Head out in your caravan and stay a while in a few places to get the feel of them - then you have time to go poking around etc. My s-in-l thought they'd found the ideal place but once she went a few blocks back from the main road she decided it wasn't. You have to visit and re-visit sometimes. We found our place - it has 2 large doctors surgeries with visiting specialists, a good hospital and 2 bigger ones within 2 - 2.5 hours away. House prices are OK, beach is 8km away, bush is 5km away. Problem is it's 7hrs trip from the grandchildren. Ah well, can't get it all. But at least the climate is good. Oh, and there are age care facilities in town or nearby when we get to that stage. Haha
-- Edited by neilnruth on Sunday 20th of October 2013 05:34:07 PM
We have come to a conundrum....where to live for the rest of our lives?
We need a hospital and Doctors, this is most important. It must be around a population of 1,000 people and under, so rural.
We found the perfect house, but not in a town neither of us really like. We don't hate it, it's just not a town we don't want to live in, it does have a nice hospital and Drs.
As our youngest daughter will still be with us for a few more years, she has a little bit of say in where we go, but not much as this will be our last home and it's the one we want to live out our days in.
We are downsizing, so going from a 4-6 bedroom with 2 bathroom home to a 3 bedroom with 1 bathroom home. We might have our older daughter come move back home, but she doesn't care where we live.
I have been researching towns within a 150km radius of us, some are huge with hospital and Drs, small with doctors and no hospital, one is small with hospital and no Drs. Some we like and houses are the right price, some we don't and crossed them off the list. But it's so hard trying to find the right house in the right town with a Drs and Hospital in the town or within 10km of it.
I have just got to the stage where I just want the perfect house, and forget about the town, whether I am keen or not.... :(
What ticks the boxes for you for a home in a town/city etc?
We went through this last year. It took a while to narrow down the area to one where we liked the climate and countryside also the real estate was affordable.
Having decided on the coast south of Wollongong NSW, we went hunting. Drove around, stayed at various towns in the caravan or in motels. Like you we wanted medical facilities, and a big enough community to support essential shops so we didn't have to drive long distances too often for regular supplies.
Whilst driving down the dreaded Princes highway we pulled off to visit a little sea-side town just to buy a coffee, and fell in love with the peaceful ambience and friendly people. Much time was spent researching, looking on the internet real-estate sites, whatever we could find out about the place. It has affordable real-estate, was about the right size, has drs, dentist etc, but no hospital. It does however have an ambulance station and very helpful ambos. The house we bought is bigger than we wanted but very comfortable, and we have been doing a bit of redecorating etc. Don't think you'd ever find the perfect place that didn't need a new colour scheme to suit our taste!
Anyhow we love it so much we have become much less keen to travel, the caravan sat on the front lawn for 6 months.
My only advice is to keep looking, do lotsa research, but take note of when you just say "Ahhh, isn't this lovely"!
Thanks, not being near the grand kids is also a major factor. The fact is we are 20 minutes drive away from 4 of my grandchildren, but our daughter comes to visit about once a year, I go to see them every week or two. This is the town with the perfect house, but we don't really like the town. The people are nice, the shops are enough, 20 minutes from a major town, there are aged care facilities there. The Drs and hospital are the ones we go to now...it's just the town is not right. I could live with it if I had too....but do I want to?
I don't know....
We can't travel yet, as our youngest daughter is still with us, our van is only for two people. We have just about finished putting all our unwanted furniture into the shipping container. Not much more to go, then painting, tiles and flooring, then we can put this house up for sale.
We have decided to live in the van at our daughters place, while our youngest daughter lives in the house. She has her last year of school next year, so we will stay there until then. I am researching towns around the place, then we are going there to check them out. So we now have about a year to decide, while we live in the van. But we might have to get something sooner depending on circumstances.
I thinks you have missed the most important thing,,,, the people where you go to live.
You will probably, like most of us, need some support in the future,,, if one passes away,, impaired mobilty leading to no driving licence etc etc.
The things that you mention are all very important,,, but if you were an alien in any community as you get older it would IMHO be disastrous,,, especially as children would often feel obliged to provide added support.
We are going through the same process but not urgent for us luckily,,, well so far so good,,,lol.
Keep looking and if you find Nirvanna,,, please let us know,,, we'll follow.
Cheers Baz
__________________
Why is it so? Professor Julius Sumner Miller, a profound influence on my life, who explained science to us on TV in the 60's.
I agree Bazz, but it has always been very easy to get to know the people in the towns we have lived in, and believe me we have been in a few.
I do believe the only people you can count on are yourselves. I couldn't go to a town and expect anyone, family included to look after us. We feel if we have all the facilities available within the same town, Hospital, Drs, aged care, etc etc your half way there if you may need it. But to me the most important thing is the town has to make me want to stay...it has to be special.
I agree Bazz, but it has always been very easy to get to know the people in the towns we have lived in, and believe me we have been in a few.
I do believe the only people you can count on are yourselves. I couldn't go to a town and expect anyone, family included to look after us. We feel if we have all the facilities available within the same town, Hospital, Drs, aged care, etc etc your half way there if you may need it. But to me the most important thing is the town has to make me want to stay...it has to be special.
Grams
Yeh we agree with other here Grams,,, not looking for everything, but support to you will help,,,,, and the main point there was your kids need to know you are OK or it puts pressure on them, and if they are remote from you it could cause them unnecessary angst.
