Brenda Rose, 63, has found her forever home.

The retired nurse shares half of a comfortable 1950s home in a sought-after neighborhood of Portland, OR. It’s walkable to a grocery store, public transit, tree-lined parks, and the hip restaurants and cozy coffee shops that Stumptown is known for. Rose and her 72-year-old roommate, Gayle, garden together. They eat dinner together. Even their dogs—Rose’s small “foofy” dog and her roommate’s 80-pound pit bull—get along.

This idyllic lifestyle, which has undeniable “Golden Girls” DNA, costs Rose only $900 a month. How is that possible, when the average monthly rent for a Portland apartment is two or three times higher?

Rose found her home (and roommate) through a national house-sharing platform called Silvernest.com.

“I don’t know where I would be without [it],” says Rose, who struggles with long COVID-19 and lives on a fixed monthly income of $1,500. “Honestly, I would probably be back in Pennsylvania living in my mom’s basement.”

How to make aging affordable

As Americans age, many might worry they don’t have enough money saved to retire comfortably. The median amount for people aged 65 to 74 comes in at $200,000 stashed in accounts ranging from an IRA to a 401(k).

This can make aging in place, or finding an affordable smaller place to call home, humbling at best, panic-inducing at worst.

But the solution might, quite literally, be next door.

According to an analysis of U.S. Census data, 33.6 million bedrooms across the nation are sitting empty. Silvernest taps directly into that opportunity.

On the site, homeowners list their available space and home seekers indicate the monthly rent they’re willing to pay for it. Like online dating sites, an algorithm suggests matches between the two.

“We’re on the verge of people rethinking the way that they live, especially as we age and we’re living longer than we ever had anticipated,” says Amy Ford, Silvernest’s vice president of strategic partnerships and business development.

And in the wake of the waning COVID-19 pandemic, when many were forced to physically isolate, “the pendulum is swinging back toward shared spaces, shared community, and shared housing,” says Ford. “There’s a lot in this world that’s so much better when we can rely on others.”

A win-win situation

Started in 2015, Silvernest operates nationwide, although most housing options tend to cluster around city centers where the rental market is noticeably pinched. Like other home-sharing sites, such as SpareRoom.com, the basic service is free. (Silvernest’s paid premium plan includes background checks and access to a legal home-sharing contract.)

Like its name hints, Silvernest’s focus is on mature users, but anyone over 18 can use the site.

“We’ve had users as young as 19 and over 100,” says Ford.

On average, Silvernest users tend to be women in their 50s and 60s like Rose. During the pandemic, she said goodbye to both a photography business and a 15-year relationship. As a result, her finances were tight and she ended up living in her sister’s RV for 15 months.

“After spending 50-something years of my life being a professional working person, I couldn’t believe that would happen to me,” says Rose. The experience gave her a new perspective on the housing crisis.

“The people who need housing … are regular people who need a little bit of help,” she says.

Home sharing has allowed Rose to stay in Portland, which she calls her “happy place.” And it enables Gayle, a massage therapist, to meet her $2,500 mortgage payment.

“It’s a win-win,” says Rose.

Sharing more than space

Homeowners might initially rent out a room because they need more income. (Silvernest estimates their renters earn around $10,000 a year doing so.) But many often discover that sharing their space comes with other surprising perks.

“They may find out, ‘Wow, it’s a lot nicer when someone wonders when I’m going to come home,’ or ‘If I have to travel, I don’t have to board my dog,’” says Ford. “All the practical components of having someone else around.”

Jocelyn is one of those people. After her husband of 47 years died, she wasn’t hurting financially. Still, friends urged her to think about finding a roommate to share her spacious two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in a desirable section of Los Angeles.

“I was truly reluctant,” says Jocelyn, who had never had a roommate, even when she attended boarding school and college.

Soon after listing her apartment on Silvernest last spring, Jocelyn met a potential match, a woman in her mid-50s who works for a nonprofit. Over coffee, they confirmed that they shared key interests like traveling and reading, and the same political leanings. After several more meetings, Jocelyn invited the woman to sign a lease and move into her unused furnished bedroom.

The arrangement saves Jocelyn thousands of dollars each month, but more importantly, it has earned her a friend. Together, they celebrate holidays, attend the opera, and catch up over coffee on Saturday mornings.

Now, Jocelyn really can’t imagine a life without her roommate, saying, “It’s lovely to share things.”

Other comforts of home

Silvernest research shows that 44% of older homeowners would consider home sharing, and 26% are more likely to consider it now than they would have five years ago. That’s good timing, as the number of older households who spend more than half of their income on housing expenses is expected to rise 42% over the next decade.

“People need to look at other ways to house and to have relationships, and I feel like that’s what we’re doing,” says Rose.

Before Rose moved in with Gayle and was still living alone, she passed out one night and hit her head.

“I don’t ever want to have that experience again,” she says. “It’s so comforting for me to be aging in a home that’s comfortable, and know there’s somebody else here who could call my family if I have a problem or take me to the hospital.”

The “Golden Girls” references she inevitably hears about her living situation are accurate, says Rose, who thinks many people her age and otherwise could benefit from embracing the idea.

“Mature women living together, mutually supporting each other into old age is a wonderful thing,” she says.

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