Moving after 60 – how to find the best retirement option for your lifestyle

Packing up and selling your free-standing home where you raised your children to move into a retirement place is a tough move to make. To help make this daunting decision a little easier, Just Property answered some common questions to shed light on the various options out there. Take a look:

Old age home or retirement village – what is the difference?

Old age homes:

• Communal accommodation: Usually seniors will have their own bedroom, but will share bathrooms, a dining room and visitors’ lounges.
• Medical facilities: Old-age homes are sometimes referred to as nursing homes as there is daily assistance for the elderly who need it. Medical facilities/services are normally provided; however, the standard can differ from home to home.

Retirement villages:

• Independent living: Usually you have the choice between a free-standing home or an apartment. These come in different sizes and configurations and may include garages or carports and the option of a small garden.
• Lifestyle facilities: Generally, retirement villages are geared towards offering various options to encourage an active and social lifestyle for the over 50 age group. This includes community halls for entertainment purposes, various common areas (parks, gardens) as well as sport options. Most offer medical facilities and services, and some villages also offer frail care facilities.

Do you need assisted living or frail care and what’s the difference?

• Assisted living – This is suitable for a person who still wishes to live in their home and be fairly independent, but may require a little assistance with daily tasks. Help will be supplied with daily living activities but not nursing. It is usually possible to hire a carer at your own cost should nursing be required.
• Frail Care – If you need medical care on a daily basis, frail care is the best option. Often your doctor will suggest the need for frail care if you require daily nursing services. Most care facilities will assess the patient prior to admission to ensure that the frail care facility is able to provide the required care.

Life rights, sectional or full title – how do these ownership models work?

• Life rights – You are buying the right to live in the house or unit for the rest of your life, in accordance with the housing development scheme for Retired Persons Act, but you do not own the property. The life right transaction is not processed through the Deeds Office, as ownership remains with the developer. Life rights cannot be transferred and can only expire on the death of the holder.
• Sectional title – This option is the same as any other sectional title transfer (purchaser owns the home) and is registered in the Deeds Office, attracting attorney transfer fees and transfer duty if the purchase is over one million. The purchaser or their heirs must pay a percentage of the resale value to the levy fund.
• Full title – Similar to the sectional title, the purchaser owns the property, but it can be sold easily as it is freestanding.