Posts Tagged “Independent Living”
So, you are ready to retire from your full-time job. While you don’t have your retirement all planned out, you are thinking about moving south to a warmer climate. Even if you stay in the same area, you hope to travel. In either case, you must decide whether you should sell your home and buy something smaller, locate elsewhere, or consider renting.
Parting With The Canadian Dream Of Home ownership
Home ownership rates in Canada hover near 70%; property ownership rates are among the highest in the world. People love their homes for reasons that may have more to do with feeling the pride of ownership and the joys of providing a home for the family than economics.
For someone ready to retire, owning a home may be somewhat of a burden:
Ongoing costs. Even if your mortgage is paid off, maintenance costs continue to soar as the property ages, which can cut into a lessened retirement income, especially as costs can be unpredictable. Property taxes, homeowners’ insurance, and other costs continue as well.
Opportunity costs. Homes do appreciate in value, but many financial analysts suggest that the amount of appreciation is less than what you could earn on investments on comparable money you had in a taxable account. For many retired people, renting is an excellent option as rent and other costs are fixed, even though the rent will increase over time.
Smaller not cheaper. Some retirees find themselves in houses that are too big or not laid out conveniently as mobility diminishes. Downsizing to a smaller, one floor house may decrease available space and reduce maintenance costs, but smaller does not always mean more economical. If you buy a newer home, you may still pay a higher price to offset the need for maintenance.
Vacation hassles. In addition, buying a smaller house in the same area still leaves you with property you must vacate when you travel. When you rent, you can safely leave your property for longer periods of time with the knowledge that management or nearby neighbors will notify you.
Poor liquidity. Relocating to a different area where you think you may like to live may not be as permanent as you hope. Some retirees find that they miss home and family or discover that they don’t enjoy living in Florida or another location they thought might be their dream. Buying a home involves costs that take about five years to get back, while making you less liquid. If you find that you want to return home or that you quickly need the money to relocate into assisted living earlier than expected, you may take a loss on your sale or find it takes a long time to sell your home.
What Is Your Future?
Some seniors find that continued home ownership is the best financial decision for themselves, but it pays to carefully consider whether renting would serve you better in retirement. Before you make a housing decision that will affect your future, consider your goals, talk to your financial advisor, and then give me a call about selling your home or buying a new one.
Roy Thomas SRES® (Senior’s Real Estate Specialist) is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group Professional Realty. Since 1991, Roy specializes in helping retirees with their later in life real estate transactions. Call Roy at 902-497-3031 or contact Roy here
When you are ready to move to a condo, there are a few basic questions you should ask
If you are ready to downsize from your family home, you might not be ready to be a renter. Condominium living offers many of the benefits of home ownership without the lawn care, snow removal, and maintenance. For many seniors, condominium living also puts a great support system in place, along with interesting activities. They offer a new start in a more compact place that starts out with less clutter and more freedom.
What Condos Offer
While the amenities between condo complexes may vary, all offer some of the same benefits, in addition to minimal maintenance:
You can choose the style. With new construction or older buildings that have been converted to condos available, you can find a new home in the style you want. Your community may have specifications on exterior paint colors and modifications to make sure that the outside style does not change.
You will have neighbors close by. This can give you a sense of community, and the comfort that someone is nearby if you need help. While you might still be working and independent when you move to a condo, you may rely more on your condo neighbors as time passes.
You will have better security. Depending on where you choose to buy, your community may be gated or you may have a security guard on duty at a gate or at a desk to screen visitors and prevent intruders.
Major repairs will be taken care of by your Homeowner’s Association. While you pay for these through a monthly fee, you will not be caught off guard by surprise repairs. Occasionally, the board may assess you for your share of major repair, but as a homeowner, you are aware these charges are coming.
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Questions to Ask About Your New Condo
When you are ready to move to a condo, there are a few basic questions you should ask:
Is the condo specially an over-55 or retirement facility? If you prefer to be with others your own age, you may want to aim for a building geared to senior living.
What is the monthly condo fee and what does it cover? Some fees just include basic landscaping and snow removal, while others include amenities and even heat. You should ask how often the fees go up.
