Last month we discussed: The Dealing with Difficult People series of books. This month we will discuss: Retirement vs 50+ Villages.
The woman had no knowledge about how a Retirement Village operated until she met a man who lived in one. She learned that the village property (including the land under the homes) was owned by a management firm who set the rules governed by the Queensland Retirement Village Act 1999 that heavily favoured the village landowners and not the retired people who had bought the properties on it.
The residents had to pay for their homes (most between $400,000 and $500,000 in value and because they didn’t own the land, they were not able to obtain a mortgage so had to pay cash for their dwellings). In addition, they paid a residency fee per month to the management firm.
If residents found that they did not like their neighbours, became too ill to live in their home or didn’t like the environment of the village, they would have to forfeit up to 30% of the value of their property PLUS 50% of the capital gain since purchasing their home if they chose to sell their unit and had to upgrade their white goods. Although most of the residents had taken their option to buy to a lawyer, most of these lawyers were not aware of the hold the management firm would have on their everyday lives.
For instance, if an additional person was to stay in their unit overnight, they had to report this to the management firm. Management’s reasoning for this was that they needed to know this information in case there was an emergency in the village. However, the residents did not have to tell them when they were not home overnight, so the management would not know whether anyone was home if there was some kind of emergency. So, this ruling was rather pointless and embarrassing to those couples wanting to visit overnight.
The problems began when one of the residents lost his wife to cancer, started dating another woman and learned he had to let ‘mother’ (the management firm) know every time she stayed overnight. Serious problems started when the couple decided to live together in his unit. They were told that the woman would have to sign a Long-Term Guest Licence and pay $750 for the 3-page document. Management advised her to have a lawyer check it over.
They changed three paragraphs in the agreement because they were illegal. The major one said management was not responsible if she were to become injured while on common property. She would also have to pay stamp duty even though she would not own the home or the property.
Management refused to change the clauses, so she was forced to find another property nearby to rent for six months. The relationship failed and she moved back to her home city.
She later moved into a similar residence that was a 50+complex. There was a small fee to transfer the title of the unit and if another person began living there, she would have to inform the resident manager. If she wished to sell, she would list the home for sale on the complex website and pay a normal real estate fee.
So which kind of complex would you move into?
Roberta Cava is a best-selling author of non-fiction books. She has written 70 books that can all be ordered via Amazon Books worldwide. She lives on the Gold Coast of Queensland in Australia.
To order her books: Go to amazon.com then click “Books” and under Search put “Roberta Cava” (which will bring up all of her books).
To contact Roberta Cava or Cava Consulting, please send an e-mail to cavaconsulting@ozemail.com.au