“Find A Home For Free.” Some Companies Claim Their Services Don’t Come At Any Cost.
Unfortunately, That’s Not Really True
“Hey – we’re going to find you a retirement home for free.”
That’s what many companies like A Place For Mom, Caring.com, and dozens of local businesses who refer you to local retirement communities claim to do.
I mean, who doesn’t like free things? Especially when it comes to navigating senior living?
It’s all very nice, but the question remains: How do these companies make money, if their service is free?
I’m certain these companies have expenses and mortgages just like the rest of us.
I’m sure good people work for them. We all have to make a living somehow.
The Inside Scoop
I used to live in Concord New Hampshire.
If you do a quick Google search for retirement homes in Concord (taking out nursing homes), there are 11 assisted living or independent retirement communities within 10 miles of the city centre.
If you do the same search on the Place For Mom website, they only list 5 homes.
Why the discrepancy?
Companies like A Place for Mom only get paid by the homes in their network. These retirement homes pay these companies like A Place For Mom 1-2 months rent for each referral that signs a lease.
So if you call A Place For Mom, they take your info and budget, and then send your profile to the select few homes in their network.
So far – not so bad – but you are limited in terms of the retirement homes who will end up calling you.
Using the Concord example, suppose out of those 5 properties, 2 of them charge higher than average monthly rents than the other 3?
If I, as an advisor for one of these “free services” companies, get paid one month’s rent for the referral – who do you think I would refer your lead to? The home that I’ll get a $5k payday from, or the one I get a $6k payday from?
So technically you’re not charged, but you will end up with very limited choices, and potentially higher monthly rent for a similar experience.
Let’s keep going.
Now let’s suppose you’re a local company also referring retirement homes to prospects for “free” in Atlanta.
What happens if they have 12 homes in their network, but three of the homes pay two months rent?
If I’m the local referral company and I can get paid – say $12k (2 months rent) from 3 homes, but I only get $6k (one month rent) from the others, who do you think gets first crack at your juicy information after you’ve called?
Like all good late night infomercials – “But Wait! There’s More!”
Some retirement homes actually raise the rent to pay for the referral. That’s how they offset the cost of the leads – they pass it on to the resident.
This is one of those practices that are simply exploitative and abusive.
Unfortunately, I can keep going .
One other way to think about free referral services is this:
If a retirement home is closing one referral a month, (use $6k per referral as an example), that’s a minimum of $72,000 year in added property expense.
That’s a lot of money that doesn’t get invested in staff, or new services, or new lobby furniture.
Finally, there are numerous articles complaining about manipulated reviews and annoying phone calls from all the homes you get referred to.
So if you go with a company like APM, you don’t get the best retirement home, for your loved one.
You don’t get the safest home, or the home with the best culture.
Sadly, it’s not a great look for the industry. Here’s a couple of supporting articles – here – here.
So Where Does That Leave You And Your Loved One?
Well, to start, the link just below is our long winded guide to figuring out who has the best home in your area.
Lots of good information. And yes, it’s actually free :).
Retirement Home Insider’s Ultimate Guide To Finding The Best Retirement Home
The Retirement Home Insider Difference
With Retirement Home Insider, the only horse we have in this race, is you and your family.
We help you by checking out the homes you are interested in, so you get a behind the scenes understanding and no annoying sales calls.
We’ll look at every property you want to review, not just a select few.
If the best fit for your family is about safety, or food, or programming, we’ll help you pick the right home to suit you.
We don’t have favorite homes that pay us the best – we only have your satisfaction as our guide.
So book your free consultation call and let’s get started. You have nothing to lose.
We Start Here
If you engage Retirement Home Insider:
1 – Together, we decide on the property or list of properties you want assessed after a discovery call, for anywhere in Canada or the United States.
2 – Retirement Home Insider conducts & investigates the properties you are considering with a risk and culture analysis (this can be done remotely or in person).
3 – We interview the Sales Director & Executive Director.
4 – We prepare and provide a detailed 21 page report on our findings for each property.
5 – We hold your information confidential. No annoying sales calls.
6 – We can do a follow up call to review the report if requested. Don’t waste your time with ill fitting properties.
7 – We set up your tour for the properties you are interested in.
8 – In person tours available upon request.