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I was checking into some AL and MC facilities for a friend and man was I shocked. The prices do vary and quite a bit. There are thousands of dollars difference in the same things. What really caught my attention was the $2500.00 move in fee. This is just to let you in the door and move in. It's not them paying for packing, unpacking, transport, etc. I spoke with two places who had them. One place was only $1500.00. I'm just curious as to whether this has become common. When, I was researching ALs in 2014, no one mentioned a move in fee.

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My mom didn't have a move in fee when she moved into her AL. The families do the moving, unpacking , setting up the room. When she got moved up to NH floor I moved her things. Furniture was donated and was picked up.
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In my area the "move in" fees are common.   It is similar to a rental security deposit, except you don't get the deposit back.  This money is used to do repairs and replacements after a resident leaves.   My Dad paid $2,500 move-in fee.

I did the same as Lisa, above.   I hired a moving company to move the furniture and items that my Dad was moving to Independent Living.   Later down the road when Dad needed to move to Assisted Living, the maintenance workers moved the furniture Dad was taking, which was only a few things.   The small stuff, his caregiver and I moved, like all 200 books :P   What was left, I called a hauling group that also did donations.

Usually with Independent Living and with Assisted Living there are options to choose from which would bring up the monthly rent.... or the price is set with everything included.

Some Independent Living places offer only one meal, the rest you do in your own kitchen in your apartment.... other IL will offer 3 meals a day.   Some will offer linen service as part of the rent, others will charge extra.   Some will give free transportation to stores and doctor appointments, other place might charge a fee.
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My mother has been in two different AL's, one in 2011 and the current one she lives in now since 2013. Both had a $2,000, non-refundable move-in fee.

Basically, it's an expensive way to pay for carpet cleaning and some painting from what the last resident did during their time there. It's a racket that's pretty much unavoidable.
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My mother didn't have a move-in fee, but we had to pay a month in advance. I guess that is about the same thing?
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We had a $4000 move in fee --- standard in my area. We used 3 different facilities and it was all the same.
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Yep, common in my area!
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Windytown's explaination is the same I got and Mom paid over $2000
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I'm just wondering if there is any other way corporations can find to gouge old folks. I would never pay it for myself. Cleaning up and painting when a resident moves out is all part of apartment maintenance. It often seems like places are trying to drain the estates of people before they die. It's a sad way the world is going, but no one seems to be interested in stopping it.
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Mom's memory care had a $6,500 move-in fee and since she was in the new expansion she was the first occupant in the room

It has been one year since she moved in and the place is full so they can pretty much charge what they like and her monthly rate just increased by $450 for a shared room
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The way the world is going is making me so sad.
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There needs to be more new Assisted Living complexes to be built to make it more competitive.   Right now there are waiting lists a year long.

When my Dad moved into Independent Living, he was looking the last week in December.   The place had an apartment that would be ready in two week if he could wait.   Dad wasn't sure.   Then the complex gave him a discount on his rent plus one month free.   Dad smiles and said "yes'.   I guess no one on the waiting list wanted to move in January :)
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Yes, in the 2 AL facilities that I have recently toured, there is a 2,000 fee, which was explained to me that is used in the documents set up, getting in touch with his Drs, Pharmacies, and other health organizations, setting them into place, so that they can be in direct contact with them should the needs arise, in addition to his Advance Directive, his banking, and the medical evaluation which is also done by the in house Dr. Plus any personel information, and whom to notify in case they need to and that it takes time and effort by the facility Director, the DON, and administrative staff to compile these documents, plus the usual damage and cleaning deposits and such, and I'm sure there are many other things involved getting him established as well, but Yes, it's pricey. I guess it is all part of building a file on the patient, but is standard from what I've gathered.
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My father was charged an evaluation fee instead of a move in fee. I was told it was to evaluate the level of care he needed, and there were either 4 or 5 different fee levels reflecting their evaluation.
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I appreciate all the comments.

The prices really do vary. Gouging really. I almost said in response to the move-in fee....And they let you get away with that?
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Assisted Living is a 'racket'.. and a very lucrative business. Yes, move-in fees are standard most places today. We paid the non-refundable $2500 as well. Because 'the system' does not take care of our elders today and many did not pay (understandably) or plan for LTC, AL facilities can basically charge whatever they want. Then you have those residents that MUST live in AL because they have Dementia or the like where kids or family members can no longer give the care they need - for whatever reason. Just for the room alone - not including the a la carte items such as medicine mgmt. and Reminiscence care - $4,000 a month. Highway robbery I say... shop around - sometimes places have 'specials' where they will waive fees here and there or give one month free - depending on your area and the supply and demand. Good luck!
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Whatever the facility can get away with, they will charge. They want to turn as big a profit as possible.
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I agree with Jessiebell.
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My mother paid $3,000. I have to presume this is what pays for the cleaning, painting, carpet shampooing, etc. that is done when an apartment turns over. Management informs prospective tenants that all these things are done prior to move-in. The reality is that residents are paying for it.
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They worked so hard all their lives to leave something for their kids and it's all gone when they have to enter one of these places. It's ridiculous. I don't care about my inheritance but it's just sad. Thank God that before they leave this world, they don't even realize that all their hard work went to these places, who just keep charging more and more.
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sg, thanks for this topic, I'm looking at the same thing with my mother and want to be able to discuss it with her. I personally come away from this thread with a feeling somewhere between stacyb's response and the rest. :) This isn't just a condo, and there are many processes they do to ramp up. It also never hurts to discuss the terms with your #1 choice and see if you can negotiate the fee down. I believe $2500 is the precise figure at the place in mid-state Virginia we're looking at.
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I agree. The AL, which also has a MC wing, in the facility that my cousin resides does not have a Move-in fee. They are also the most reasonably priced place that I have come across. AND their points/stars as graded by the state are much higher than some of the fancy places. I regularly go online and check these things. Some of the most upscale places in appearance, have NO stars or just a couple. Looks can be deceiving.

