Retirement is an important part of life where strong-willed and diligent people choose to leave the workforce for good and live with a continuous income stream without active work. It’s also in this phase where most retirees are faced with the biggest dilemma: considering different options for a new home.
Now that you’re retiring, you’re probably concerned about how you’re going to settle peacefully and live a quiet life. During your early years of retirement, you probably think about where to settle and enjoy the rest of your life. Is living in the rural areas favorable to you? How about in a highly urbanized area?
These are just some of the essential factors you have to consider when buying a retirement property. These will help you prevent turning your real estate dreams into nightmares. However, you might overlook some of those that are truly essential. So, here are the essential tips you might need to take into account before making the final decision:
- Work With A Real Estate Agent
If you’re not a professional real estate specialist, it’d be best to look for a certified broker to assist you when looking for a new home. These licensed professionals will help you choose the right house, depending on your needs.
Also, they’ll be in charge of all the legal processes of buying a new home, which could be very tedious, especially for a retiree like you. They’ll act as an expert guide who knows the formal requirements in your local area that will help you avoid additional expenses and costly delays.
In addition, they’ll help you select which property will fit into your budget and help you understand other factors that might affect your decision. One is the ratio between the selling price and the asking price. You might have noticed it before, but the selling price is usually higher than the asking price, especially in these difficult times.
This is a common situation that people experience when buying a property, whether they are a retiree or not. If you need additional details, see this here if you’re interested in buying a house or you can ask your realtor about it and how it could help you when buying a house.
- Consider Other Places Than Your Favorite Vacation Spot
Most people want to live the rest of their lives in their favorite vacation spots. While this may sound tempting and indulging, doing this may only put you at more risks than you thought. Since such places are popular destination spots, some expenses may be higher than most residential areas.
For example, most vacation spots are surrounded by highly-expensive restaurants. This isn’t a good case for some people who have a tight budget, especially for retirees like you who have fixed and limited sources of income.
Not only that, but you might also find out that most entertainment centers located in most tourists’ spots are closed during the off-season. Because of this, most people living in these seasonally-crowded areas are often left with fewer options. These situations may lead to poor quality of life.
If you want to determine if these cases are present to your target destination, you may book an extended trip and carefully analyze the area. You may even book a long-term rental to see what it’s like to be a resident in the area. Then, you may be able to decide properly if it meets your demands as a retiree.
- Check If The Cost Is Higher Than Mortgage
Usually, the most attractive properties offered to retirees are accompanied by higher additional expenses. These include property tax, homeowners’ association dues, and maintenance fees. Also, if you think that condos will reduce the necessary costs, you might be wrong. Condominium units also have additional fees, such as maintenance fees for common grounds and spaces.
Unfortunately, these expenses are more damaging to a retiree like you, especially because of your fixed and limited source of income. But don’t worry, here’s a simple way to address your problems.
You may start by researching the taxes in the local area where you plan to relocate. Take a look at the associated fees with your chosen property and the limits on how far they can increase.
For example, in Tennessee (one of the most popular retirement destinations), no state laws limit the homeowners’ association fees from constantly increasing. This means that such costs may rise even without the approval of the homeowners’ association board.
- Consider Single-Story Homes
When you’re old, you might not be able to do things you could easily do before. Your level of strength significantly decreases, joint pains are common, and the possibility of having a chronic medical condition may exist. Because of these factors, it’d be best to consider looking for single-story or low-rise houses.
Single-story houses allow you to have easy access to most house areas, especially to your rooms. Also, it has fewer risks when it comes to going up and down the stairs avoiding serious slip and fall accidents. This is extremely important since most elderly people have weaker body conditions in which even a simple mistake could lead to fatal consequences.
- Look For Step-In Showers
It may be difficult for most elderly to step in and out of the bathtub, especially if they’re at a higher risk of slip and fall accidents. As mentioned above, older people have fragile bodies, which need special care and assistance. In this case, looking for a home with step-in showers is the perfect way to go.
Step-in showers provide easy access to bathrooms without any problems, reducing the risks of accidents. Also, those using wheelchairs may enter and exit the bathroom easily.
Furthermore, this type of bathroom is so convenient that even younger generations prefer to have them rather than expensive and risky layouts.
Final Words
Unlike most house hunters, retirees like you or your loved ones have more factors to consider when buying a home. The most important one is the additional costs and fees, such as maintenance fees.
Remember, you have a limited and fixed income source, so it’s best to analyze every location you prefer before making a straightforward decision. This may not be easy considering the legal aspects of buying a home. As mentioned above, you hire a professional real estate broker to reduce the tedious legal process of acquiring a new home.
Furthermore, these five tips are some of the essential ones when buying a retirement home. So, don’t forget to read this article if you need to go back to some in-depth details.
