While buying a property, prioritise security, lifts, power backup, and senior-friendly staff and skip luxury extra facilities.
Opt for properties slightly outside the city centres where rates are lower to balance affordability and access to essential services.
Prefer completed properties over under-construction ones to save on rent from day one
Seniors often rely on their retirement corpus to cover most of their expenses. For big-ticket spending, such as buying a car or buying a home, they need to plan a separate corpus many years before retirement, and still, it's not guaranteed that they’ll get a home within the budget. However, a little financial juggling can help you get a home within your budget.
Choose Between Senior Living And A Regular Property
Are you looking for a senior living home or a regular property? While a senior living home comes with all the comforts, support, and amenities that senior people may need, they may be costlier compared to a regular home. In a senior living property, you have to pay for the facilities provided with the property, even if you don’t use them. For example, the cost of the clubhouse, gym, health care, etc., is usually included in the cost of a senior living home. However, if you don’t want to avail the facilities that are provided with a senior living home, you may explore a regular property. A regular property may suit people who plan to live with other family members and don’t need old-age socials or amenities.
Focus Only On Essential Amenities
When choosing a property, look for one that has essential amenities as per your requirements and no extra amenities loaded with it. Properties with too many amenities may cost you more, and their maintenance cost are also higher. Don’t compromise with essential amenities and facilities such as security, lifts, power backup, senior-friendly trained staff, etc.
Choose Location And Property Size As Per The Budget
Often, properties that are a little distant from the city centre are cheaper. You may list out the locations where you plan to buy a home and the property rates in those locations. It will give you an idea about the size of the property that you can afford to buy in the listed locations, according to your budget. Avoid buying a home too far away from the city, and also avoid buying a home that is too small for your family to live in. Try to balance out the size, price, and location in such a way that it fits your budget.
Avoid disturbing your retirement budget when buying a home in your old age. If you are not able to get a home within your budget, you may live in a rented apartment till you find one. Prefer buying a ready-to-shift home to buying a home that is under construction.
This article is written by an independent financial journalist.
