My mother has been living in an independent living facility for a year & a half. The identical apartment next to hers is currently vacant & they are advertising the apartment for $700 less/month than what she is paying. The facility states they change the apartment rates every week.
My Dad decided to move in late December, which is always a very slow month in real estate of all kinds. Dad was able to get a monthly discount for a year, plus one month free. Talk about being in the right place and the right time. The facility was great :)
And Glad above made an excellent point, charges for additional services. There was a laundry list of different monthly fees if he wanted extra service. Those services can add up. My Dad's med-tech service for his pills was an extra $600 per month.