Where we can help, and where we can't: Mark Jontz & Associates are real estate specialists, not care placement counsellors. We can help you buy, sell, or understand any property that's bought and sold on the real estate market — including independent-living 55+ communities. For assisted living and residential care specifically, those are licensed care services, not real estate transactions, and the right first call is Interior Health or a specialized senior care advisor, not a REALTOR®. This page is meant to help you understand the landscape so you know which door to knock on.
Independent Living (Real Estate)
This is what our 55+ & 45+ communities and single-level homes pages cover — you buy or sell a home like any other real estate transaction, in a community designed around single-level living and an age-restricted, often quieter environment. No care services are included; residents live fully independently. This is squarely where a real estate team like ours fits.
Assisted Living
Assisted living residences provide licensed support with daily activities — medication management, bathing, meals — for people who need some help but not full-time nursing care. In BC, these residences are licensed under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act. Unlike independent-living communities, assisted living is almost always a rental, monthly-fee model rather than something bought and sold on MLS® — so this isn't a real estate purchase in the usual sense. Kelowna and area have a number of these residences, including facilities such as Hawthorn Park, Village at Mill Creek, Sun Pointe Village, Kiwanis Tower, The Burtches, The Dorchester, and The Heritage (West Kelowna), among others — mentioned here as examples of what exists in the market, not as a recommendation or endorsement of any specific one. General rental rates across the Kelowna area's retirement and assisted living residences commonly range from roughly $2,500 to $5,000+ per month, depending on the level of care and the specific residence.
Residential (Long-Term) Care
For seniors needing 24/7 skilled nursing care, residential care facilities are the next level up from assisted living — heavily regulated, and in BC largely coordinated through the public health system (Interior Health for the Kelowna/Okanagan region) rather than the open market. There's typically a needs assessment and a waitlist process involved. This is entirely outside real estate — Interior Health's home and community care program is the right starting point.
Aging in Place (Staying Put, With Support)
Not everyone who could downsize wants to. Bringing in home support services — help with cleaning, meals, personal care — while remaining in a current home is a legitimate alternative to any move at all. This is worth considering seriously alongside downsizing, not just as a fallback: for some people, the right answer is a smaller single-level home; for others, it's staying in a family home with the right support brought in.
Affordable & Subsidized Senior Housing
Beyond market-rate options, BC Housing and municipal programs operate income-qualified senior housing in the Central Okanagan — for example, subsidized rental buildings for seniors and people with disabilities have been built in Peachland and elsewhere in the region. These operate on an application and income-qualification basis through BC Housing, separate from the private market entirely.
How to think about which one fits
- Fully independent, want less house? A single-level home or 55+ community — real estate, and exactly what we help with.
- Need help with some daily tasks but not full nursing care? Assisted living — a rental decision, not a real estate one.
- Need 24/7 nursing care? Residential care through Interior Health's assessment process.
- Not sure yet, or somewhere in between? Start with a conversation — we can at least tell you clearly which category your situation falls into, even for the parts we don't handle directly.
We'll give you a straight answer — including pointing you elsewhere if that's genuinely the right call.