Roommates for Seniors: 7 Home Sharing Options Compared

Maybe it's a three-bedroom house that went quiet after the kids moved out, while the property tax bill stayed loud. Maybe it's a rent increase on a fixed income. Either way, roommates for seniors are becoming normal: in a July 2026 AARP/NORC poll, 53% of adults 50 and older said they support renting out part of a home to someone outside the family (AARP, as of July 2026).

The hard part is knowing where to look. Silvernest, a senior home sharing site people still search for every month, no longer exists under that name. And the nonprofit programs that match people most carefully are local and easy to miss. Below are seven options side by side, then the money rules (taxes, Social Security, SSI, insurance) that most roommate guides skip.

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Senior home sharing means an older adult rents a private bedroom in their home to a housemate, or rents a room in someone else's home, and the two share the kitchen and living space. The housemate pays rent, helps around the house in exchange for lower rent, or some mix of both. It is a roommate arrangement, not caregiving: the National Shared Housing Resource Center says housemates are not expected to provide personal care.

Matches usually take one of three shapes:

Two older adults sharing. Two people in their 60s or 70s split one home's costs. Some programs require at least one person in every match to be 60 or older.
Intergenerational. An older homeowner hosts a grad student, nurse, or young worker who wants a quiet room at a fair price.
Help for rent. The housemate pays less in exchange for agreed tasks like groceries, yard work, or rides. Personal care stays off the list: Nesterly, for example, rules out bathing, toileting, and giving medication.

The need is real. Nearly 3 in 10 adults 65 and older lived alone in 2022, including 43% of women 75 and older (U.S. Census Bureau). Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies counted a record 11.2 million cost-burdened older adult households in 2021, meaning they spent 30% or more of income on housing (JCHS). Yet on general roommate sites, older adults are still rare. SpareRoom reports that the share of US roommates over 65 more than tripled in the ten years to 2025 but is still under 5% (SpareRoom).

7 Places to Find Roommates for Seniors, Compared

Option	Good fit if	How matching works	Price (Nov 2026)	Where
Nonprofit home share program	You want staff to screen and introduce	Interviews, references, background checks, a facilitated meeting, a written agreement	Often no fee; HomeShare Vermont uses a $60 to $500 sliding scale	About 55 programs on the NSHRC map
HomeShare Online (formerly Silvernest)	You own a home and are comfortable online	ShareScore compatibility, messaging, ID and background checks, agreement templates	Hosts: $125 for six months, then $45 per six months	Online
Nesterly	You want an intergenerational match with rent handled for you	References, criminal checks, employment verification; Nesterly runs the lease and payments	$95 to $195 booking fee plus 2.5% of monthly rent	Eight regions
Big roommate sites (SpareRoom, Roomies)	You live in a big metro and want volume	You search and screen; both offer age preference settings	Check each site	Large metros
Compatibility-first apps like CoHabby	You want to compare daily habits before a visit	Profiles show stated habits like sleep, guests, and cleaning; you screen	See the app	Online
People you know	You would rather share with someone vouched for	Friends, faith community, senior center, family referrals; you screen	No platform fee	Anywhere
Facebook groups and community boards	You need someone fast	Nobody screens; you do all of it	Nothing to join	Anywhere

1. A nonprofit home share program

This is the most hands-on route. To appear in the NSHRC program directory, a program has to be a nonprofit with trained screeners who interview people, run background and reference checks, help write a match agreement, and check in afterward (NSHRC criteria). The directory map showed about 55 programs as of October 2026. Four examples of how they work:

HomeShare Vermont: no application fee, and a $60 to $500 match fee on an income-based scale, charged only if a match happens. Screening covers six background checks, up to four references, an interview, and a home visit for hosts, followed by a two-week trial and a written agreement (HomeShare Vermont). Demand is climbing: local news reported its caseload rose from about 50 in 2020 to roughly 130 in a single quarter of 2026 (WCAX).
Home Match (Front Porch): covers five Bay Area counties with no fee. Steps include an application, photo ID, an intake appointment, and a background check, plus a Living Together Agreement and mediation if things go sideways (Front Porch).
New York Foundation for Senior Citizens: a no-fee program in New York City, running since 1981, where one person in each match must be 60 or older (NYFSC; MassMutual). Call (212) 962-7559.
ElderHelp of San Diego HomeShare: one person must be 60 or older, seekers provide a background check, photo ID, and proof of income, and the average match lasts four years (ElderHelp).

