Moving a parent, a spouse, or yourself later in life isn't like a typical home sale. It's slower, it's more emotional, and it usually comes with questions nobody in real estate normally has to answer — questions about Medicaid, about what to do with forty years of belongings, about whether staying put is even the right call. Most agents have never had to sit with any of that. We have.
Before real estate, Winner Realty's owner, Rob Bergeron, spent the start of his career at Holiday Retirement, a national senior-living operator, leading sales and marketing. That meant helping hundreds of families work through exactly this decision — whether a parent could stay in their home, what a move to senior living actually involved, and how to make it feel like the right choice instead of a loss. It's also what pulled him into real estate in the first place. That background is still how we approach this work today.
How we help
Aging in place vs. moving — an honest read on the options. Sometimes a few modifications (grab bars, a main-floor bedroom, a ramp) buy years of independence at home. Sometimes they don't, and a move is the better call for safety or quality of life. We'll walk the home and the situation with you and give you a straight answer, not a sales pitch either direction.
Downsizing and the move to assisted or independent living. From pricing and prepping the family home to timing the sale around a move-in date, we coordinate the real estate side so a family can focus on the person, not the logistics.
Clearing out and preparing the house. Decades of belongings is one of the heaviest parts of this process — physically and emotionally. We can help coordinate a professional cleanout or junk removal crew, recommend estate sale or donation options, and take as much of that weight off the family as we can alongside the sale itself.
Understanding Medicaid, Medicare, and your home — see below. This is the part most families get wrong, usually because of a myth, not because they did anything wrong.
Medicaid, Medicare, and your home — get the actual rules, not the rumor
A lot of families believe you have to sell the house to qualify for Medicaid long-term care coverage. That's usually not true, and getting it wrong can actually cost a family money. Here's the honest, general picture:
Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care — the kind of ongoing help with daily living that assisted living or a nursing home provides. It covers limited skilled nursing after a hospital stay, but that's a different thing, and it's a common point of confusion.
Medicaid can help pay for long-term care, but it has strict asset limits.
The home is usually exempt from that asset limit — it generally doesn't count against you — as long as a spouse, a minor child, or a permanently disabled child lives there, or the applicant states an intent to return home. There are equity-value caps on this exemption (they run roughly $752,000 to $1,130,000 depending on the state and year), but for most Louisville homeowners, the house itself is not the problem.
If the home is sold, the proceeds become a countable asset. That can actually disqualify someone from Medicaid if the money isn't handled correctly — most states cap countable assets around $2,000. Selling can create a problem that not selling wouldn't have.
Timing and price matter, too. A sale below fair market value, or gifting money to family, can trigger a Medicaid penalty period under the program's five-year lookback rule.
We're real estate professionals, not elder law attorneys, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. If a Medicaid decision is part of what your family is navigating, the right move is a qualified elder law attorney or certified Medicaid planner — they can tell you what actually applies to your specific situation, which we're not licensed to do. What we can do is handle the real estate side well, on whatever timeline that planning requires, and coordinate directly with whoever you're working with.
Local resources worth knowing about
Louisville Metro Office for Aging & Disabled Citizens — the city's own advocacy and resource office for older adults, including a Senior Nutrition Program and Meals on Wheels.
Kentucky's Area Agencies on Aging and Independent Living (Cabinet for Health and Family Services) — the state's regional network for aging and independent-living services.
NASMM-certified senior move managers — professionals who specialize in the physical and logistical side of a senior move. Louisville has certified options, including Kristen Lacy, a NASMM-certified Professional Senior Move Manager based here.
We don't have a formal partnership with any of these yet — we're naming them because they're real, useful, and worth knowing about, the same way we do on our accessibility resources page.
FAQ
Do I have to sell my parent's home to qualify for Medicaid?
Usually not. In most cases, the home is exempt from Medicaid's asset limit as long as a spouse or dependent lives there, or the applicant intends to return. Selling can sometimes create a bigger problem than it solves if the proceeds aren't handled correctly. Talk to an elder law attorney before assuming a sale is necessary.
Can you help us decide between aging in place and moving to assisted living?
Yes — we'll give you a straight, honest read on the home and the situation. Sometimes staying put with a few modifications is genuinely the better option, and we'll tell you that even if it means we don't get a listing out of it.
Can Winner Realty help clean out and prepare a family home?
Yes. We can coordinate a professional cleanout or junk removal crew, connect you with estate sale or donation options, and handle as much of the logistics as we can alongside the sale.
Does Winner Realty give Medicaid or legal advice?
No. We handle the real estate side. For anything involving Medicaid eligibility, asset protection, or elder law, we'll point you to a qualified elder law attorney or certified Medicaid planner, and we're glad to coordinate directly with them.
What if my parent isn't ready to decide yet?
That's normal, and there's no clock we're putting on it. We're glad to just talk through the options, walk the house, and answer questions with no pressure to list anything until your family is actually ready.
Does Rob Bergeron actually have experience with this, or is this just marketing?
It's real. Before founding Winner Realty, Rob spent the start of his career at Holiday Retirement, a national senior-living company, leading sales and marketing — work that involved helping families through this exact decision hundreds of times over. It's the reason he got into real estate at all.