The passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) on July 4, 20205, was pitched to agents and consumers with many “boosts” for residential real estate, but it also creates additional burdens for seniors who depend on their home equity and programs through Medicare and Medicaid to survive.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL SURVEY FOR JULY
Savvy agents know that to bake a successful transaction, ingredients like income, equity, taxes and insurance costs can cause the entire deal to rise or fall depending on how much or how little you add.
Let’s break down the buying and selling power of older adults, how equity is their greatest asset, and that, without the full support of programs offered to seniors by Medicaid and Medicare, the silver tsunami of real estate inventory may shift into a problematic ripple that will be felt for generations to come.
Breaking down the OBBB
While the OBBB contains wins for real estate — like enhancements to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) — the bill also delivers steep cuts to Medicaid and introduces work and reporting requirements.
This means that, although the tax credits and Opportunity Zones mentioned in the OBBB are designed to benefit residential households, the extreme cuts to programs like SNAP and Medicare put already vulnerable low-income homeowners and renters at risk of further financial hardship.
“If I lost my Social Security, I’d lose my home, but I’d find shelter. If I lost [food assistance], there are food pantries. But insurance,” she says. “I can’t get my life back.” Lelia Gibson-Green, Senior for AARP
With Medicaid funding slashed by over $1 trillion in the OBBB, and nearly 600 Medicaid-funded nursing homes projected to shut down, according to Brown University researcher Vincent Mor, the crisis deepens.
Silver consumers, golden equity and real estate in 2025
Real estate industry experts have long touted the silver tsunami as a key component of solving affordability and inventory issues. Seniors and their homes are also unique in that, when it comes to real estate, they have a distinct profile as consumers and in their relationships with Realtors in the 2025 real estate market, according to NAR’s Home Buyers and Generational Trends report. In other words, they are dominating the playing field.
If the majority of seniors will need their home equity to survive retirement and future medical issues, that inventory may never arrive in an effective way, and retirement communities in areas that have been impacted by harsh climate change may have assets that can never be recovered because seniors often do not pay for property or flood insurance because of soaring costs.
The senior income silver negatives
Unfortunately, the other side of the coin for less wealthy silver seniors takes a negative turn in the big picture of he real estate market.
- 43 percent of 55- to 64-year-olds had no retirement savings at all in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Board
- Rising costs of long-term care services outpace home equity gains and retirement savings.
- Many seniors on limited incomes cannot afford to maintain their homes, allowing their assets to depreciate due to neglect.
What can agents do?
If these trends continue, multigenerational housing may transition from a niche to a necessity. Real estate agents who recognize this shift have an opportunity to lead the communities and the industry forward.
Think outside the box
Help homeowners to modify their homes or add accessible dwelling units (ADUs) to their current property as one pathway to create transaction solutions. When searching for the “perfect” home, ask if an imperfect home in an ideal location could be transformed into what your client needs.
Find the money
A great program to help real estate agents and wannabe homeowners bridge that gap is the 203(k) renovation loan. This is a great opportunity for multigenerational households that are willing to take the equity out of grandma’s house and invest it into revamping another home that could accommodate the whole family, complete with a space optimized for aging in place at home.
Seek out opportunities to volunteer and work on affordable housing projects. This tiny house project in Baltimore is not only creative, but it also helps create homeowners; in this economy, that is no small feat. Many of the homeowners are seniors who have the opportunity to be homeowners for the first time.
Multigenerational living and the path forward
Where will the seniors go? They’ll likely move in with their adult children and their grandchildren. The housing market does not operate in a perfect snow globe — it reflects the health, wealth and stability of the people and the communities it serves. People, even those who cannot work, deserve a safe and healthy environment in which to live and thrive.
Don’t put your head in the sand about the future. The silver tsunami is coming, but it’s likely to be a health care crisis, not a wealth transfer in real estate for the average American. That accumulated wealth is going to get consumed by health care costs and taxes and absorbed by the increasing cost of living, which is outpacing the income of the Average Joe.
Rachael Hite is a senior housing counselor, writer, and thought leader in real estate and aging. Follow her work on Instagram and LinkedIn.