Is the condo budget well managed? You should have access to documents that show the size of the reserves and that tell you if the condo is consistently over budget or under budget.
What amenities are on site? Some condos have golf courses, pools, workout facilities, and rooftop decks in addition to common areas.
Are there planned activities? If you are looking for a good way to meet your neighbors that does not require you to go far, activities such as bingo, game or movie nights, classes, book clubs, and more may interest you.
Does the complex allow pets? What are the limitations on type, size, and breed? Before you move in, you should make sure that the place permits your Great Dane or Pitbull or your five cats.
Are there limitations about visitors? Some over 55 communities do not permit you to have child under 18 living with you. You can have your grandchildren visit you, but not take them in permanently.
How have the condos been selling? This will tell you if your purchase will hold its value over time.
The best condo for you is one that is well managed, within your budget, and that accommodates your needs for community, activities, pets, and other lifestyle concerns.
Call Real Estate Professional Roy Thomas For Guidance
Especially if you are a first-time condo buyer, you need a good real estate agent to guide you so that you get an affordable condominium with reasonable fees. Realtor Roy Thomas can help you sell your current home, find a great new condo for you, and help you navigate the new world of condo ownership.
If you are ready to sell your home for maximum value, the best place to start is by clicking here and scheduling an appointment.
Roy Thomas SRES® (Senior’s Real Estate Specialist) is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group Professional Realty. Since 1991, Roy specializes in helping retirees with their later in life real estate transactions. Call Roy at 902-497-3031 or contact Roy here
As a senior homeowner, you might be ready to move to more convenient housing, but leaving your home might seem to needlessly compromise your independence and make you feel old before your time. If you are in good health, you do not need to live in the same type of housing that someone with compromised physical or mental abilities would need.
Ideally once you downsize to a place you like, you will be set for years. New housing recently constructed in Nova Scotia and throughout Canada offer options for healthy seniors that include ownership of single-family homes.
What Many Seniors Want In Housing
Many seniors prefer to reside in a home they own rather than a multi-family dwelling what they rent. While they want to downsize, they do not need to or want retirement home living. Their ideal home profile might include:
– Affordability to meet the needs of lower and moderate income seniors as well as the more affluent.
– Plenty of space. Downsizing does not mean a one-bedroom apartment; housing may include two or three bedrooms to allow for hobbies, guests, and even future live-in help.
– User-friendly design that might include bungalow style living on one level and a small yard
– Flexibility to meet future needs, so that future aging in place is easy to accomplish with minimal renovation.
Finding New Alternatives
In Nova Scotia, options as described above have been lacking for able seniors, while affordable housing has been scarce for all age groups. A 2013 Housing Strategy for Nova Scotia laid out housing issues in the province and called for a partnership among local communities, business, and government to expand housing option.
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“Preparing to Downsize” Report
In the past, those who wanted to downsize to other single-family housing may have been forced outside their neighborhoods. This is a particular issue for seniors who may have lived in a particular area much of their lives. They may not only have roots there, but have convenient transportation options established to get them where they need to go, either by their own car, through public transit, or through friends or relatives who take them.
Upcoming Options In Nova Scotia
Developments currently under construction in Upper Sackville encourage aging in place with optional amenities such as higher comfort toilets and lower counters. Given the rocky geography of the area, some homes are built on a bluff that overlooks the woods and are built with energy efficiency and low environmental impact in mind.
The grounds of many communities encourage active living that promotes physical activities and opportunities to socialize with neighbors. Hopefully, this type of development will be the first of many in the area alternatives for seniors and others ready to downsize.
Prepare To Move On With Realtor® Roy Thomas
For many seniors, the first step to be ready to take advantage of new housing opportunities means selling your house first. If you are thinking of downsizing, talk with area real estate agent Roy Thomas, who can help you find an appropriate property as well as help you sell your current home.
If you are ready to sell your home for maximum value, the best place to start is by clicking here and scheduling an appointment.
Roy Thomas SRES® (Senior’s Real Estate Specialist) is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group Professional Realty. Since 1991, Roy specializes in helping retirees with their later in life real estate transactions. Call Roy at 902-497-3031 or contact Roy here
If you are a senior homeowner living in property that is too big for you and that no longer meets your needs, you may be reluctant to sell your home because the alternatives for senior housing do not appeal to you. Leaving your home means abandoning what is familiar to you, drastically reducing your living space, and giving up your independence. Fortunately, new trends in senior living promise appealing alternatives that make selling your residence more appealing.
