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HOW RETIREMENT VILLAGES CAN INCREASE OCCUPANCY

By Trish Willis | Member of the NZ Property Institute

If Retirement Villages reduced wait time between initial visits and new residents moving in they could increase occupancy rates. One way to do this is by helping facilitate a smoother transition between the family home and the village.

To help with this, prospective (and often indecisive) residents and their families can utilise the Downsizing Guide below which has been designed to protect Senior Citizens between the 'thinking about selling their home stage' to the 'moving into the retirement village' stage. It guides them through a process which demands numerous important decisions they will need to make.

DOWNSIZING HOME MADE EASIER FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

For over a decade, we have assisted many seniors downsizing. Alarmingly, advice and information for senior citizens downsizing includes almost everything they need to know - except about selling their homes and how to do this safely - after all, real estate is one of the least trusted industries in New Zealand. Find out here why senior citizens are at risk when selling their homes.

This multi-agency tool below provides retirement village operators, trustees, lawyers and families with the most reputable resources that help seniors sell their homes safely, make the move sooner and with less stress than usual.

Click anywhere on this image to follow the process of downsizing - made easy.

Practical advice for retirement villages

An older person has confirmed they want to purchase one of your retirement units but need to sell their home first. You can now show them where to start selling their home so they can move into your village sooner rather than later.
You can provide them and their helpers with the easy to use chart above which centralises the most reputable home sale resources and advice from Government, societies, boards, trusts and other helping bodies.
You can also advise them a free real estate agent vetting service is available to help protect them. If it helps, please feel welcome to make a call from your office while they are with you to our free phone 0800 789 532. We can start with a conference call together, all transparently.
We can work with families, lawyers, friends and other agencies that assist senior citizens. It is surprising how many seniors go through this alone and have never sold a property before.
To find out more, give us a call on 0800 789 532 or email our Director at trish.willis@wiseup.nz. We operate nationwide and it's a genuine free service.

What do we know about downsizing?

While the retirement village average age may be getting younger overall, the more senior among them often haven’t sold a house in 20 to 50 years if ever.

Many are widowed and making property decisions alone which makes them more reliant on a real estate agent’s conduct, service and advice. This can make them feel vulnerable and at time bullied into signing agency agreements without all the information they need.

Informed about the issues seniors face when selling up

Having supported many senior citizens through the real estate process, we have acquired much - occasionally alarming - information from them over the years about the usually stressful process of downsizing to a retirement village.

We have also made many presentations to seniors' groups including Widows and Widowers Associations, Rotary and Probus Groups, so we are informed about the issues this generation faces.

Seniors can be better informed about selling their homes.

Trusting generation facing a fast paced world

Senior Kiwis tend to be a trusting generation and don't like to put people out or make a fuss if things go wrong.

Add to that the paperless, digital world and a fast changing real estate environment and seniors can get muddled with the process, and can make the wrong decisions.

Here at Wise Up NZ, we're developing a whole section dedicated to helping senior citizens downsize with the support and care they so deserve.

Issues faced by seniors

Not knowing where to start.
Anxiety about parting from their beloved home where many memories were made.
Not knowing who to trust to help them - elder abuse is not uncommon in New Zealand.
Inexperience at selling property making them vulnerable in today’s real estate environment. Some have never sold a house before, in particular women. In their day, this was something that husbands usually did.
Lack of understanding of legal information/implications of legal documents they will need to sign.
The complexities of different types of retirement village legalities and services, or how it will all work for them.
Reliance on the real estate agent's performance and conduct.
The impact on their physical and mental health.
Resistance by family members to the move due to the financial impact on the eventual estate.

Seniors can be taken advantage of by real estate agents arriving on their doorstep uninvited.

It is against the Real Estate Agents Act for a real estate agent to put anyone under pressure to sell and any undue pressure can be reported to the Real Estate Authority. Get In Touch.

Win-win situation

We can help improve your occupancy rate by helping older citizens downsize with care and protection - and they get to live where they desire.

Got a question? Make an enquiry

Article updated July 2, 2024 | About

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Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and not intended as a substitute for specific professional advice on any matter and should not be relied upon for that purpose.