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Virginia Offer tax Credit for Livable Homes

The State of Virginia puts a value on houses that have liveable features. A Tax credit of up to $5000 is offered to either the builder or the home owner for work done to a home that makes it more Liveable. This can be applicable to either renovates or new construction. More details about the program can be found at:

www.dhcd.virginia.gov/LHTC

Virginia joins 17 other States that are have created incentive towards the growing Aging In Place movement. As some jurisdictions go, so go the neighbors. Civic association in Montgomery County Maryland are currently requesting that the county follow in the path of it's neighbor to the south.

For accesibility equipment, this can apply to home elevators and wheelchair lifts as well as their shaft contruction. The tax credit will likely not apply to equipment that could be removed like a stairlift and some outdoor porch lifts. You should probably check with the county program to make sure your Liveability project can take advantage of the tax incentives.

Aging In Place Links

Having an elevator is a home is often about making the whole house easier to live in. More people want elevators in their houses as part of the bigger picture. Many jurisdications like Maryland and Washington DC, have introduced legislation that would assure that people who build ten or more houses design a percentage of the houses with features that meet Aging In Place standards. AARP has made public huge documents about how to make a home more accesible. Clearly there is energy from all directions that come just shy of mandating that houses improve to meet the needs of an aging populations.

This blog entry will get updated with useful links that often go hand in hand with home elevators and Aging in Place.

Concrete Change

AGING In Place 2.0

Design For Life Montgomery

Renting Stairlifts

It is now possible to rent stairlifts. This method of acquisition helps with short terms needs. Renting a lift can lower the impact of expense by having less money out of pocket.

A decent rental agreement should include delivery and installation. The agreement should state how many months are covered in the initial payment and mention how much a month the payment is thereafter. The agreement needs to specify if removal is included or of that is an extra fee. The agreement may or may not have a buy out plan if you have rented long enough to basically own the product.

Many rental houses can not guarantee what make and model of the rented unit. It may depend on availability. You should have a reasonable assurance that the unit is sightly and operates well for at least 90 days.

The agreement should have in detail how service is handled on a rental unit, after the intitial rental period expires or is renewed.

Because stairlifts are relatively low cost items, it can often be a grey area on whether it makes more economic sense between renting and buying. Using round numbers, say a unit new and installed is $3500. The rental for such unit might be anywhere from $800-$1500 based on what is included and brand. A monthly note is probably a few hundred dollars. it does not take long before the unit is paid for. Buying a new unit has all the style and warranty perks. Most installers will always buy back what they installed. Buy backs may only apply to straight units.

There is usually a premium added to cost when you use a "Option To Buy" mechanism. Sale price will always be higher than buying one out straight out. Some people genuinely do not know if they want a unit for longer than several months. For these people, such a premium is actually worth it.

Bottom line is that renting a stairlift is a viable and popular option for many people that want to avoid stairs.