Currently, the senior population of Canadians over 55 is growing so rapidly that this demographic is an important segment of the current and upcoming housing market. Developers, organizations, and property managers are taking heed of the trends, finding ways to develop solutions, and marketing them to older consumers who are ready to make a housing change but want a place that requires minimum compromise.
The Future Of Senior Housing In Canada
What marks likely housing choices of the future that make them more palatable to seniors? For starters, they will have less of an institutional feel. The needs of seniors vary, depending on whether they are able-bodied and alert or have limited mobility and memory loss, but regardless of their state of being, most seniors want surroundings with a more homelike atmosphere that have amenities more like hotels than institutions. Some amenities might include:
– Larger rooms that offer more living space, along with more room for wheelchairs and scooters that you may need in the future
– Appealing common space that expands the living space of individuals
– More activities that appeal to men and women
– More sophisticated fire and safety systems that may incorporate the resident tracking
– Advanced communications and emergency response systems
– Better heating and cooling options
– Flexible design that allows future reconfiguration to allow for mobility devices, automatic door openers, elevators, and other features that residents may come to need
Newly built senior housing will be attractive while incorporating universal design principles that eliminate barriers to make them usable to the vast majority of users. This means that the property might incorporate small changes such as lowering light switches, using door handles rather than knobs, raising electrical outlets, providing adjustable counters, and installing grab bars throughout or convenient.
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“Preparing to Downsize” Report
Other Alternatives Create A Homelike Setting
As designers and builders step up to meet the challenges with multi family alternatives many less traditional approaches are taking hold. For example, the “Babayaga” concept offers living accommodation to seniors based on the community pitching in to help other members. Typically located near transit and other needed facilities in the midst of a broader urban setting, homes offer comradery and support as a group of older residents of varying ages create a home together. Developed in France, the concept is taking hold in Canada as well: Babayaga Place in Toronto is one example.
Sell Your Home To Pursue These New Opportunities
While housing options that incorporate these desirable features will increase over the next few years, seniors who are considering making a change have options now to relocate to a homey, convenient setting. To take advantage of what the area has to offer requires selling your current home.
If you are ready to sell your home for maximum value, the best place to start is by clicking here and scheduling an appointment.
Roy Thomas SRES® (Senior’s Real Estate Specialist) is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group Professional Realty. Since 1991, Roy specializes in helping retirees with their later in life real estate transactions. Call Roy at 902-497-3031 or contact Roy here
Funding retirement housing can be challenging, but since 2009, when Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) were created by Canadian Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty, seniors can have one more resource to tap when it comes time to access assisted-living.
What Is A TFSA And How Does It Work
With a TSFA, individuals over 18 can contribute to the fund up to the current limit of $5,500 per year, an amount indexed to the Consumer Price index to allow for inflation. (For 2015, only, the limit was $10,000 with no account for inflation; previous limits were restored when the government was elected.)
The savings account can include cash, stocks, bonds, GICs, and mutual funds; your financial advisor can give you details about diversifying your account. The account does not replace the RRSP, the Registered Retirement Savings Plan that many Canadians have. Within RRSP, you have to pay taxes on money you withdraw and must convert the plan to an annuity known as an RRIF by age 71.
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There are no age restrictions on holding a TSFA. The program is often used in estate planning as it amounts to a tax-sheltered inheritance for beneficiaries. Having a TSFA does not impact any federal benefits or credits you might be entitled to, such as Old Age Security benefits, the Age Credit, or Guaranteed Income Supplement.
Benefits Of A TFSA
The beauty of the TSFA is that contributors can withdraw money at any time without having to pay taxes on the withdrawal. A Canadian who started contributing to the program at its inception, would’ve had $46,500 as of January 1, 2016. Spouses must have their own accounts and even contribute to a TSFA owned by their mate, which can double the amount of money available in a household. Baby Boomers in their fifties can accumulate cash reserves through this program which will offer them cash to use when they return
All this is good news for seniors who find themselves in need of going to assisted living or a nursing home, where monthly costs are high. Elderly homeowners often sell their homes to pay for their care, but having a TFSA in place ensures that when the funds from the sale of the house run out, there will still be money on hand. Funds for the Tax Free Savings Account can keep earning interest until they are needed.
