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Seniors have many reasons
for moving to
a new home. However, when it comes to comfort and convenience,
knowing what home features to look for can ensure they will be
able to age in place in the new home. That’s why you need this
guide to help you find the perfect home for your golden years.
Search for Senior-Friendly Homes
When you are looking for a safe home, you need to start with
determining how much house you can afford. To give yourself a
ballpark estimate, use an online tool that examines your
location, annual income, monthly spending, and other factors.
After you’ve entered the necessary information, you’ll have an
idea of how much you can work with.
Once you’ve finished there, you can move on to the next crucial
elements: reliable information and professional expertise. You
can use the former to help you make better financial decisions
around this major purchase. Using online tools, you can easily
access critical information about local housing markets to get a
better idea of what price you can expect to pay for a new home.
Knowing average home prices and other market information will
clue you in as to how much wiggle room you can expect in terms
of making an offer. In a very competitive market, that wiggle
room is minimal. So, you need to act fast, and you need to have
a real estate pro to help you with your search to not only
assist you in finding the perfect home at the perfect price, but
juggling paperwork, putting in offers, negotiating, and so much
more.
Think About Exterior Home Features
As you look at potential homes, you need to keep safety and
convenience in mind. Seniors can age in place more comfortably
in a home that requires less maintenance and upkeep, so keep
this in mind when you are looking at listings. Try looking for smaller
homes,
which will have less yard and less square footage for you to
worry about. The smaller the home, the smaller the property
taxes will be as well, which can help you stretch your
retirement dollars farther. When looking at the listings, you
should also pay attention to landscaping
features.
Low maintenance yards are easier for older adults to tend to,
and ample exterior lighting is safer as you age in place. Try to
avoid unsafe stairs or steps without railings, too, to help
avoid falls as you enter and exit the home. If you need a
threshold ramp, you can buy one at Home Depot for
$81.86
(2019 price).
Look for Interior Home Features
You can apply some of the same concepts when looking for
interior design elements in potential homes. Safety and
convenience are key here, too, so you want to select homes that
are ideal for aging
in place and
feature senior-friendly details. For instance, houses with wood,
linoleum or rubber flooring throughout (rather than tile) make
it easier for seniors to move around without risking serious
falls. Lower countertops, open floor plans and mobility perks,
such as elevators and ramps, are also home features that can be
highly desirable for senior home buyers. Look for ways you can add
safety features as
well such as adding grab bars and refinishing tubs/showers to
prevent slips and falls. As you view homes with your realtor,
you may also notice smart home features are becoming more
common. Certain
smart tech can
actually help seniors stay in their homes longer, so houses that
feature smart lighting or home security systems may be worth
moving to the top of your potential home list.
Consider Neighborhood Safety
Aging in place in a comfortable home can help preserve a
senior’s quality of life, but it’s also important for older
adults to be able to age in community. Age-friendly
areas are
ones in which seniors can feel just as safe and supported
outside of their homes as they do inside them. In these cities
and communities, older adults have more access to
transportation, accessibility accommodations and senior services
that can make daily life more manageable. Since falls can be deadly
for seniors,
small details around a neighborhood can matter as well, like
having even sidewalks and safe paths through local parks. So
focus your search on homes with-aging in-place features, but
don’t forget to pay attention to neighborhoods, too.
Seniors deserve a safe, comfortable home. Make sure you know
what features to look for and what information to research when
house hunting. The above steps can make finding the perfect
aging-in-place home much easier.
Article Submitted (2019) By:
Janet Campbell
http://elderspark.com/
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