There comes a time in everyone’s life where they need to start thinking of retirement planning for our golden years. Or, at least, to ensure our moms and dads – who fought so hard for everything we have today – can have a well-deserved break with every tiny bit of comfort they have earned.
A home that meets your needs as you grow older may be on the list of things to put in order before too much longer, but what are the things you should look for when buying homes for the elderly? How to know what are the best places to retire and how to find retirement communities that will make you and/or your loved ones happy, safe and as comfortable as possible?
And even if you think it’s too early to do it—think again! You can always buy early and rent the property for spendable income for a few years prior to retirement.
With that in mind, our team at RealEstateAgent.com rounded up some aspects you should be on the lookout for when searching homes for the elderly. As you will see, it won’t matter if you work with San Francisco Real Estate Agents, Charlotte Real Estate Agents or Boca Raton Real Estate Agents; in every city there’s the possibility of finding nice retirement communities if the factors that follow are observed.
Mobility
You may still be getting around fine right now, but, eventually, our hips, knees, or back start to age too. This is actually a big decision when dealing with homes for the elderly: should you get a One-Story House or Two-Story House? While the former is the ideal, it’s not that you absolutely can’t have the latter. That’s what we mean with “homes for the elderly”; that house that alleviates all of those issues via a different point of view, focused on mobility difficulties – like a bottom level master suite so you don’t have to go to the second floor all the time and even elevators. But also extras like rails in the bathroom and other potential safety features to make our lives better. Baring actual extant features, the ability to easily renovate your home for the elderly without excessive cost would be a good idea. Yes, we are getting old, but the house should always look/feel/be like new; that can truly rejuvenate us in the long run.
Upkeep
However great you are with the lawnmower, and climbing a ladder to clean gutters; the whole idea of retiring is to relax a bit, right? Enough of DIY; enjoy having someone doing it for you. Enjoy receiving a bit; you gave too much already! Sure, you can still do it from time to time because you like doing it; it distracts you. No problem with that. But the best places to retire must have acce$$ible help nearby with these sort of tasks. You can still oversee the work, chit-chatting and making sure it gets done the way you want. But sitting on the porch while drinking margueritas; how about that? For our taste, even better if it’s a retirement community with built-in lawn care and handyman services.
Accessibility to amenities
One important thing to check when looking for homes for the elderly is figuring out the proximity to the type of place you do visit regularly. If you love art, living near the Best Museums in the USA will make your life better. Are you a foodie? Don’t isolate yourself and stop eating things you love because it will take 45 minutes to get anything besides fast food chain stores – not to mention the fact that this type of food will do even worse for your health than it already does now that you’re still young. But not only the pleasurable locations. Beware if your retirement community is close to medical facilities, grocery stores, senior center and other things that make your life easier.
Family members
The best places to retire are the ones close to your family and the people you love. Sure, you want to find a place where you can slow down the gears, but not altogether come to a full stop. Full stop = death, and the golden age is quite the opposite of that. It’s finally doing things on your own time, without having to run all of the time. And it wouldn’t be fun to do it alone, right? So, yeah, although Boca Raton Real Estate Agents, rightfully so, brag about their city being one of the best places to retire in the whole country, we think if your family and loved ones live in Washington State or somewhere far away like that, it won’t be the best of ideas moving there just because of this, and you will end up not enjoying the wonderful city of Boca Raton. When buying homes for the elderly, look for places close to your family. It’s a little bit like College: go somewhere far enough as to not intrude their lives and vice-versa; but close enough so a visit is not a burden and, if an emergency occurs, help is close by.
Size
That’s something people take a while to understand when transitioning to senior housing. Most people are used having a big house with guest rooms but a smaller home will be easier to clean and maintain as we age. It will also keep you from being the designated crash pad – in later years, it might be easier to have friends and family book a hotel so you don’t exhaust yourself playing host all the time. Even if the house has a spare room, try using it to increase your quality of life; don’t worry about potential guests. Maybe it’s a gym room? A reading room? This is the time to get that hobby you love so much and live it. The best places to retire care about the functionality of the house more than just the square footage of it.
Belongings
Hand in hand with the size of your future home goes the amount of stuff you need to find room for. Downsizing your belongings can be the hardest thing, but, trust us; it’s ultimately freeing. Handoff heirlooms to children and grandchildren now rather than later – it will mean a lot to them and to you – and opt for a clutter-free retirement. In fact, the best places to retire account for that, and provide themselves several things you can share instead of own, like treadmills, cars (good public transportation) and such.
Zoning
Keep in mind that nothing is forever. Not even homes for the elderly or retirement communities. You may decide to move once again after a while for a number of reasons. Sometimes they’re your choice, sometimes you have to unwillingly move out into a smaller apartment or even an open retirement center or village. If you are located close to such residential options, making a second move will be easier as you won’t lose your sense of familiarity and your friends in your retirement community.
If your golden years should be stress-free and enjoyable, the first step in order to achieve this state of mind is starting it when choosing the best place to retire, and the key to that is finding a real estate agent to do all the worrying for you. You just have to pick the best option (taking into consideration all the factors above) and enjoy the future that finally arrived!
