New Caring.com Research Reveals Value and Impact of Senior Living Tours

Consumers "Surprised" by Ambiance, Move in More Quickly

San Mateo, CA; April 23, 2015 — Consumers who tour senior living communities are surprised by how nice they are, gain valuable insights that they couldn't find otherwise, and move in three times more quickly than people who don't tour, according to new research from Caring.com.

The Caring.com survey of 1,181 people who took senior living community tours was conducted March 7-26, 2015. Over half of respondents had toured one or more communities during their search for senior care, with one-third visiting four or more senior living communities. Despite seeing flattering pictures and descriptions posted online, 68% of people who toured a senior living community reported being "surprised at how nice it was."

Large majorities of those who toured had a favorable impression of the staff (91%), and 10% specifically mentioned "staff interaction with residents" as an important reason to tour and not just research online. Other important considerations in taking a tour were "getting the feel" of the community, which was also frequently called out in open-ended comments, and many people said they could not picture the size of the rooms based on square-footage descriptions.

"Families who schedule a tour through our senior housing help line move in at 3.5 times the rate of others we speak with, and also 25% faster than those who decline to tour right away," said Caring.com CEO Andy Cohen. "These statistics underscore the value of the tour experience for consumers in selecting the best-fit senior living community for themselves and/or their loved ones."

While most visitors had a positive experience during their tours, noticeable minorities said they had not been contacted prior to a scheduled tour to confirm it (12%), and almost one in five people (18%) reported no contact at all from the community post-tour. A further 26% had been contacted only once post-tour. In addition, 20% of people said the tour was too much of a sales pitch.

Over half of survey respondents took the time to provide open-ended comments, and the single most common category of negative write-in comments was dissatisfaction with the way the community handled pricing discussions (13%). Virtually all who commented wanted more pricing information before they came in.

More information about tours is available for senior housing operators here: http://partners.caring.com/senior-living-tours-research-2015. For those interested in getting listed on Caring.com, please call (866) 824-9209.

With millions of visitors to its flagship website, Caring.com, Caring is a leading senior living referral service and the nation’s top site for senior care reviews. Founded in 2007, Caring’s mission is to help as many seniors and their caregivers as possible through empathetic, expert guidance. Applying cutting-edge technology to this humane mission, Caring provides relevant senior care information and support, as well as comprehensive senior living and senior care directories for the United States, including nearly 400,000 consumer reviews. Through a toll-free referral line at (800) 558-0653, Caring’s trusted, nationwide team of Family Advisors — who are among the most highly trained, highly skilled, and knowledgeable experts in senior care — helps seniors and their families research and connect to the most appropriate services and support for their specific situations. For more information about our organization and our free services for seniors and their families, please visit http://www.caring.com/about and join with Caring on Facebook.