Where is the Assisted Living industry headed?
There are 77 million baby boomers in America alone. That is 4,000 people turning 85 every day, 120,000 every month, and 1.4 million this year alone. And this is happening all over the world. The average person living in assisted living is 82 years old, and they will live there for an average of two to three years, maybe even longer. So when we are talking about 1.4 million baby boomers, not all of them will check into assisted living but a percentage will. The fact is that 70 percent of us are going to need help with our Activities of Daily Living, ADL, for an average of three and a half years. Whether they live at home and have someone come in and help us, or they go to a Residential Assisted Living home, they are going to need that help. So when we are talking about 30 percent of 1.4 million people, not including the ones who are turning 86, 87, 88, and so on. That is potentially hundreds of thousands of people who are going to need help. Currently there are 1.4 million people living in assisted living and there will be that much more need each year coming, which is why you see big box facilities being built. There is a need, but when I needed help with my own mom, I didn’t want to send her to a big complex. She wanted to stay at home. But when you do need to send them someplace, you want it to be a home, which is what Residential Assisted Living is.
What is going to happen in the Future?
More and more people are going to need this help, and you want to be the alternative to the big box complex in their own neighborhood. A lot of people are going to want this option. We only need 10 to 12 who want this option over the big complex of 200 or more beds. We may charge more if we have better amenities, or less if we want the business more than the big facility does. We don’t want to charge too little or too much. However there is a sweet spot that we charge, and this works all over the country.
How do we position ourselves for success?
When these big box companies start building these large facilities, they are going to be looking to acquire market share. Which means that they are going to come to us and want to buy what we have. If you have 1 home to 50 or more homes, you become a target. At this point you have a good choice. Either you keep what you have and make tens of thousands of dollars of net profit each month, or you sell it for a big lump sum and move on to something else, or nothing else. The opportunity is huge and the timing is absolutely right because more people will need what we have.
How do we position ourselves for success?
When the big box companies start building these large facilities in your area, they will be looking to acquire market share. Which means that they are going to come to us and want to buy what we have. If you have 10 homes you are a target. If you have 50 or more homes, you become a bigger target and you are even more valuable to them. At this point you have some great options:
- Keep what you have and continue to make thousands of dollars in net profit each month from each RAL home.
- Sell your RAL businesses for a big lump sum and lease the properties back to the buyers
- Sell the RAL businesses AND the real estate for an even bigger pay day
The opportunity is huge and the timing is absolutely right because more people will need what we have.
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