The Stairs Test: Will This Home Still Work for You in 20 Years?
A buyer who is older than 60 should consider this test before making a big purchase.
I recently met an older client who loved a three-story townhouse she was considering buying. It was beautiful, and it didn’t have an elevator.
At our first meeting, I said, “You just had a knee surgery. You might have an issue with the steps.” I wasn’t trying to dissuade her from buying the house. I just wanted her to be aware of what she was buying, and whether it would work for her 20 years down the road. That conversation became the stairs test.
The stairs test is a simple way to evaluate how well a home will serve you in 20 years. It’s not about whether the home has an elevator or staircase; it’s about whether it can safely accommodate your needs at any age.
Why Almost No House Passes the Test
Most of us want to stay put as long as possible. According to the AARP’s 2024 Home and Community Preferences Survey, 75 percent of adults over age 50 said they would like to remain in their current home for as long as possible.
But most homes were not designed with older people in mind.
According to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, fewer than 4 percent of homes have all three basic features that make them accessible to older people: no steps at the front entrance; a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor; halls and doorways wide enough to accommodate someone using a walker or wheelchair.
But even small problems can become serious. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one in four adults age 65 and over falls each year. Falls account for about three million emergency room visits by older people annually.
So, while you may not want to move just because you’re getting older, you might want to know how well your home can accommodate your needs at any age.
How the Stairs Test Scorecard Works
The scorecard has 20 questions. Answer each one as you walk through the house. Don’t fill it out later from the listing photos, because they won’t show the height of a threshold or the width of a doorway.
For each question, choose Yes, Fixable, or No.
Yes: The house works.
Fixable: The problem can be changed, though it might cost money and take some time. (The typical prices are in the table below.)
No: The feature doesn’t work, and there is no realistic way to fix it.
You can fill out a scorecard for up to three homes and compare them. I’d also fill one out for my own home so I could see what kind of changes I might want to make over time.
Try it
The stairs test
Twenty questions. Score the homes you tour, or the one you live in now.
Getting in 4 questions
- You can get in without climbing steps, through at least one doorThe biggest one on the list. A ramp or a level landing fixes it for most houses.
- The entry is covered, well lit, and has a spot to set down the groceries
- Lever handles instead of round knobs on the doors you use every day
- Parking or a garage close to the door, with no long walk or outdoor stairs
Getting around 5 questions
- A bedroom, a full bath, the kitchen and the laundry are all on one floorIf the only full bath is upstairs, that’s a No today.
- In a building: there’s an elevator, and someone can tell you what happens to it when the power goes out
- Doorways at least 32 inches wide and hallways at least 36
- Level floors: no raised thresholds, no sunken living room, no slick tile at the door
- If there are stairs, there’s a solid rail on both sides, good light top and bottom, and room for a chair lift someday
The bathroom 4 questions
- A walk-in shower you don’t have to step over a tub wall to reach
- Grab bars, or solid walls where they could go
- A taller, comfort-height toilet, or room to swap one in
- A handheld showerhead and a place to sit in the shower
The kitchen 3 questions
- You can reach the everyday dishes without a step stool
- A lever faucet, and a fridge with the things you use most at waist height
- Bright light over the counters and the stove, and daylight in the room
Around you 3 questions
- A hospital or urgent care within about fifteen minutes
- A grocery store and a pharmacy within ten minutes, or a walk you’d actually take
- Family, friends, or a community you can get to without a highway
The paperwork 1 question
- You’ve read the association rules, the budget and any inspection reports, and nothing in them scares youFor a condo: reserves, pending assessments, and how long the grandkids can stay.
A planning tool, not a safety inspection. A certified aging-in-place specialist or an occupational therapist can assess a specific home.
How Much Might the Fixes Cost?
A “Fixable” answer only makes sense if you know how much it will cost. The following are broad national estimates from 2026 contractor cost guides.
