Question on assisted living costs/fees
maifleur01
8 years ago
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sushipup1
8 years agomaifleur01
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Holistic Assisted Living with Gardens Galore
Comments (3)Agesong is a for-profit org. Not that they are necessarily bad, but we preferred St. Paul's (Lutheran) CCRCs after checking out a few (still have lots to go on the 'list', though). Agesong's buy-in is much cheaper than St. Paul's, because of the way they differ in handling asst. living and nursing home care. The monthly rents are comparable for both. Expect to pay (in Northern CA, which is high-cost) about $2K/month for a decent-sized 1 bdrm/1 ba independent living apartment. This means you could manage with a cane, a walker is possible but a lot more awkward. St. Paul's Lake Merritt hi-rise CCRC is our gold standard for comparison to all the others so far. We only hope we can afford them when it comes time to sell the house, LOL. There are many types of facilities in every urban area; you just have to keep looking and asking questions. Many moderate-sized standard apartment buildings of recent vintage have elevators and are thus satisfactory for seniors who are still able to live independently. Gardens are great - I have a large one myself. But I wouldn't expect that I could take care of an elderly senior needing assisted living, and still do all the garden work myself. My 82-yr old MIL lives with us, so this is something DH and I have discussed thoroughly. I took care of my father when I was in high school, who was disabled from Parkinson's disease although he was still mostly functional at that point. But he'd have bad days every once in a while, and it wasn't easy to pick him up off the floor. Never underestimate how difficult it is to care for a disabled person, and how very time-consuming and exhausting it is....See MoreCost Plus Fixed Fee contract
Comments (25)All construction contracts must have a termination clause otherwise when one party whats to terminate the contract (and it might be you) no one will know how to resolve the outstanding issues without going to court which will benefit no one. Don't let the contractor make up a one sided contract; get a professionally prepared contract and use it or copy the relevant portions of it. Here is the termination section of an AIA 107 Cost of the Work contract: "ARTICLE 19 TERMINATION OF THE CONTRACT 19.1 TERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTOR If the Owner fails to make payment to the Contractor for a period of 30 days, the Contractor may, upon seven additional days' written notice to the Owner, terminate the Contract and recover from the Owner payment for Work executed and for proven loss with respect to materials, equipment, tools, and construction equipment and machinery, including reasonable overhead, profit and damages applicable to the Project. 19.2 TERMINATION BY THE OWNER 19.2.1 The Owner may terminate the Contract if the Contractor: .1 persistently or repeatedly refuses or fails to supply enough properly skilled workers or proper materials; .2 fails to make payment to Subcontractors for materials or labor in accordance with the respective agreements between the Contractor and the Subcontractors; .3 persistently disregards laws, ordinances, or rules, regulations or orders of a public authority having jurisdiction; or .4 otherwise is guilty of substantial breach of a provision of the Contract Documents. 19.2.2 When any of the above reasons exists, the Owner may, without prejudice to any other remedy the Owner may have and after giving the Contractor seven days’ written notice, terminate the Contract and take possession of the site and of all materials, equipment, tools, and construction equipment and machinery thereon owned by the Contractor and may finish the Work by whatever reasonable method the Owner may deem expedient. Upon request of the Contractor, the Owner shall furnish to the Contractor a detailed accounting of the costs incurred by the Owner in finishing the Work. 19.2.3 When the Owner terminates the Contract for one of the reasons stated in Subparagraph 19.2.1, the Contractor shall not be entitled to receive further payment until the Work is finished. 19.2.4 If the unpaid balance of the Contract Sum exceeds costs of finishing the Work, including compensation for the Architect's services and expenses made necessary thereby, and other damages incurred by the Owner and not expressly waived, such excess shall be paid to the Contractor. If such costs and damages exceed the unpaid balance, the Contractor shall pay the difference to the Owner. The amount to be paid to the Contractor or Owner, as the case may be, shall survive termination of the Contract." --------- In a Cost of the Work contract, the contractor's proposed cause about cost increases makes no sense and makes me wonder if the contractor understands how a Cost of the Work contract works. Perhaps the contractor means that when costs are greater than the "Budget Estimate" the owner pays the up charge but that is the definition of a cost of the Work contract. Or there might be a Guaranteed Maximum Price that he hasn't told us about. If both parties do not know how to structure a contract (and this appears to be the case) I suggest hiring a design professional or lawyer to advise you in order to avoid unnecessary costly disputes later. This post was edited by Renovator8 on Wed, May 28, 14 at 9:18...See MoreHow do you decide on an assisted living facility?
