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When you decide the time has come to sell your family home and move to
a retirement village, you will most likely have to choose between sectional
title and life rights options.
And there are quite a number of factors you will need to consider
in making the decision, says Keith Nash, sales director of Sable
Homes, the developer of the Retreat at Hazeldean retirement village to
the east of Pretoria.
The big advantage of a life rights purchase, for example, is that
it will usually be cheaper than sectional title unit. On the other hand,
a sectional title purchase gives full ownership of the unit, subject to
the rules and regulations of a body corporate, and owners get the full
benefit of the appreciation of the value of their property.
Sectional title buyers are acquiring an asset that they can leave
to their heirs or dispose of as and when they please.
Another plus for the life rights sales method, however, is that it keeps
the development company involved in the retirement village, because it
is the actual owner of the units and has a vested interest in maintaining
their value. This ensures the proper management of the village - and the
delivery of promised facilities such as community centres and frail care
units.
Such facilities are very expensive to build and run, and many people
who have bought retirement units on a sectional title basis have been
disappointed because the body corporate could afford to not provide them.
Buying on a life rights basis is a way to prevent this from happening,
says Nash.
What is an even more important consideration, however, is what on-site
healthcare services and facilities are provided in the retirement village
you choose, what access you will have to those services as you age and
what they will cost over and above your monthly levy. This is especially
relevant if you will be on a fixed income in retirement.
It is definitely the case that not all retirement villages are
created equal when it comes to healthcare, says Nash. Most
offer access to emergency assistance and many make provision for a healthcare
professional to visit the village for consultations once or twice a week,
or for residents to receive home care of they are recovering from an illness.
But there are very few that offer proper Mid-Care or Assisted Living
facilities for elderly people who need ongoing assistance with physical
tasks such as bathing and getting dressed, and with managing their medication,
but still wish to retain their independence and privacy. And it is essential
that you choose a village that does offer Mid-Care, unless you want to
face the prospect of moving again at an advanced age and possibly in ill-health.
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