Buying a house is perhaps one of the best decisions of your life, and undoubtedly the biggest. It becomes even more significant if you are planning to buy after your retirement. The fact that you are not employed anymore, that you do not receive any pay check on a monthly basis, or physically not very active goes a long way in affecting the decisions you make at this point in time. Having said that, there’s no denying how the basics of buying a house in your forties and fifties is practically the same. It’s all about finding the right kind of location, setting a budget, analyzing your expenses, choosing connectivity options – these are things that require utmost modification at a later age. In other words, when buying an apartment or house after retirement the chief concern should be your body and nothing else. Here are a few expert tips to make your life easy when buying a residential apartment post retirement.
Locality is of paramount concern
When looking to buy a residential property after retirement, locality plays a major role. While there are many who choose to settle for a house in somewhere far away from the city, it is important that you check for basic amenities like healthcare and transportation before making a purchase. When you don’t have a hospital, clinic, groceries market or public transportation at proximity, it would actually incur increased expense, which in the long run is never a good idea. At an old age, it’s all the way hectic to travel long distance to get supplies for your home and might also cost you more. A good idea would be to buy an apartment that is within a gated community where typically one can get everything inside the complex and do not have to run around for basic supplies.
An abode that supports your ageing process
A home after retirement should never be purchased from the perspective of a vacation or a getaway settlement. For instance, when buying a house it is important that you buy an apartment at a lower level. Anything between ground floor and the second level should be good choice as you don’t have to break staircases to reach your apartment. Although, while choosing an apartment after retirement, you should consider a building that has an elevator, choosing a floor closer to ground level helps immensely if you have knee problems that renders difficulty while walking and climbing stairs. Also, you should check if the building has access to wheelchair, walk in showers, ramps and anti slip floors with grabbing bars all over the place. Settling for a house that is old age friendly also costs you a lot less as it typically falls a little off for the millennial or the younger generation who are are looking to buy an apartment for investment and not for residing needs.
Limiting spaces for you and your partner
The grandeur of a huge living space is always tempting. However, when purchasing a 2 or 3BHK apartment after retirement it is never a good idea to spent all your savings or the lion’s share of it after one single purchase. Instead the approach should be to settle for a limited space for you and your partner. If you are stuck between choosing two different apartments, it is advisable that you go for the smaller one. Not only it will cut down on your budget but you will be able to make efforts into maintaining your house later on and pay for cleaning maid and other such expenses.
Always remember that buying a house after retirement should never be an investment that would burn a hole in your pocket. Instead it should be a peaceful choice to spend the rest of your life without any hassle. Someone might have said rightly and most aptly, less is more. Truly!
Take monthly expenses into consideration
While paying in lump sum is always a good option, majority of house buyers opt for monthly payment as they procure a loan from a bank. However, while buying an apartment after retirement it is necessary that you take your monthly expenses into consideration before you make a down payment for purchase. List out all your basic expenses and how much you spend on the same. Rest, strike out all expenses that you don’t need or doesn’t really affect your lifestyle. Now, run a final calculation so as to ensure that all monthly expenses can be taken care by your post retirement savings. Don’t forget to deduct taxes as well when you make you final list. These days, senior citizens can enjoy a string of benefits offered by the Indian Government in the shape of interest rebates as well as other benefits to help senior citizens with their post retirement investment.
Buying a house after retirement is not something that everyone would do; especially, when people choose to own a home way earlier in their early thirties. However, buying a house post retirement is not entirely a bad plan, if you can manage things and have enough retirement savings to take care of medical expenses which forms a large part of post retirement expenses.