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March 6, 2019 — The appearance of a pair of bills in the Florida legislature has brought the issue of short term (usually vacation) rentals to the fore. It is a complex topic, and one that has powerful constituencies on both sides. The purpose of this survey is to find…
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Category: Green Retirement Communities
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 20 - Laundry rooms and energy-saving features such as Energy Star appliances, windows and whole house certification are among the most wanted home features, according to survey results from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). NAHB surveyed nearly 4,000 home buyers--those who have either recently purchased a home or plan to purchase a home within the next three years--ranking 175 features based on how essential they are to a home purchasing decision. The survey was done among home buyers of all ages, so the results might differ somewhat from retiring baby boomers. You might want to keep these in mind whether you are looking for a new home or planning on improving your existing one.
The top 10 features also included home-storage needs, such as garage storage and walk-in pantries, as well as hardwood flooring, a patio and exterior lighting.
Housing trends across the board include a continued decline in the average home size and decreased demand for upscale features such as three-plus-car garages. In 2018, according to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the average home started declined to 2,576 square feet--down from its peak at 2,689 square feet in 2015--driven in part by increased production in townhouses, which comprised 14 percent of new home starts. Over in the UK, we've been following housing prices fluctuate by using this free tool from TheAdvisory called PropCast.
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Category: Home and Garden
November 7, 2018 -- In our younger days we baby boomers did our bit to change the world. Now that most of our working days are behind us, will we revolutionize retirement living too? This article will review how retirement living options have changed since our teen years, and then we will prognosticate on what might be coming down the road, as the last baby boomers reach retirement age (they hit age 65 in 2031), and turn the baton over to Generation X in 2032.
Retirement, back in the day.
Prior to 1960, when Sun City Arizona opened, your retirement living options were pretty simple, probably occurring in stages. You could live in your own home (with a caretaker if you were well off), move in with one of your children, or go to a retirement or nursing home. The latter tended to be pretty bleak- surrounded by a lot of old people, maybe lucky to get your own room. Amenities tended to be limited.
The original Sun City Show Home
Sun City introduced the active adult community (or 55+ community) to the world, and it has been super successful. To give you an idea, from that single community in 1960 there are now thousands; in fact there are 3,761 communities in our Topretirements database, and at least 80% of those could be classified as 55+ or active adult. We
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Category: Downsizing
By Barbara Ross and Bill Carito
October , 2018 --
I recently calculated that my husband and I, either solo or with other family members, have emptied eight houses in the last ten years. Like many people our age, this has included helping elderly parents downsize from big old homes, emptying their second homes, and finally, emptying their downsized homes when they were gone.
The spring/summer of 2017 was the trifecta. We cleaned out my mother-in-law’s chock-a-block full apartment following her death, helped our son and his family move from Connecticut to Virginia, and moved ourselves from Somerville, Massachusetts to our dream retirement home in Portland, Maine.
One task remained
We bought my mother-in-law’s big, beautiful Victorian sea captain’s house on the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine from her in 2004 in a transaction so complex, I took to calling it “Momitrage.” As a part of the whole deal, she moved into a lovely
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Category: Downsizing
March 23, 2018 -- Are you one of the many people who have been carefully amassing, polishing, and preserving all kinds of collections for posterity? Here is some really bad news - nobody wants it but you! As one furniture dealer, speaking about early 20th century goods, commented, “It’s never coming back.”
Recent articles in the New York Times and the NextAvenue.org blog highlighted this sad issue, which then generated an avalanche of emotional comments. It is very hard for people to part with objects that represent emotional or sentimental ties with the past. Many people develop feelings of guilt about losing objects tied to their ancestors, while others go into denial.
Here are some of the top 10 treasures that you might love, but nobody
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Category: Home and Garden
October 10, 2017 — Every year we update our 2010 article, “Snowbirds Leaving for the South – A Checklist” with more lessons learned from our experiences. And better than that, we are always getting more great tips and practical suggestions from our Members. Check out “Snowbirds Leaving for…
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Category: Home and Garden
October 3, 2017 -- A whole lot of Americans are about to face a crisis as they enter retirement. Three quarters of Americans between 55 and 64 have less than $30,000 saved, according to the AARP. About half of baby boomers are looking at a retirement that is powered only by their Social Security checks. Since Social Security was designed as a safety net, not a luxury retirement, those checks will not be not enough for a comfortable retirement. In past articles we talked about different ways to cope with a retirement income shortfall. In this installment we explore an option that might be your salvation, if you find yourself in a budget-challenged retirement.
Get a Housemate or Roommate!
About one third of baby boomers are single, which certainly makes it easier to think about having a roommate. Couples can usually make a shared living arrangement work too. Millennials and GenX types are blazing new roommate trails as they start their working careers, so there is no
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Category: Home and Garden
The Mystery of Decluttering...Recipes @LucyBurdette
August 16, 2017
By LUCY BURDETTE... Over the past 4 to 6 weeks, I've been involved in what one might call "productive procrastination." This means using the inspiration about cleaning stuff out of my house that I found here to actually clean stuff out of my house. This most often happens when I am stalled on my writing. (Why is it that cleaning is so appealing when a person is hammering out a first draft of her new novel?)
We've made multiple trips to the clothing donation box, more trips to
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Category: Home and Garden
Aging-in-Place Remodeling, Minor Modifications Gaining Popularity, According to NAHB Survey
-- May 1 -The past five years have seen increases in the number of remodelers engaged in aging-in-place home modifications and home owner awareness of these types of remodeling projects, according to a survey by NAHB Remodelers, the remodeling arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Released today as a kick off to National Home Remodeling Month, it also revealed that simple and less costly modifications are
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Category: Home and Garden
By Patricia Kennedy
March 21, 2017 -- I am pretty tech savvy for an old lady. This isn’t an idle boast because even way back in 1984, I began learning all-things-computers by helping my husband setup a network to link our home offices. It turned out that my organizational skills and compulsion to “follow the logic” were great advantages when mastering new software or installing the latest laptop. I remember that itchy-fingers feeling when downloading a new program finding great satisfaction when everything was finally up and running smoothly.
But that was then.
Now is more complicated. Especially with all the inter-connected “devices” that we rely
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