No program near you on the map? Call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or visit eldercare.acl.gov to reach your local Area Agency on Aging, which can point you to housing help nearby.

2. HomeShare Online (formerly Silvernest)

If you searched for Silvernest and hit a dead link, here is what happened. In March 2024, Silvernest handed its home sharing platform to the nonprofit HomeShare Oregon, and the service now runs as HomeShare Online (PRWeb). The old silvernest.com address no longer loads (as of November 2026).

Hosts list a room, see each renter's ShareScore, message renters directly, and use the site's agreement templates. The host plan is $125 for six months of access. It includes an ID check through Plaid, a background check through Checkr, and a $50 refundable deposit you get back once a renter is secured or you stop listing. Renewal is $45 per six months (HomeShare Online, as of November 2026).

3. Nesterly

Nesterly is designed for intergenerational home sharing, though anyone 18 or older can join (Nesterly eligibility). It asks for two references, runs criminal checks on hosts and guests, verifies employment, and handles the lease and monthly rent payments (Nesterly safety). A profile costs nothing. When a home share is confirmed, there's a one-time booking fee of $95 to $195 depending on length of stay, plus 2.5% of monthly rent (Nesterly pricing, as of November 2026). The catch is geography: its help center lists eight regions, including Boston, Greater Columbus, Maine, Nashville, and Pittsburgh (Nesterly regions).

4. Big roommate sites with age settings

General roommate sites are where the volume is in big cities, and two of them let you state an age preference. SpareRoom ads include minimum and maximum age fields under household preferences. Roomies has a "40+ years welcome" filter on room searches. The trade-off is that nobody screens for you, and people your age are scarce there. Our roommate background check guide explains what a check shows and what it misses.

5. Compatibility-first apps like CoHabby

Age gaps rarely sink a shared home on their own. Daily habits do: one person up at 5 a.m. while the other watches TV until midnight, or one who cooks every night living with one who wants a spotless kitchen by 8.

CoHabby profiles show stated habits like sleep schedule, guests, cleaning, and smoking before you meet, plus an About me section where you can describe the household you run. That makes it easier to check roommate compatibility before anyone visits. CoHabby does not interview people or set up meetings the way a home share program does, so the screening is still yours.

6. People you already know

Friends of friends, your faith community, a senior center bulletin board, or a neighbor's grown kid who just took a job in town. A vouched-for stranger is still a stranger, though, so run the same checks and put the deal in writing.

7. Facebook groups and community boards

Local housing groups move fast, which is the appeal. Nobody screens anyone, and fake listings and overpayment tricks turn up regularly. Read the warning signs in our roommate scam guide before you reply to anyone, and never send a deposit before you've seen the room in person.

A housemate's rent is income, and income touches taxes and benefits. Here is how the federal rules treat it as of November 2026. Medicaid and state programs have their own rules, so confirm your situation with Social Security or a benefits counselor before you sign.

Rule	What it means for you	Source
Taxes on the rent	Room rent goes on Schedule E. Shared expenses like utilities are split between the rented room and your space by rooms or square footage; costs only for the rented room are fully deductible. Rent well below a fair price counts as personal use, which limits deductions.	IRS Pub. 527
Selling the house later	A rented spare bedroom inside your home does not split your $250,000 ($500,000 if married filing jointly) home-sale exclusion, but depreciation allowed after May 6, 1997 is taxed when you sell.	IRS Pub. 523
Social Security retirement	Rental income from real estate does not count as earnings for the retirement earnings test, unless you are a real estate dealer or provide services mainly for the occupant's convenience.	SSA Handbook 1213
SSI, if you host	Net rent counts as unearned income. SSA subtracts ordinary expenses but not depreciation, and splits them by rooms rented versus rooms in the house, not counting bathrooms.	POMS SI 00830.505
SSI, if you are the housemate	Pay at least your even share of household costs (rent or mortgage, taxes, and utilities divided by the number of people) and SSA treats you as your own household. Pay less and your check can shrink by up to $351.33 a month in 2026. Food stopped counting on September 30, 2024.	20 CFR 416.1133, SSA 2026 amounts
SNAP	If you buy food and cook separately from your housemate, you are usually a separate SNAP household. A person 60 or older who cannot buy and prepare meals because of a disability can be separate even when sharing meals, if the others' income is under 165% of the poverty line.	7 CFR 273.1
Homeowners insurance	A standard HO-3 policy does not cover a roomer's belongings and excludes theft from the part of your home you rent out. Liability coverage for renting part of your home holds as long as you take in no more than two roomers or boarders. Call your insurer anyway; policies vary.	ISO HO-3 sample
Reverse mortgage (HECM)	A reverse mortgage does not change who can live with you as long as you still live in the home. The loan comes due if the home stops being your principal residence.	CFPB, 24 CFR 206.27
Lodger rules (California example)	A single lodger in an owner-occupied home can be asked to leave with written notice equal to the rent period (30 days for month to month). A lodger who stays past that is trespassing. Other states differ.	Cal. Civ. Code 1946.5
Choosing a housemate	A federal appeals court held in 2012 that federal and California fair housing law does not apply to choosing a roommate in a shared home. A separate in-law unit with its own kitchen is a different matter.	9th Cir. No. 09-55272

