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It’s been said that selling senior living is like selling a Mercedes-Benz. If that’s the case, then I think there’s something the industry can learn from Carvana, the “car vending machine” company.
Earlier this week, I spotted an interesting Wall Street Journal story about how Carvana has built a used automobile empire out of selling cars at its 37 locations across the U.S. The story centered on how Carvana’s online sales process has won over fans who prefer it over the dealership experience. Now, Carvana is expanding its digital sales machine to handle new car sales to the delight of some buyers.
“I’m sure I could’ve gone into a dealership, got some more gray hairs, and negotiated it down to whatever Carvana had it at or lower, but I’m not going to do that to save $1,000 or even a few thousand dollars,” one buyer, Joshua Higginbotham, told the Wall Street Journal.
This isn’t the first time we here at Senior Housing News have compared Carvana’s sales process to that of senior living. “Learning from Carvana” was the title of a panel discussion during the 2025 Sales & Marketing Conference. The topic is still on my mind.
At first glance, one might not see much overlap between car sales and senior living. But I think there are similarities between the two that operators shouldn’t ignore. Like buying a car, shopping for senior living can be an expensive, stressful, time-consuming process. Similar to a car salesperson, a senior living sales staffer holds the keys to a transaction in the form of pricing and selective discounts or concessions. That stress combined with lack of control can lead to distrust and fear on the part of buyers.
The senior living industry keeps a tight handle on sales for good reasons, sometimes for fear that prospects won’t understand it or may have sticker shock upon seeing the price of it. I get that impulse given how competitive senior living sales can be and how quickly people make decisions.
But I think senior living prospects, like car buyers, desire an easy sales process and a counterparty they can trust, maybe above all else. I think it’s safe to say that car salespeople have earned a reputation as slick dealers who sometimes bend the truth to make a sale. Senior living doesn’t carry that same feel in general, but recent news stories, like ones that paint pictures of troubled communities with wandering residents, are cause for concern with regard to the industry’s reputation.
For that reason I think there’s even more that the industry can learn from Carvana’s latest push into new car sales, even if human touch is still a crucial part of the senior living sales experience.
In this week’s SHN+ Update, I analyze sales and marketing strategies of senior living operators and offer the following takeaways:
- Digital sales increasingly appeal to new prospects
- Ways operators have given prospects even more control over sales
- Why senior living sales still require a human component
Sometimes ‘counterintuitive’ sales processes that appeal to prospects
Online shopping has surged in recent years even as in-person shopping has remained most popular. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, $326.7 billion worth of online transactions took place in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 2.7% from the fourth quarter of 2025.
Those preferences have translated into consumers doing their research for senior living online before they step foot in a community. A 2023 report from Roobrik based on 41,000 online senior living assessments completed by prospects and family members on operators’ websites found that many older adults and their families desire a “clearer picture of life at a senior living community” in their online searches.
When the Covid-19 pandemic forced everyone indoors six years ago, senior living operators filled the gap by creating new online tours and virtual resources that users could access without a salesperson. Those kinds of practices have only grown since then as operators seek to virtually open their doors to prospects.
Senior living operators are standing out online by showcasing what goes on inside their four walls and telling stories that help older adults and their families understand what the product is and who it’s for.
All of these efforts sometimes withhold some information, and that is aimed at enticing a prospect to come in and take a tour to get the full picture. That’s not dissimilar from the car-buying process, where a dealer literally holds the keys to the sale and all that happens within it.
But does it need to be that way? To RoseVilla CEO Glen Lewis, the answer is no, not necessarily. The organization gives prospects multiple online touchpoints that specifically don’t require the help of a salesperson so they can self-guide their sales journeys, including a virtual self-guided tour that users can access.
Lewis said during a discussion at the most recent SHN Sales & Marketing Conference he thought that was “crazy” at first. But prospects value how the operator cuts through the noise and lets them do research at their own pace, he said.
“That has become really positive for us, and the boomers that are looking at our community have said that’s exactly what we’re looking for. We want that level of freedom, and we don’t want to feel like we have to engage with you for every single question we have along the way,” Lewis said. “That was counterintuitive to everything I thought as a CEO.”
To that same end, consider the world of apartments. Senior living prospects who have rented before know they can usually view pricing, layouts and even sign leases for an apartment online.
“Many of us have gone through the apartment–buying and renting process, and it’s very transparent. You’ve got all the pricing on there, you’ve got the availability on there. So that’s what the consumers are used to,” said Jamison Gosselin, vice president of marketing and communications at Watermark Retirement Communities, during the 2026 Sales & Marketing Conference. “Then they get to senior living and it’s like, where’s your pricing?”
Could the senior living industry ever get to a place where prospects drive the entire sales process from beginning to end online? “I think we’re there already” – at least for independent living, said Atria Chief Marketing Officer Sanela Graziose during the 2025 Learning From Carvana panel at that year’s Sales & Marketing Conference.
By that, Graziose means that Atria’s independent living prospects can view property maps, look at apartment layouts and photos, see views from inside an apartment, download and review lease documents and look at new resident handbooks. They can even self-assess using a tool on the company’s websites with relative accuracy.
All of this said, I still don’t think senior living operators are ready to give prospects the keys to the sales process in the same way as Carvana, at least not in settings with acuity higher than active adult and independent living. The simple reason why is that senior living is much more complex and intimate than selling a car or buying an apartment. Prospects aren’t just buying a home or a vehicle, senior living is both housing and health care. One bad move in senior living could stick with residents for the rest of their lives. So, while operators have much they can learn from Carvana, there are also key differences from that industry that they must keep in mind.
Senior living hinges on human empathy
To me, a top reason why senior living communities can’t simply let their prospects reserve units online and show up on move-in day is that senior living is much more about the human touch than buying a car or an apartment.
Not only does an older adult want to know their unit and community look good, they also want to trust that staff will care for them and listen to their concerns. That’s not something you can easily convey in a brochure or online tour in my opinion.
There is also the senior living assessment, an important tool that senior living operators use to properly charge for care. While self-driven sales can work for lower-acuity residents with fewer care needs, operators risk putting residents in the wrong units if they don’t assess their health prior to move-in.
So, even while active adult and independent living properties can embrace more hands-off sales processes, I think a human salesperson is necessary for assisted living or memory care. But that doesn’t mean that operators can’t compromise.
I think that senior living operators can and do draw from the multifamily industry in terms of digital marketing savviness. If senior living operators can’t give their prospects the keys to the car, they can at least let them sit in the front passenger seat during their aging journeys.
Borrowing from Glen Lewis and RoseVilla, I also think that today’s senior living prospects value cutting out the so-called middle-man whenever possible. Even if buying senior living is not as stressful as buying a used car, RoseVilla’s success with self-sales shows there is an appetite among some for avoiding salespeople. And I think Atria’s example shows that there is much that operators can share with their potential residents so that they can show up ready instead of relying on a sales person to convey that information.
In a digital world, the senior living website is a front door for prospects. Keeping with that analogy, I think senior living operators should make their “door” as appealing as possible, and have an empathetic salesperson waiting on the other side when residents come knocking.
Senior Housing News Senior Editor Tim Regan contributed reporting, writing and editing to this story.