TFSA offers seniors flexibility to meet whatever life circumstances occur. If, for example, one person in a marriage requires nursing home care, the other spouse can rely on what is in both accounts to pay for care, rather than immediately having to sell the family home to pay for the care.
Using TFSA As Part Of A Financial Strategy For Seniors
Even able-bodied seniors may want to sell their homes to alleviate the costs of maintenance and upkeep. You can put some of the proceeds in a TFSA and have it on hand when you need it. But financial advisors often suggest putting any money from the sale of your home that you don’t immediately need into a nonregistered account and then transferring $5,500 per person each year into a TFSA for future needs.
Looking to sell your home? Give me a call today.
Roy Thomas SRES® (Senior’s Real Estate Specialist) is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group Professional Realty. Since 1991, Roy specializes in helping retirees with their later in life real estate transactions. Call Roy at 902-497-3031 or contact Roy here
The average Canadian love owning their home. If you happen to be hooked on shows such as Property, Brothers, Love It Or List. It, or Holmes On Holmes, you know, quality renovations can pay off big when you sell, so updating your kitchen to gourmet status, opening up the floor plan, and investing in costly remodels seems like the thing to do. But, is it?
In Canada, money is cheap, and banks are willing to lend money to homeowners. If you are a baby boomer or senior citizen, there are several things you should think of before you go running to the bank to upgrade your home to make it livable for years to come. Not all renovations give you a great return on your investments.
Renovation Spending At An All-time High In Canada
When you look ahead to see where you want to live in a few years, borrowing to make the house suitable for aging in place seems like a great idea when the banks are making it easy. Recent statistics show that Canadians spend about $64 billion last year on a renovation, a figure that is double yearly expenditures in the late nineties and equal to about 4% of Canada’s GDP.
This spending reflects an extremely vibrant housing market, full of buyers who are willing to pay more to get a house in a desirable area that has popular upgrades. Some economists fear that either an increase in interest rates or a decline in housing prices will leave would-be sellers left with houses that are overpriced for the market. No one wants to owe more than the value of their home.
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Will Your Renovations Increase The Value Of Your Home?
While it is generally true for any home that has been renovated, the chance that you as the seller might not get a good return on your investment increases along with the amount you spent. If you added improvements that cost $80,000 in hopes of adding another $100-120,000 to the selling price, you might not get back any of your investment should the market tank.
Some renovations that homeowners add to their age in place property like ramps and walk-in baths pose additional problems for home sellers. While home buyers might be enthusiastic about buying a home with a first-floor master or new granite counter-tops, custom, dark wood cabinets, and stainless appliances, they may not want a ramp or elevator, lower counters, a walk-in bath, or other adaptations specifically made to accommodate disabilities or mobility issues. Upgrades like this can actually lower the value of the house. Transforming a property and removing these modifications can be costly to the seller or buyer. Who will pay for it? A huge unsightly ramp could detract from your home curb appeal and repel buyers.
Does Renovation Make Sense versus Selling Your Home?
When you are at a crossroads of deciding whether to sell your home or invest in renovations, these concerns can be boiled down to three questions that you need to ask yourself:
Are your desired renovations in line with what others in the neighborhood have done? Will they keep your home competitive without overpricing your home?
Are the renovations you want and need to make ones that would help or hurt your chances of selling a home, regardless of the market?
Homeowners need to ask themselves these questions, getting the answer right is especially important for seniors. For help in evaluating your housing choices, contact Roy Thomas, who can give you the facts and help you sell your home. If you are ready to sell your home for maximum value, the best place to start is by clicking here and scheduling an appointment.
Looking to sell your home? Give me a call today.
Roy Thomas SRES® (Senior’s Real Estate Specialist) is a REALTOR® with Sutton Group Professional Realty. Since 1991, Roy specializes in helping retirees with their later in life real estate transactions. Call Roy at 902-497-3031 or contact Roy here