Are You Retiring?

Manufactured home estates and residential parks - a great option.

Manufactured home estates and residential parks provide a much needed source of self-care retirement housing that is not always available in the "Bricks and Mortar" sections of the market.

Self-care housing estates for seniors provide a wide range of services, facilities and lifestyle choices, including leisure and recreational opportunities, that are not restricted to define "retirement villages" but extend to communities united by age and need.

Compared with legally defined retirement villages, manufactured homes estates and residential parks offer a number of significant advantages including:

• self-care retirees mostly own their own home
• generally, there is no deferred management fee on departure
• new homes are half the cost of comparable retirement village self-care units
• no legal or hidden costs
• rent assistance reduces weekly fees for eligible pensioners
• NO stamp duty, NO entry fees, NO exit fees

Importantly in the manufactured home estates and residential parks the well accepted concept of home ownership continues in to retirement, as distinct from the variety of legal and financial arrangements offered by self-care retirement villages. Quite often, strata and company title, loan and licence agreements and leasehold are not well understood by seniors, which can lead to confusion and stress when trying to understand who is responsible within the retirement village context.

For those who decide to leave a manufactured home estate and residential park at a later stage, the only deduction from the sale price will be a commission if management acts in the sale of the home. This is significantly less than the deferred management fees applied under many retirement village contracts, where a deduction can be as high as 50% of the original contribution. This difference can amount to tens of thousands of dollars to a departing resident or their estate.

Manufactured homes and residential parks put high quality homes within the reach of seniors, even those with limited means. It is often the case that a single senior lives in an older owner-occupied dwelling which only returns land value when sold an thus higher priced self-care retirement village units are often out of their financial reach. New manufactured homes offer these people a chance to buy and live in a standard of home they may never have enjoyed in the past.

Manufactured home estates and residential parks can also work for those who currently own a substantial residence by allowing them to sell and capitalise.
The available funds can finance their new home and free up more money for them to enjoy their new retirement lifestyle.

For those eligible for a pension, site fees in manufactured homes and residential parks almost always mean qualification for rental assistance from the Government.
(there is a qualifying amount of pension above which rent assistance is paid. This figure is adjusted quarterly and up-to-date information can be obtained from Centrelink)
Rent assistance for site fees does not apply to those who own a self care unit in a retirement village.

Although current NSW legislation does not recognise the significance of this retirement housing option, manufactured home estates and residential parks will continue to play a very important role in the self-care retirement industry.

While still within the Residential Parks Act, manufactured homes and residential parks provide a large percentage of elderly citizens with high quality housing and comfortable retirement lifestyles.

Macquarie Shores Home Village, on the Central Coast, should be at the top of your list when investigating and inspecting this retirement lifestyle option.