The Biggest Mistake San Diego Seniors Make When Planning a Housing Move

Written by:

Heather Hook

Date:

03 Aug 2026

KeyCrew Studio

Share

Share via Facebook

Share via Linkedin

Share via X

Copy to clipboard

The majority of housing decisions for older adults are made under the worst possible conditions: in the immediate aftermath of a fall, a diagnosis, or a sudden loss of mobility, according to Bryan Devore, a Seniors Real Estate Specialist and Director of the Senior Division at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, who works extensively with older adults navigating housing transitions. Devore says most seniors already know they should be planning ahead – and they’re not doing it anyway. The gap between awareness and action is not an information problem. It is a behavioral one – and it carries measurable financial and health consequences.

The Trigger Is Almost Always a Health Event

Devore says the catalyst for most senior housing decisions is not careful planning – it is a fall, a broken hip, or a moment when the current living situation becomes undeniably inadequate.

“We all think we are invincible until we’re not,” Devore says. He offers his own parents as an example: both in their early 80s, living in a home without ramps, grab bars, or any recommended modifications. He has raised the issue with them. Their response is familiar: “Oh yeah, we’ll get to it.”

Devore’s parents know what he does for a living. The resistance to proactive planning, he suggests, is psychological – a near-universal tendency to defer preparation for scenarios we would rather not imagine.

What Crisis-Mode Decision-Making Costs

When a family scrambles to find a solution after a health event, time pressure eliminates the ability to compare options, negotiate terms, or identify the right professionals.

“When someone falls and breaks a hip, now you’re in crisis mode, and it’s harder to make good decisions,” Devore says. “You typically go with the first person and not the best one.”

Choosing speed over fit can lock families into arrangements that are more expensive, less appropriate, or harder to reverse than what a deliberate process would have produced. A senior placed in a community that does not match their care needs may require another transition sooner, compounding both emotional and financial costs.

Devore also notes that crisis-driven decisions often skip evaluating whether the home could be modified. Families in emergency mode tend to default to a move without assessing whether targeted modifications might have extended the viability of the existing home at lower cost.

Why the Home Itself Is the Last Thing Families Evaluate

Most people do not think critically about their home’s long-term suitability until something forces the question, Devore says. A two-story home feels fine until stairs become dangerous. A standard doorway seems unremarkable until a wheelchair will not fit through it.

“People don’t always think about that,” Devore says. “They think, ‘Well, I’m in a one-story, no problem.’ But they can’t get a wheelchair through a doorway.”

He points to smaller details that compound over time: doorknobs that become impossible to turn as arthritis develops, light switches positioned for someone standing rather than seated, cabinets inaccessible from a lower position. None of these feel urgent until they are – and by then, the cost and disruption of addressing them is far greater than it would have been years earlier.

“It would be better if people were more proactive and did things before they fell in the first place,” Devore says, “but that’s not always possible.”

The Financial Pressure Accelerating the Problem

Rising costs are narrowing the window for proactive decisions, Devore says. Many seniors own their homes outright but live on fixed incomes. Insurance costs – especially in California – homeowners association dues, and utilities continue to climb while incomes stay flat or decline.

“You’re having seniors who are faced with a situation of, can I actually age in my own home, or do I have to sell it, get the equity out, and do something different?” Devore says.

He notes that options like reverse mortgages exist for some homeowners, allowing them to access equity for modifications or living expenses. But most people do not know these products are available until they are already in financial distress – the same reactive pattern that governs health-related decisions.

How Earlier Planning Changes the Calculus: Aging in Place vs. Moving to Senior Living in San Diego

Devore says connecting with an aging-in-place specialist or a placement professional before a crisis hits allows families to map out both modification options and community alternatives while there is still time to compare them.

“It’s always easier to do it and better to do it early than later,” Devore says.

He also notes that placement professionals – who help families identify and tour senior living communities – are compensated by the communities themselves, not by the families they assist. Most families do not know this service exists or that it costs them nothing directly.

For families weighing whether to act now or wait, Devore’s framing is direct: the choice is not between planning and not planning. It is between planning on your own timeline and being forced to plan on someone else’s – a hospital’s, an insurance company’s, or a landlord’s. The families who engage professionals early get to choose well. The ones who wait get to choose fast.

About Bryan Devore: Bryan Devore is a Seniors Real Estate Specialist and Director of the Senior Division at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties. With 23 years of experience, an SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) and Certified Trust and Probate Specialist designation, and a team ranked in the top 1/2% of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices affiliates nationwide, he is one of the most recognized specialists in senior real estate transitions in San Diego County. Devore also hosts Senior Spaces, a TV show and podcast guiding families through downsizing, aging-in-place, and inherited-property decisions.
DRE 01397835

This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.

Disclosure: Individuals or companies mentioned may have a commercial relationship with KeyCrew.