Like Selling A Mercedes: How Senior Living Sales Teams Balance Incentives, Value 

Senior living operators are keen to maintain the value of senior living, and that can make them hesitant to offer discounts and incentives.

Independent living operators offered on an average a discount of 12.1% between asking and rental rates, totaling about 1.5 months between December 2024 and 2025, according to National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) data. The average assisted living discount in that time frame was 8%, while memory care was 8.2%.

Many senior living operators are in 2026 not offering broad discounts against advertised rates and instead offering free services and other add-ons that maintain value. Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Grand Living, for example, avoids discounting rental rates at its luxury communities as a way to maintain pricing integrity, according to Eric Varin, president of sales and marketing. Instead, it implements “value-add” incentives, such as free meals short-term or help with moving services.

“I often think of Mercedes or Range Rover or those higher quality brands,” he said. “They don’t offer sales and they don’t offer deals, because they are really trying to hold the brand to a high standard. And I feel that I would love us as an industry to be able to get to that place where we don’t feel like we need to run to an incentive or a discount to be able to move somebody in.”

Frederick, Maryland-based life plan community operator Asbury Communities offers a variety of discounts on entrance fees rather than actual rates themselves, and the amount varies depending on the level of occupancy. The operator wields discounting as an option when a community dips below 1% of its budgeted occupancy at any given time. Even so, the organization only offers slim discounts so as not to erode value, according to Michelle Curnow, senior vice president of sales and brand.

Freehold, New Jersey-based Distinctive Living has offered fewer overall discounts in 2026 compared to the same time frame in 2025, according to Kristina Vance, senior vice president of sales. The company’s short-term discounts and incentives are designed to “burn off fast” within 90 days of move-in.

Incentives that maintain value

Grand Living has eased off rate discounts over the years, particularly in order to continue maintaining its status as a luxury level senior living option.

“It’s really important that we hold on to price integrity as much as possible. Once people start to feel like that has been eroded, it’s very difficult to get back,” Varin told Senior Housing News.

Instead, Grand Living customizes incentives that are more service focused, such as free meals, increased housekeeping upon moving in or additional time with maintenance teams while they are setting up the unit.

Grand Living tends to set higher discount rates for independent living units due to it being less needs-driven than assisted living or memory care, and the incentive can help “activate” the prospect with a sense of urgency, Varin said. For Grand Living, the average sales cycle in independent living is around 295 days, whereas assisted living is around 150 days.

Asbury Communities has a variety of incentive offerings outside of cutting from the entrance fees. In instances where a community is within 1% of its projected and budgeted occupancy, prospects may be able to take advantage of upgraded flooring or finishes within the unit they will be moving into, which is pulled from their entrance fee, according to Curnow. The sales teams also meet to coordinate when occupancy begins to dip to see what they can do differently before jumping right into discounts, part of which is attributed to its nearly 400 day average sales cycle.

In the instances where the entrance fee is discounted, it could range from savings of $10,000 up to $70,000, depending on the location, which varies from 10% up to 20%, depending on the urgency of getting a prospect to move in within 90 days, Curnow said.

Instances where discounting occurs with Distinctive Living are a matter of negotiations between the sales team and prospect, Vance said. However, community fees are among those considered off limits.

“Everybody pays them coming in,” Vance said. “If we’ve got to do anything regarding a community fee of any sort, we take that off the rent as a credit. So we still get that initial revenue up front, and it hits that bottom line in the current month regarding community fees.”

Senior living looks to Mercedes, Range Rover

When correctly tailored, discounts and other incentives can add value longer term, even while they cost a little more upfront.

According to Varin, when offering 10 free meals upon move-in for prospects and their families, it totals around $250 in savings. It still shows the operator is willing to offer them something to “feel valued,” particularly when they are weighing their options such as country clubs, vacation homes and home health care.

Because of the incoming demand with the baby boomers, Varin added he would like to see the industry take a step back from discounts as an incentive to drive occupancy and instead focus on the value it adds to their lives.

Operators also have to look at balancing short term discounts with matching the budget and net operating income. Just because a community reaches 100% occupancy doesn’t translate into reaching the level of revenue needed to keep the community going, according to Vance. Incentives also need to ensure they are matching competitors’ market rates and profitable, she added.

Meanwhile, as a CCRC, Curnow said Asbury has a bit more flexibility as long as the quality remains in place for residents.

“When you’re looking at people who are making this huge decision in this vulnerable part of their life and really making sure that operationally, you’re excellent, you’re delivering on what you promise and that you’re touching on what’s most important to them, a few thousand dollars isn’t going to make that big of a difference when they feel like they’re getting exactly what’s most important to them and you’re delivering on what you promised to them,” Curnow said.

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