“Age in place or be stuck in place?”
When it came to housing, Susan Apel and Keith Irwin thought they had expertly planned for their future lives. They bought a four-bedroom house on five acres in Lebanon, N.H., 24 years ago, and "we made sure we paid off the mortgage before we retired," said Ms. Apel, 71.That way, the home equity they had built up — they estimate their home is now worth about $700,000 — would allow them to sell and downsize to smaller, more manageable neighborhoods when they needed to.That moment has arrived. Ms. Apel, a retired law professor, has difficulty climbing stairs. Mr. Irwin, 71, previously an account manager for a local company, is tired of yard work and snow shoveling, and finding workers to do those jobs instead has become difficult.“We're seeing the writing on the wall,” Ms. Apel said. ...