Two of these catch people most often. If you get SSI, keep a written agreement and receipts that show what each person pays, and call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 before the housemate moves in. And because your policy will not cover a housemate's things, they need their own coverage; our renters insurance guide explains how that works for roommates.

How to Choose a Housemate After 60: 7 Steps

Decide what you are offering. List the room, bathroom, kitchen hours, parking, rent, and whether you want help in exchange for lower rent. Write down your deal-breakers too: smoking, pets, overnight guests, or stairs you can't manage.
Call a home share program first. Even if you plan to find someone yourself, a program may screen applicants or help with the agreement. Find one in the NSHRC directory or through the Eldercare Locator.
Write the listing around your day. "Quiet after 9, I cook most nights, grandkids visit Sundays" tells the right person to apply. Our guide to how to list a room in your home covers where to post and what to include.
Meet twice before you decide. First somewhere public, then at your home with a friend or family member there. Listen to how they talk about past roommates and landlords.
Check ID, references, and background. Ask for photo ID and two references, and run a background check only with written consent. Our roommate screening checklist walks through each check.
Put the deal in writing. Cover rent, due date, deposit, house rules, notice to end the arrangement, and any help-for-rent hours. Start with a trial period; HomeShare Vermont uses two weeks. Our roommate agreement guide covers what to include.
Keep your finances separate. Never add a housemate to a bank account, credit card, or power of attorney, and take rent by check or app with a record. If something feels off, the National Elder Fraud Hotline is 833-372-8311, weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern (Office for Victims of Crime). Scammers have impersonated the hotline itself, so dial the number yourself.

If You Are the One Renting the Room

Get the notice period in writing. Some states give a lodger in the owner's home fewer protections than a tenant, as the California rule above shows.
Check the practical stuff. Stairs, bathroom access, kitchen hours, laundry, guests, and pets matter more than the paint color.
Insure your own things. The host's homeowners policy will not cover them.
Protect your benefits. If you get SSI, pay at least your even share of household costs and keep receipts.

If a formal home share is not your fit, our guide to finding a roommate after 40 covers the wider search.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a roommate matching service for seniors?

Yes. Nonprofit home share programs match older adults with housemates and screen both sides, and the NSHRC directory mapped about 55 of them as of October 2026. Online, HomeShare Online and Nesterly offer screening tools, and the Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116) can point you to local help.

What happened to Silvernest?

In March 2024, Silvernest handed its home sharing platform to the nonprofit HomeShare Oregon, and the service now runs as HomeShare Online at homeshareonline.org. The old silvernest.com address no longer loads.

Does rent from a roommate affect Social Security?

Not your retirement benefit: Social Security does not count rental income from real estate as earnings for the earnings test. SSI is different, because net rental income counts as unearned income and can lower the monthly payment.

How much does senior home sharing cost?

Many nonprofit programs charge no fee, and HomeShare Vermont charges a $60 to $500 match fee on an income-based scale. Online, HomeShare Online charges hosts $125 for six months, and Nesterly charges a $95 to $195 booking fee plus 2.5% of monthly rent (as of November 2026).