Senior Living Investment Calculator

Senior living investment calculator measures cap rate for assisted living and senior housing facilities. 15M facility, 100 units, 4,000/month per resident, 88% occupancy, 65% opex = 5.28M effective gross, 1.85M NOI, 12.3% cap rate. Higher cap rates than residential (operating-intensive sector with regulatory complexity).

Example: 15,000,000 senior living facility, 100 units, 4,000 monthly rent per resident. Gross potential = 4,800,000. 88% occupancy = 4,224,000 effective. 65% opex (high due to staff, food, medical) = 2,745,600. NOI = 1,478,400. Cap rate = 9.86%. Strong return reflects operating intensity and demographic tailwinds.

Senior living dynamics: (1) Demographic tailwinds - 80+ population growing rapidly globally. (2) Operating intensity - staff costs 50%+ of revenue. (3) Regulatory burden (CQC inspections, state regulations). (4) High capex needs (specialised facilities, medical equipment, accessibility). (5) Subtypes: independent living (lighter operations), assisted living (medium), memory care (intensive), skilled nursing (heavy regulation). Best access for retail: REITs (Welltower WELL, Ventas VTR, Healthpeak PEAK) - same exposure with professional management.

A worked example

Try the defaults: facility price of 15,000,000, total units of 100, monthly rent per resident of 4,000, occupancy of 88%. The tool returns 9.86%. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Facility Price, Total Units, Monthly Rent per Resident, Occupancy %, and Operating Expense Ratio %. The rate and the time horizon usually dominate — compounding means a small change in either reshapes the final figure more than a similar shift in contribution size. Test this by doubling one input at a time.

The formula behind this

Effective gross = units × rent × occupancy × 12. NOI = effective gross × (1-opex). Cap rate = NOI / price. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

Where this fits in planning

This is a "what-if" tool, not a forecast. Use it to test ideas before committing: what happens if the rate is 2% lower than hoped, what happens if you add five more years. The value is in the scenarios you run, not the single answer you get from the defaults.

What this doesn't capture

Steady-rate math ignores real-world volatility. Actual returns are lumpy; sequence-of-returns risk matters most in drawdown; fees and taxes drag on compound growth; and behaviour changes in drawdowns can reduce outcomes below the projection. The number represents one scenario rather than a forecast.