# Would you buy this retirement home



## Kadee (Nov 26, 2017)

I live in a quiet country town surround by farming land, where cereals like wheat ,barley oats ,canola lentils are grown 

 I live is about 2 hours drive from the city of Adelaide ( South Australia ) 

Last week we attended a meeting to inform the community about a retirement village that’s being set up 10 minuites walk from my home ,

Well my hubby and I personally wouldn’t touch them  as we see so much that in our eyes is not really  suitable for seniors .

The homes are transported to the site 

The first issue we noticed, on attending the meeting was,  each Home will have steps front ,back and on the side of the homes to step out of the home into the carport .

Secondly you never own the land ,which I believe is the normal for retirement village’s 

The Homes start at $260.000 for a single bedroom home ,then you pay a weekly rent of $190 ,with the rent going up 3% each April ...

You are obligated to paint the exterior of the home at your expense every five years ,with today’s costs being $3.000 
and if you don’t like the rules you are permitted to move “your home “ to another location 
This is the one bedroom Home still under construction to add a carport and a ramp at the front entrance


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## dpwspringer (Nov 26, 2017)

No I wouldn't. Seems ridiculous even considering the currency exchange.


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## jujube (Nov 26, 2017)

Definitely not at those prices!


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## Don M. (Nov 26, 2017)

This deal sounds like a huge rip-off....designed to make some developer rich by fleecing Seniors.  I don't know about prices in Australia, but here that would be a very bad deal.


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## Marie5656 (Nov 26, 2017)

Well, I do see the makings of a ramp in one of the pictures, so maybe that would be an option?   That being said, I am not sure I would want to invest in this.  For myself, I would rather rent in my older years than own a home.   The prices do seem high.  I would pass, too.


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## AZ Jim (Nov 26, 2017)

Gawd NO!


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## Getyoung (Nov 26, 2017)

Almost $10,000 / year in rent for the site, and then that is guaranteed to increase by 3% ($300) a year, mandatory painting every 5 years is another $600 / year at today's dollars. Sounds like a bad deal for an owner and a GREAT deal for the developer.


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## Kadee (Nov 26, 2017)

Yes that’s the way we looked at it one big huge rip off ...with the prices of the land , they will always own  .if you bought the block of land ,yourself ....at those rent prices you could pay it off and own it in 7 years .so we seen it as paying off the land for them ..

To get a smallish 3 bedroom home/ land  built here that you would own ..it would be about $320.000 in comparison to these “shacks “ 

I have  to say about the ramp Marie ..I worked with people with disablites for more than 25 years and allot can’t walk up ramps for the fear of falling backwards ..

We are fairly fortunate we are reasonably fit for our ages 71 ,70 But you never know what the future holds and I certainly wouldn’t ever think about anything with steps or ramps .

..Hubs and I say it will be interesting to sit back and watch just how many get conned by this developer ..( they have 195 blocks ) they are saying oh but it’s going to have a outdoor pool and community hall ..for the residents and the whole estate is going to be fenced ...

I’d hate that I’d feel like a caged lion having to go to a certain gate to (get out ) 

We went to Victoria for a holiday about 2 years ago at the invitation of our 
friends who have time share ,the location was former aged care units ( flats ) it was fenced and if you wanted to walk out of the compound rather than drive you had to go to the one and only gate ,weaving around all the little streets ..I hated it


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## Kadee (Nov 26, 2017)

Getyoung said:


> Almost $10,000 / year in rent for the site, and then that is guaranteed to increase by 3% ($300) a year, mandatory painting every 5 years is another $600 / year at today's dollars. Sounds like a bad deal for an owner and a GREAT deal for the developer.



That was Three thousand dollars to get the outside of the Home painted .....Get young...We are about 500 mtrs from a beach so Homes need more maintance because of sea air and as the owner you are responsible for the entire upkeep .,the only thing they will maintain that’s included in the rent is your front yard ,which you are restricted to gravel / stones and a couple of low maintance shrubs


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 26, 2017)

I would never buy it, seems like you pay the money to buy the home, then you still have to pay rent (ever rising) and maintenance, and you don't even own the land it's on.  A lot of people where I live don't paint their homes every five years, and they would force you to do that.  Then they dictate to you that you need gravel in your front yard instead of grass.....bad deal all around in my eyes.