Comments (33)Today is a new, and better day. She was in such rotten shape yesterday and is much improved today. It's soooooo hard not to be there and to leave everything to sister. Sister cares much, but doesn't have a ton of patience. I talked to Mom this morning and slowly approached the subject of where to live. She really wants to go to a care home down the street from my sister and I'm not sure how to check it out, other than a visit. (Yes, a surprise visit is a good idea.) It's a crime that these places aren't rated and I don't know whether inspections are open to the public, and how hard they are to find. Chisue, I've thought of you and your husband a lot lately. Mom was put on Wellbutrin to counteract depression the narcotics bring, and that was a pain getting there. The "fabulous" neurologist" put her on another one at first that caused severe nausea as well as.....worse rsl. Way to go, big doctor--It took me 5 minutes of surfing to find out that drug increases symptoms. The neurologist has been of little help as well. I asked ds to ask her regular physician about Abilify, but he was against it, even though I told her what you had told me--I'm afraid I've forgotten the reason. At this point, I don't think we can mess with the meds too much as we try to get her more stable. Azzalea and Jim, thanks for the suggestions. You're right, I think she will be ok in assisted living. Sister really has been such a trooper and had to deal with a whole lotta unpleasantness yesterday. I have to not let her make a snap decision, which is a little tough because she's the one who is doing all the work. We all love our mom dearly and want what's best for her, for sure. Susan, prune juice is always a good idea but didn't do the trick this time. I'll keep you posted, if anyone is interested. THANK YOU again, for all your help and suggestions....See MoreChoosing a Designer: Fee Upfront or No Fee?
Comments (47)You've been watching too much HGTV. Your expectations aren't realistic. No one does free work. If you do, then let us know where you work and you'll do a lot more of that. You doing some of the work, or hiring some of the trades, leaves you as the responsible party for coordinating everything. YOU are acting as the GC on the job. You may not realize that it will be up to you to catch all of the ''gotcha'', but that's what role you've taken on by trying to piece the job out. Demo is the worst thing to even think about DIYing unless you are extremely experienced. It ain't sledgehammer fun like TV shows. I guarantee you will end up with leaking shut off valves, because no one ever maintains them. If you don't know how to deal with a mini flood in the kitchen, you are beyond over your head in this project. You need to stop. You're wasting a bunch of people's time. Start wasting your own time. If you're gonna be the GC on the job and can't do a measured layout to twiddle around with, then you aren't ready to do a kitchen project. If you don't understand the (massive) electrical requirements that a new kitchen has, then you are not ready to move forward. If you do not understand how and when to design a properly supported overhang in stone, you are not ready to move forward. If you do not understand the proper support and substrate, and layout pattern of tile, and how to not tile in your appliances, then you are not ready to move forward. If you don't understand the chicken and egg conundrum of timing for a construction project, then you are not ready to move forward. Or, double your budget and hire a KD who works directly with a contractor. Or a design build firm. But, if you can't even develop enough trust with a good KD, then you need to go back to the drawing board for the entire project. It's doomed. You either have to man up and do ALL OF THE WORK, including design, or let go and trust....See Morejakkom
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agomaifleur01
8 years agomaifleur01
8 years agokathleen44
8 years ago
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