Retirement Living - The Choices

Choosing to downsize is one of the most important choices we will make in our lifetimes. Retirement can be a concept where we think that retirement will happen one day but not straight away. Living in the family home offers a huge degree of comfort and personal security so when the times comes to downsize from your home I often find that this decision can be a difficult one and can have the potential to cause concern and tension among the person affected and family members.

The hardest decisions in life tend to be marriage, children and a place to live and of these 3 major events in our lives there is a need for one thing that surpasses all – we all need a roof over our heads.

Choosing the right place to live in our retirement is a complex situation and there a number of choices:

• Apartments and townhouses over 55: This type of property is designed and zoned to be easy access, an easy level walk to the local shops, transport and be of low -care maintenance. Often offering community gardens, security parking, security buildings and common areas. This is a purely independent environment. No care support

• The smaller home or Dual occupancy: A “tree change”, “sea change” or a “city change”. Downsizing into a smaller home often requires the need to consider a low maintenance property with possibly a smaller piece of land. Although often we see the “tree change “ lifestyle buying a small rural acreage or “hobby farm” . This in itself is complex and much research is required to understand what is involved by living rural. There is a large number of buyers seeking the country escape to have the vegie patch, the chickens and a few animals with the aim to be self sufficient. Coastal change usually finds the buyer seeking a coastal town and the city change often we have experience buyers seeking a trendy semi detached or apartment living. There are endless possibilities and we are now seeing a small number of the Baby Boomers moving overseas and living their French, Italian or Bali adventures

• The Trailer Home and Caravan Lifestyle: There also a huge number of “Grey Haired Nomads”, selling up getting the camper trailer home and heading off into the sunset. Although we often suggest that if you can afford to, buy a small apartment when the camping gets too much. A small bolt hole perhaps in a large regional town is a good option. especially in the later years of life.

• Retirement Villages: Designed to be a “ village within a village” and offer a range from low -care facilities, high care facilities (and everything in between) with medical support and a holistic approach for a secure, relaxed lifestyle. These villages have a Village Manager responsible to take care of the daily running of the Retirement Village which will include staff for nursing, security, cleaners, gardening maintenance and management of all the OH&S requirements as well. Retirement Villages are usually are either Strata title or Lease-hold complex. The difference between strata title and lease-hold is quite varied and ownership is very different. At Kathryn Hall Real Estate we sell a large number of Strata title units that range from studio assisted care apartments , through to 1 bedroom, 2 bedrooms and 3 bedrooms units. Both assisted care and independent units are designed to allow independence with the back ground care if needed. The range of facilities in a Retirement Villages can range greatly but most offer, social facilities such as club lounge, entertainment, outdoor bbq and alfresco areas, activities, heated swimming pool, craft and art rooms, library and restaurants etc. Remember it is a “village within a village”. Prices at Pittwater Palms Avalon Beach range from $125,000 for an assisted care apartment to $1,080K for a independent living, penthouse style 3 bedroom apartment.

• High Care Facilities: High care tends to be focused on full nursing home and high care facilities and offer
• Onsite nursing team available 24/7
• Access to Allied Health Services
• Diabetes Support
• Dementia support
• Hairdressing services
• Aged care services
• Dietitian
• Recreational activities
• Mobility and exercise programs
• In house laundry facilities and services
• Palliative Care services

From the many years of experience working with clients looking to down size t0 retirement village the best advice I can give is to

• do your research
• get financial advice and a full understanding on how you are gong to fund your retirement
• make the decision earlier than later.

It is far better to make the change while you are still in a good frame of mind and in good health. Often I have witnessed that leaving the choices until absolutely necessary can lead to poor choices.

Life is all about choice. There are some fantastic opportunities and lifestyle selection from . Give me a call if you require any further assistance or you would like to discuss you downsizing options.