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## Marie5656 (Nov 27, 2017)

Kadee46 said:


> I have  to say about the ramp Marie ..I worked with people with disablites for more than 25 years and allot can’t walk up ramps for the fear of falling backwards ..


I have worked with people with disabilities for 30 years myself.  Plus, my hubby and I just had a ramp put in.  With railings, and a minimal pitch, a ramp would work.  You do not want it pitched so steep that there is that fear of unsteadiness.   And for those seniors like myself and hubby, we both use a cane, he sometimes uses a walker, the ramp is a Godsend.


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## Butterfly (Nov 27, 2017)

I would certainly never buy one of those.  First off, the house looks like junk, and secondly, the deal is a HUGE ripoff.


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## Goldilocks (Nov 27, 2017)

Wow, I think the shed in my yard is bigger.  Definitely would not pay the amount they are asking.


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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 30, 2017)

Why, when buying the home would you be required to pay rent? None of their "selling points" are attractive. They made an offer I'd definitely refuse.


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## Happyflowerlady (Dec 1, 2017)

OneEyedDiva said:


> Why, when buying the home would you be required to pay rent? None of their "selling points" are attractive. They made an offer I'd definitely refuse.



My understanding is that you buy the home itself,  but you rent the land that the home sits on; therefore you are paying lot rent. 
We have a similar thing here with trailer parks (mobile home parks). You can purchase the mobile home, and then you rent the lot from the landowner. You have to follow the park rules, and usually the park takes care of groundskeeping to make sure that grass is mowed and the yards are kept nice. 
This development seems to be operating on the same basic principle, except it is much, much more expensive. As was mentioned, you would be able to own your own home for less than you pay for living in this development and still have to rent the property that your home sits on. 
Definitely doesn’t seem like a good deal to me, either.


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## OneEyedDiva (Dec 2, 2017)

Happyflowerlady said:


> My understanding is that you buy the home itself,  but you rent the land that the home sits on; therefore you are paying lot rent.
> We have a similar thing here with trailer parks (mobile home parks). You can purchase the mobile home, and then you rent the lot from the landowner. You have to follow the park rules, and usually the park takes care of groundskeeping to make sure that grass is mowed and the yards are kept nice.
> This development seems to be operating on the same basic principle, except it is much, much more expensive. As was mentioned, you would be able to own your own home for less than you pay for living in this development and still have to rent the property that your home sits on.
> Definitely doesn’t seem like a good deal to me, either.


Thank you Happyflowerlady: I had read the post then went on the read others' replies and forgot about the land part. Hell I've seen where HOA fees for luxury condos cost less and the owners do not have to do their own maintenance.


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## HiDesertHal (Jan 6, 2018)

Absolutely NOT!

The two of us have to have at least 2800 sq. ft. under our slippers and 3/4 acre to put it on!

Hal


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## Manatee (Jan 6, 2018)

Decades ago Florida passed a law prohibiting "land lease" condos.  Unfortunately they did not make it retroactive.  Mobile home parks can still rent the land.


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## Kadee (Jan 6, 2018)

I don’t know a great deal about retirement homes ,there is another group of retirement homes in the town 4 km away from where I live .They are brick veneer homes .

I know when you “buy”  them you buy a licence to live there not the actual home.

I don’t know what the ongoing rent or what some Call maintance fees are in comparison to the ones I started the thread about. 

I seen a sign out the other day while in town that they start at $200.000 to buy the lifetime licence 

I don’t believe you get all of your money back if you sell , or when your family sell after you pass away.

We were curious at one stage and we went on a bus tour a retirement village in a place called Victor Harbour, they supplied a bus as well as lunch to promote the homes they were trying to sell,

VH is about an hours drive south of Adelaide City ( South Australia ) We live north 2 hours north of the city ..

Anyway , we learned on that day trip ,you purchased a home in that village  for around $300.000.
the weekly maintance fee was apporox $60 ..and if you wanted to sell the management decided what your home was worth and they sold it ( if they could as there was heaps of empty homes at that location waiting to be sold ) and you or your family 
got about haif the original cost of buying it after all,their fees and charges were decucted


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## Chucktin (Jan 12, 2018)

I can't see anything attractive in that deal.
Wifie and I are retiring this year, have purchased house and 1.5 acre lot, purchased outright. Yes we have to do own maintenance, etc. Prefer it that way. When I pass she will probably sell all to live in rabbit-warren senior platz. Ugh! She's welcome to it.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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