JACKSONVILLE: Third-party senior living referral services, which send residents in the direction of operators that pay their fees, are not good for the sector and should be spurned by large operators, according to several prominent CEOs in the senior housing industry.
These third-party brokers are “popping up like mushrooms,” said the head of a major retirement community operator.
The brokers have low overhead costs and stand to make hefty profits simply by gaining Internet traction and enlisting many providers to work with them. Successful brokers are skilled in search engine marketing, so that they appear prominently when a prospective customer searches the Web for a local senior housing option, hurting local homes’ organic search results.