Start by knowing whether your parent is moving to independent living or assisted living, because they're priced and paid for differently. Either way, Medicare doesn't pay for them, so the months between move-in and closing come from savings and investments, a home equity line of credit, long-term care insurance, a gift from family, or a mix.
Your parent moves first. Then the house gets cleared, prepared, listed, and sold. For those months, your parent pays the community and the house at the same time.
How they go together. Many communities offer both, often with memory care and nursing care, on the same campus. These are continuing care retirement communities. Your parent moves into independent living, and if their needs change, moves to assisted living or another level of care without leaving the community.
An example: Greenspring in Springfield. Greenspring is a continuing care retirement community with independent living, assisted living, memory care, and nursing care on one campus. Independent living residents pay a one-time entrance fee, 90% of which is refundable under its Residence and Care Agreement, plus a monthly service package. As listed on its website in November 2026, a one-bedroom apartment carries an entrance fee between $287,000 and $325,000, with a monthly service package starting at $3,029.
A parent moving to independent living usually isn't on a care timeline. That gives your family room to plan. Your parent can sign the contract with a move-in date months out, and we can time the sale of the house around that date. Planned that way, the closing can land close to the move-in, and the gap gets much smaller.
Ask the community how far ahead it will set a move-in date, and what it takes to hold the apartment until then.
A move to assisted living often follows a fall, a hospital stay, or a change in health. There's less time to plan, so the gap is more likely, and the rest of this post matters more.
Read the contract before you plan the money. Ask each community what's due at move-in, what's refundable, what changes if your parent later needs more care, and whether they offer financing or a deferred payment.
Count every month from move-in to closing. On the community side, include any entrance fee or one-time community fee and the monthly fee. On the house side, include the mortgage if there is one, taxes, insurance, utilities, and upkeep.
| Assisted living monthly fee, 4 months at $12,000 | $48,000 |
| One-time community fee | $8,000 |
| House costs, 4 months at $1,500 | $6,000 |
| Cash needed before closing | $62,000 |
All figures are estimates for illustration only, based on my experience with Northern Virginia assisted living communities that have no entrance fee. For an entrance-fee community, add the entrance fee. Get the actual fees from the community, and your actual house costs from your parent's statements.
Cash in checking, savings, and money market accounts is the simplest source. It has no tax cost and no timing issue. Start by finding out how much is there and who can sign on each account.
For investments, which account you draw from changes the tax bill.
Ask your parent's financial adviser or tax preparer which accounts to draw from, and in what order.
A HELOC lets your parent borrow against the house and repay it from the sale at closing. It can cover an entrance fee or the monthly costs. Most lenders won't open a HELOC on a house that's listed for sale, so it has to be in place before the house goes on the market. Open it while your parent still lives there, and make sure your parent, or the agent under their power of attorney, can sign for it.
Long-term care insurance pays for care, so it applies to assisted living, not independent living. If your parent has a policy, find it and read it now.
Call the insurer before the move to start the claim, so the waiting period is running while the house is being prepared.
In 2026, each person can give up to $19,000 to any one person without filing a gift tax return. Each giver counts separately, so two siblings giving $19,000 each can give $38,000 between them.
A larger gift means the giver files a gift tax return, but tax is owed only after lifetime gifts pass the exemption, which is $15 million per person in 2026. For most families, a larger gift means paperwork, not tax.
Gift limits are 2026 figures. This is general information, not tax, insurance, or lending advice. Confirm with your tax adviser, insurer, and lender.
Every month the house sits costs your parent money. Most of the time is spent clearing and preparing the house, so line that work up before the move.
Sources: Greenspring, Pricing and Senior Living Costs; Fairfax County Department of Family Services, Limitations of Assisted Living; Virginia Administrative Code, 22VAC40-73-10 (assisted living definitions); Administration for Community Living, Receiving Long-Term Care Insurance Benefits. Community fees change over time. Confirm current pricing and contract terms with the community.
For more on the whole process, see how I approach helping a parent move and sell.