turning it into an investment rental property.Whatever it is, you wanna keep that value and not have to spend double money or discount it in the end.That, that's it.Um- think that pretty much wraps up everything we got.We're probably going long for this.Yeah.Good.Is there any closing thoughts that you wanna- Uh, just, just that, um, you know, weMy wife and I talk to a lot of people because we have, um, some property we're looking to, uh, rent to people with Winnebagos and, you know- Gotcha.have them come out and do RV type thing.We talked to so many couples who were planning to travel together.Mm-hmm.They were planning to do this, they were planning to do that, and then there was some sort of health crisis.Mm-hmm.And it's just such a sad thing because you don't know if you've got 3 years or 5 years or 30 years.Right.Right?There's no way I could have anticipated that my dad was gonna live to be 91.Right.Uh, and he's still cooking.He's still going.Right.But, um, he retired at 61.Right?Right.So, 30 years he's been retired and, uh, so those, those are hard conversations to have sometimes.Absolutely.Mm-hmm.Starting early with a DIY plan, starting early with a home assessment is a good way to start that conversation without having to go to Mom and say, Mom, you're getting old and we have to talk about this.Instead of doing that, say, What's going on with Dad?What's going on with Mom?How are you guys getting around in the house?Maybe we add some light bulbs, which we didn't have.Maybe we do some outdoor security lights.Right.Right?Uh, we have some lights that turn on, we call Dusk to Dawn.Mm-hmm.Right?Uh, or we have motion sensor lights that come on.So, that has nothing to do with getting older.It helps you feel s- more secure in your home.Right?Right.And, and so, it's not, it's not in any way a slight or an accusation.It's simply saying, Let's have the conversation now, and that's our goal.Absolutely.I love it.And I think you, it's never too early to start planning for anything, but especially for this.That's probably the biggest hurdle we face in the real estate world, is waiting too long.hurdle we face in the real estate world is waiting too long to start the conversation and then having to play catch up. So do yourself a favor, do your family a favor, do your kids a favor, just start having the conversation. I love it, love it, love Thank you guys. If they want to reach out, if they want to get in touch with you, they want to have you out for your consultation, howYeah.Just start the conversation and then having to play catch up.Definitely.So- That's it.do yourself a favor, do your family a favor, do your kids a favor, just start having the conversation.I love it, love it, love it.Um, thank you guys.If they wanna reach out, if they wanna get in touch with you, they wanna have you out for your consultation- Yeah.for your consultation, how do the people get in touch with you? So the easiest way is just to call. The number is 4, 6, 9, 7, 7, 1, 1, 1, 7, 0, 4, 6, 9, 7, 7, 1, 11, 70. And, you know, we're super, super busy. So leave a message. We will definitely call you back typically within 20, 30 minutes. Happy to come out again, have the conversation. We know what we're doing. We know what we're talking about. You can feel confident that we're going to take care of your mom or your dad or your grandmother or your grandfather and have those conversations with a sense of grace and also with a sense of style. Nobody wants to live in a handicapped hospital room. We want to live at home. That's our goal. We live in the future. We have optionshow do the people get in touch with you?So, the easiest way is just to call.Okay.Uh, the number's 469-771-1170.Uh, 469-771-1170 and, um, you know, we're super, super busy, so leave a message.We will definitely call you back, typically within 20, 30 minutes.I appreciate it.Okay.Um, happy to come out again, have the conversation.We know what we're doing, we know what we're talking about.You can feel confident that we're gonna take care of your mom or your dad, um, or your grandmother or your grandfather, uh, and have those conversations, uh, with a sense of grace.Uh, and also, with a sense of style, you know.Uh, nobody wants to live in a handicap, uh, hospital room.Right.You wanna live at home.Uh, that's our goal.We live in the future.We have options- That's it.Yeah.in technology.Yeah.That, that blows my mind.Yeah.I love learning the technology.Yeah, yeah.Well, thank you so much for being on the show.Um, if you found value in this, please share it with somebody.Um, follow Senior Living NTX on YouTube for more videos, more interviews, more podcasts.Um, we're gonna keep doing this.Our job is to educate the public.Uh, if you have questions, absolutely call.If you wanna put something in the comments, DM, we're happy to help you out.Thanks for watching.Call Paul.