Labor, permits, materials, and other costs may vary depending on your home’s construction, size, and location (for example, South Florida). Get quotes before you buy or begin work.
| The fix | What it usually costs |
|---|---|
| Lever door handles | Under $50 a door |
| Grab bars | $100 to $350 each |
| Comfort-height toilet | A few hundred dollars, plus the plumber |
| Widen a doorway | $500 to $1,500 each |
| Entry ramp | $1,500 to $8,000 |
| Stair lift, straight staircase | $3,000 to $6,000 |
| Stair lift, curved staircase | $8,000 to $15,000 |
| Walk-in shower conversion | $6,000 to $12,000 |
| Whole-house retrofit | $18,000 to $75,000 |
Price doesn’t tell you everything about a house. A $700,000 house that needs to install a $10,000 walk-in shower becomes a twenty-year home for about $710,000. The shower is a known project, and one you can plan for.
A $700,000 townhouse with its only full bathroom on the second floor could be a ten-year home if it can’t be remodeled to move the full bathroom to the first floor and the stairs are too steep to install a stair lift. I’d rather see a buyer spend a little more money on a house that can adapt than save money on one with problems that won’t go away.
If You’re Staying in Your Home
If you’ve decided to stay, start by looking at your bathroom. When remodeling, replace the tub with a walk-in shower and add grab bars that are anchored into the studs, not just the drywall. Check the lighting near the fixtures, as well as the area between them and wet floor.
Next, examine the front entrance. You need a safe route inside, whether it’s a level entry or a ramp that isn’t too steep. Consider whether you could use the entrance with a cane or walker.
Check the threshold, exterior lighting, and path from your parking space to the house.
Now look at the stairs. Handrails on both sides can help now. Good lighting makes them safer. Find out whether the staircase could take a stair lift, which is a motorized chair that travels along a rail attached to the steps. If you have a bedroom and full bathroom upstairs, determine whether they could go to the first floor.
You don’t need to make all of these changes at once; you just want to know what’s possible before you need it.
The Florida Questions You Need to Ask
In South Florida, there are a few questions in the stairs test that buyers elsewhere may not have to ask:
If you’re considering buying a condo with an elevator, find out what happens if the power goes out after a storm. Don’t accept “the building has a generator” as the whole answer. Ask what it powers, how many elevators it serves, and how long it can run. And ask whether residents can use the elevator during that time. If you depend on an elevator to get outside your home, this will determine how usable the condo is.
If you’re considering buying an older condo, ask for the milestone inspection records. A milestone inspection is a structural review performed by a licensed architect or engineer to identify serious deterioration in a building’s structure and systems. Under current Florida law, covered condominiums and cooperatives that are three habitable stories or taller generally must have their first inspection at 30 years and every 10 years after that.
A local enforcement agency may require the first inspection at 25 years because of local conditions, including exposure to salt water. Read those reports to see what repairs were recommended and how the building plans to pay for them.
If you live near a beach, check the flood zone and get an estimate on flood insurance. A flood zone is an area shown on federal maps according to its flood risk. Standard homeowners insurance usually doesn’t cover flood damage, and lenders may require separate flood insurance in high-risk zones. And if it isn’t required, that doesn’t mean the risk is zero.
After more than 40 years of working in Florida real estate, I’ve learned that the home that passes this test with the least work is often very straightforward: a one-story concrete-block house with a level entry and impact-resistant windows and a walk-in shower. Concrete-block construction means masonry walls instead of a wood frame, and impact-resistant windows are designed to withstand windborne debris during a storm.
It may not be the home that makes the biggest first impression, but it gives you fewer reasons to leave later.
Bring Up the Steps Early
If there’s something in your house or potential house that could become a problem for you at any age, bring it up early. Don’t wait until after you’ve made an offer on a house or convinced yourself that you’ll deal with it someday.
Score the house while you’re touring it and score the one you live in now. Then compare them honestly.
You aren’t trying to predict exactly how you’ll feel at age 75 or 85; you’re deciding whether the home gives you reasonable choices if your needs change over time. Some problems are affordable fixes, and some are built into a house.
If you’re looking for a home in South Florida and want help finding one that works today and still makes sense for the years ahead, I’d be happy to help. Get in touch, and we can start with the stairs.
