Bundle housekeeping and transport into rent, or bill it a la carte at an independent living lite property

Question

Putting together the services side for two independent living lite properties, 140 and 165 units. Scope is light housekeeping every other week, a scheduled van three days a week, and a wellness check-in program. No personal care, nothing that puts anyone near a licensing line, which I've confirmed in writing for both states because that boundary moves state to state.

Owner wants it bundled into rent as a flat services fee, same amount for everybody. Their argument is revenue certainty, easier staffing because I know my volume, and no awkward conversations when a resident who needs the van most is the one refusing to pay for it. Bundling also lets the property advertise one number, which matters against the assisted living comps that quote all-in.

My own model was a la carte with a small base. Residents at the active-adult end are healthy, a lot of them still work, and plenty of them drive. Charging a 62-year-old with a car for a van she'll never use reads as padding, and I think it costs the property leases. It also lets me grow the ticket over time as residents' needs change, which is the whole reason independent living lite exists.

The number that decided nothing for me: on a 150-unit test, bundled at $185 gets me $333,000 a year with roughly 34 percent take-up. A la carte with the same actual usage gets me about $240,000 with much lower staffing risk. So bundling wins on revenue and loses on fairness, and I don't know which one shows up in occupancy.

How are people pricing this?

carlos_nunez · Answer

Bundled, and it isn't close for me. The a la carte version means you're staffing to a number you find out about after the fact. I ran a services line on a property where usage swung 40 percent between March and August and I was paying two people to sit around half the year.

The fairness problem is real but it solves itself in twelve months. Everybody's needs move one direction in this business. The 62-year-old with the car becomes a 66-year-old who'd rather not drive at night, and by then she's already paying for the van and just starts using it. What you can't do is get her to opt in fresh at 66, because opting in feels like admitting something.

hannah_west29 · Answer

Your two numbers aren't comparable and that's most of the confusion. The bundled $333,000 assumes you keep every lease you'd have kept anyway. The a la carte $240,000 assumes usage stays at 34 percent forever. Neither holds.

Run it the other way. What's the fee-bundled rent as a percentage of the local conventional two-bedroom, and does that all-in number still look like a bargain against the assisted living comp? If your clubhouse and services push your quoted rate past a threshold where the shopper stops calling, you lost more than $93,000 on the first six vacancies. If the all-in number is still comfortably under the alternatives, quarry's answer is the right one and the fairness objection is a leasing-script problem. Your pricing is fine.

One middle option you didn't list. Tiered packages, a low base everyone pays that covers the van and the check-in, then housekeeping as an add-on. You keep enough fixed revenue to staff the van route and you stop charging a healthy 62-year-old for a cleaner she doesn't want.

Bundle housekeeping and transport into rent, or bill it a la carte at an independent living lite property

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