John Anderson is a Blog Vistage contributor, a Social Media Specialist and Commissioned Artist and a Freelance Writer. He writes about technology, social media and investment. He runs the blog InfiltrationAlert.com.
The baby boomer population has increased significantly over the recent years. Dr. Susan Blumenthal cited in her article in The Huffington Post that every day after January 1, 2011, another 10,000 baby boomers will reach their 65th birthdays.
As the baby boomer population increases, the demand for retirement communities turns aggressive, as well. The cost of apartment or condo living has decreased over the past recent years. Because of this, baby boomers find it more affordable than ever to purchase a condo as compared to the previous couple of years. According to an article by Melinda Fulmer in MSN Real Estate, the average price of a condo for sale has declined 14% between 2008 and August 2011, a significant price reduction, in comparison to a 10% decline for single family home prices, as revealed by the NAR stats.
Baby boomers will find condos or apartments ideal as retirement homes when retirement living convenience is combined with affordability. Even if condo or apartment living is affordable, baby boomers will eventually find their retirement homes unable to fulfill their remaining lifelong goals if living convenience is clearly invisible.
Photo courtesy of 401 (K) 2012
Weigh your home equity
Purchasing may be the only option for you if you choose a house as a retirement home. Renting usually comes easy when you have an apartment as your retirement home. Depending on your needs, you may likely find renting easier than buying an apartment. Renting saves you money for your retirement finances. If you choose to rent an apartment when you retire, there would be no need for you to deal with high expenses of unit maintenance.
If you let yourself get caught up in the condo for sale trend when choosing a retirement home, you would eventually need to deal with headaches and pains of paying off mortgage bills on your own, among other stuff. Dealing with hassles like this one may be the last thing you’d want while enjoying your life in retirement in your new home.
A smaller place to suit your needs
Apartment renting gives you the benefit of choosing the size of your retirement home. Naturally, you would want to save money by not living in a large apartment, if it’s not necessary to do so. Buying a house usually gives you no choice but to feel forced to avail of home selections with not too many options.
When renting a condo upon retirement, you may choose to make good use of your additional space by splitting your expenses with a roommate. Aside from saving additional money for your retirement savings, having a roommate gives you someone to turn to for help when emergencies arise.
Stop home maintenance worries
Renting an apartment upon retirement makes you stop worrying about home maintenance. Worrying about home maintenance is something you would need to deal with if you buy a house. You can leave your home maintenance concerns to the admin of your apartment if you choose to have an apartment as a retirement home.
You should organize a clear and concrete retirement planning, though, before you decide to buy an apartment as your retirement home. Plan how you will plan to pay for the expenses in connection to your apartment purchase. If you need to avail of a home loan, apply for the loan as early as possible. The perks of not having to worry about home maintenance are attractive; however, you also need to be prepared for the repercussions that come along with it.
One phone call away for repairs
Apartments or condos as retirement homes let you enjoy dealing with a centralized point person for contact for repairs. You would not need to deal with the confusion of not knowing who to contact when you need repairs to be done. Condos or apartments mostly employ a management in -charge of repairs in a single departmental office within the premises.
Endless flexibility
One of the advantages of a small condo that you can possibly avail of upon retirement is being able to enjoy doing a flexible DIY activity. Do-it-yourself activities help you spend your life in retirement more productively by helping you keep busy. Living in a small condo gives you the opportunity to decorate your living room and other areas according to your customized taste. DIY activities become more limited if you live in a huge house. A huge place presents various complexities, making DIY activities difficult to have around.
Enjoy the condo amenities
The gym is one of the amenities in your condo that you can enjoy as you indulge in retirement living. Instead of struggling to have to walk around your condo community, have fun getting fit and active walking on a treadmill at your condo’s gym.
One of the benefits of having closer community is that you may immediately feel at home taking a dip in your condo’s pool in the company of your neighbor friends. Everybody knows each other by living in a small and tight knit retirement community.
Live near family
Having your family as your neighbor at your condo gives you the convenience of getting the help you need easily and immediately. The apartments at a condo building are constructed very close to each other. Because of this, you can easily walk to your neighbor’s apartment in less than a minute to ask for help when you need to. Having a neighborhood watch as your security system gives you the option of having your neighbor watch over your apartment while you are not home. You can easily have a peace of mind that your apartment and all of your possessions are in good hands as you entrust your condo to your neighbor.
Security forces keep you safe
If you plan to rent an apartment instead of buying one, one of the most important things to consider before buying your lease contract is also the security system your apartment premises offer. This should not be an issue, though; because most apartment or condo buildings have security forces dispatched 24/7 at the buildings’ lobby reception areas.
The security forces at the condo or apartment buildings are trained to look over the safety of all residents, regardless of age and background, including that of elders’ safety. These security forces stand alert of giving particular special care to one of the most vulnerable resident population-the elderly.
Hear the alarm go off
Most condos or apartments readily have an emergency buzzer that you can count on in times of emergencies. These buzzers may come with customized alarm systems. You can easily alert the security at your condo if you need any urgent help by simply pressing the emergency buzzer.
Miscellaneous fees are predictable
One of the most difficult parts in making plans to have a retirement home is to calculate the cost of renting and buying. However, buying or renting an apartment allows you to be fully aware of the association, maintenance and other miscellaneous fees before you even sign the lease or purchase contract. The total amount of miscellaneous fees is clearly stated in the contract. Therefore, the fee amount indicated in the contract lawfully needs to remain the same, unless otherwise specified in written form with your consent acknowledgement.
Apartments are stair-free
One of the ways to know if you’re fit for condo and apartment living is having the awareness of the life-long suitability of an apartment as your retirement home. Most apartment buildings offer elderly people the benefit of using elevators, thus, pulling elderly people away from having to climb several steps of stairs to their apartments. You may be one of those elderly people who would benefit from using elevators in your apartment, because of mobility health issues.
You need to weigh in the pros and cons of condo and apartment living before you make plans in buying or renting a retirement home. Widening your choices for a retirement home gives you the opportunity to collect and select. Remember to always keep in mind to want the best choice that you can ever make.
If you feel that having an apartment as a retirement home is right for you, take advantage of availing of the low market prices in the real estate industry available at the moment. However, do not be hasty in making a final decision. Carefully give an overall assessment of your situation before making your decision.
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