I wonder how those places with a move-in fee would respond, if the client said, "We are interested. We are private pay and would like to move daddy in, but, we are not paying a move-in fee. If that can't be waived, we'll go to the next one on our list." And then do it.

There may be a big demand for AL, but, from my inquiries, ALL of them had availability. Even MC.
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We paid 1600.00. I was told it was to keeping people from switching around to different nursing homes. They want to keep you there.
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Yes, we paid $1700. Guess it kept the place looking good. I accepted it.
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We paid a $1700 move in fee. It helps them keep the place looking nice. We didn't think much about it.
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Looking at it from a landlord's perspective: If I have a college kid move in, I charge an extra month's rent as a security deposit, and chances are, I will have to use that money to clean up and repair something from beer and ignorance of how to take care of things. I make sure to get damage$ before move in. because the kid may not move out until moving out of state. I have no way of tracking him down to get him to pay damages, and I would no longer be making my minimum rate of return on the apt investment - why would I stay in real estate if I can't make my 5% return on investment?

For old people, the reasoning would be pretty close to the same, except the damages are going to be worse. Urine has a much stronger holding power than beer, and usually is applied over a larger area - not just the living room. If urine soaks through the carpet padding (usually not the case with beer since that is just one cup full), it gets into the plywood subfloor and reeks! That is a much more expensive clean up.

And how about the extermination that is required? Kids get roaches, which are pretty straightforward to get to an acceptable level; old folks don't mean to, but they bring in book lice, scabies, and other creepy crawlies from their special items from home that have not been moved in years.

Finally, our elderly resident that caused the damages is not just out of state, but gone! I could submit that bill to probate, but if the estate has no money left - common in the world of trying to get Medicaid to pay for everything - then I'm left paying for damages out of my pocket. Again, why would I invest in an elderly residence if I'm not making a minium rate of return?

If you want to have more homes available/ shorter waiting lists, people have to be willing to reward the investors who build them by paying for the service. They don't spring out of the ground fully formed - someone has to pay to build and maintain the building.
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Most AL are private pay. In only some states are they licensed. Regardless, whether or not they are licensed, the costs are governed by the contract one signs with the facility. In our state, the licensed facilities usually cost more than the unlicensed. Unlicensed AL cannot administer medications but can do medication reminders. They cannot do any type of "nursing" care either. The bottom line is they can charge whatever is in the contract. The other caveat is that the contracts usually have a mandatory arbitration clause. This prohibits filing suit against the facility and requiring any cause of action to be arbitrated---sometimes even by an arbitrator chosen by the facility.
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A security deposit is nothing like a move in fee, security deposits must be held in trust for the tenant and returned when they move out, with interest. And the security deposit can only be applied toward damages beyond normal wear and tear, not routine maintenance. IMO the move in fee is simply gouging. And as Helennn states, it would certainly give tenants pause if they feel a need to move to a different place.
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I can appreciate the need for such fees to a point, but I believe a certain portion of it should be refundable if the resident hasn't damaged the property. Painting the walls and replacing the carpet shouldn't be that big a deal if the resident hasn't had "accidents" or brought in pests as described by surprise's comment. This would also give the resident (and his/her family, if there is one) some incentive to keep the room clean.
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A 'move-in fee' or sometimes called a 'community fee', is very common and can range from $500 to over $10,000. 'Move-in fee' is a terrible name because it can be misconstrued to mean that it has something to do with your actual move. It's more closely related to the community's cost for the move...getting the apartment ready, establishing all of the paperwork and record-keeping for a new resident (prescriptions, care plan, emergency plan...).

Here's a tip...not all, but many communities are 'softest' in this area if you are looking to deal. They will reduce or even waive the fee on a case-by-case basis or across the board as a promotion when they have more than a couple apartments available.
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The cost to build a new Assisted Living or even a Nursing Home comes to multi-millions of dollars depending on size.   Before the building is even built, land has to be bought or rented, zoning has to be approved and those meetings can takes months on end.   Architects designing and re-designing is costly.   Then one has deal with planning/transportation to see what would be the traffic impact.   Those are extra costs that the general public does see.

My office is in the middle of helping investors who want to partner with a company that will build a nursing home, and the birth of the idea was over a year ago.   We are still dealing with the County who have been extremely helpful.   Everything has to tie together, and that in itself is very complex.

Cost of building, the sub-contractors from every aspect, plus cranes to come in to lift the beams, the list goes on and on.   Winter weather can stall a project.   Heavy rains can stall a project.   Worker strikes can stall a project.   It could take a year just to complete a structure before the first paying client comes through the doors.

Once the building is up and running, there is the cost of 3 shifts of nurses... aides.... Med techs.... cleaning crews.... maintenance crew... linen service.... kitchen staff & waitstaff for the dining rooms.... landscape maintenance that not only takes care of the grounds and parking lots but do snow plowing.   Cost of huge electric generators in case the power goes out.

The cost of Admin staff.... front desk service.... "cruise director".... medical insurance for the employees.... cost of phone service... cable service.   Imagine what the real estate property tax would be on that building.   Imagine what the liability insurance would cost.   Heavens, imagine what the electric bill and water bill would be !!

Now one can get an idea why Independent and Assisted Living is expensive.   I found it a lot cheaper than having my Dad remain in his home and have 3 shifts of caregivers from a private licensed Agency.  

The money I saved for a fun-filled retirement is now being earmarked for future continuing care for myself.   The was all an eye opener.
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