If you have support it counts IMHO.
__________________
Why is it so? Professor Julius Sumner Miller, a profound influence on my life, who explained science to us on TV in the 60's.
I have to disagree with you there...my parents moved away from us kids as they didn't want us near them...have no idea why.
I see my son, who lives 257kms away more than I see my daughter, who lives 35kms away. I don't feel my daughter has had any need to look after either of us. I can't imagine that would change. Neither of us plan on needing help for a long time yet...lol
I have no problems moving to a town where we know no one. We are trying to put ourselves in between so we will get to see the grand kids more often than we do now. I don't think what your saying applies to us or our predicament here.
Grams wrote....Neither of us plan on needing help for a long time yet...lol
Well, my brother didn't take out health insurance because they planned on staying healthy. Now he regrets it as he's had to fork out $thousands. No one knows what the next day will bring. What we plan may not necessarily happen. We were on holidays renovating our home to retire when my hubby had a massive heart attack 3 days before we finished....
WE downsized a few years ago because of decreasing mobility meant that I could nor do the lawns, climb the stairs and manage the steep block.
We moved into our unit that we were renting and had purchased a few years before in anticipation, the location was carefully chosen.
There are only two units on the block, but we now find that not being independent, as in, we have to be aware of the neighbor and the lack of pride she has in her garden/unit is getting to us.
So currently we are considering moving, hence the interest in this subject.
We have no ties and can live anywhere interesting, but would need those doctors/specialists/physio's and a hospital, which also means good shopping precinct.
Thanks Grams for bringing it up and good luck with your search.
Oh incidentally, I have always been very active and thought I would be OK. The wife insisted we keep the top coverage of health insurance. I visit the physio three times a week and have done so for the past three years. Cannot be cured so maintenance is the answer to retain mobility.
Ken
-- Edited by Landfall on Monday 21st of October 2013 07:01:50 AM
Yes Ken it is a good subject, it has been on our minds for a while.
Les and I are both Diabetics, I'm Type 1, he's type 2. I had a heart attack 2 years ago, so now have a bad heart. I can't manage stairs anymore, as this is what this house has. The house is too big for me, and the gardens are too big for Les. At the moment he is still working full time at 68, but hopes to retire as soon as we have the other house.
There are very rustic towns in the area, like Jamestown, Les likes Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta. I like Burra, we both love the town we are in, great people, but it doesn't have a nice hospital and I don't understand what the Dr is saying (he has an accent and I have a hearing problem), so we have been goi to the next town for 5 years now.
We don't want to go any closer to Adelaide than Clare, so we are looking a bit further north of this, in the north, northwest and northeast directions. Some of our specialist appointments are in Adelaide. Some of the smaller towns run a country transport system, so you pay a donation and you get driven to your appointment and back home again. Some run a bus service for this reason, so we are looking into this too, as there might be times when Les can't drive me or him there.
We're a bit like Ken - bought the house we wanted in the town we loved and now 5 years later new renters moved in next door and whilst not intolerable it is a bit uncomfortable at times.
But back to what Grams asked, I'd suggest that in SE Qld there are many towns that fill the bill, Places like Nanango, Proston, Oakey, Killarney, Pittsworth, Warwick and dozens of others. Houses can be as low as $125000 at Proston. All have medical help and whilst a long way from the beach, they do have sandy creeks and an easy pace of life. Most of these small towns welcome newcomers with open arms especially retirees who have the time to help with volunteer groups.
I'm sure each state has similar towns.
Good Luck.
We went to see a house in Jamestown, looks great from the outside, stone home, Baltic floors, open fireplace in the master bedroom and wood burner in the lounge, sounds great...until you come to the enclosed (not professionally) back veranda that houses the bathroom, toilet, laundry and the kitchen is one upright oven and one cupboard with a sink...no room to add anything. Real estate agent thinks if you have a spare $50,000 you could expand the back area and make a new kitchen...Umm yeah!
Still looking...I look at each house on its own merits. I look at each town and find out what they have in them, then I realise. Nothing compares to the house I have fallen in love with....even Les is staring to compare them.
Great topic and one that is exercising our minds at present..........daughter & family have sold their house a few week ago for very big money, but being in Sydney they also have a large mortgage to service on settlement day. So mother & daughter were chatting recently & it was decided that they could use our place until a decision was reached of where to buy.....needless to say this was my perfect opportunity to become a serious "Road Warrior" while family looked after the bricks & mortar plus contributing to our welfare in return for a roof over their heads. This all occurs shortly and much to my surprise Mrs W has publicly stated that she won`t be unpacking again once they have departed, which leads us to an interesting dilemma of where to go.....have checked a few Retirement Villages in our area and while nice what do we do with a 4WD, passenger car, caravan & boat ?? plus all those regulations and monthly fees...uuggg not for me just yet or ever perhaps.
Son is not happy at all with the decision to move out and travel (again) but this has been normal for us these last 5 years, but not for extended periods of time. Any mention of a move away to a country location brings a long sad tale of friends parents who did the same thing and were unhappy......I think the aged parents had a great time and it was only when ill health intervened and the children needed to do some miles to make sure the parents were ok....these are valid points, but in the end we shouldn`t live our lives through our children, not for me.
So this journey will be an interesting adventure and one we are both keen to get started and yes we will be looking for that special place with a view to purchase......for comparison purposes only all the single bedroom apartments have been sold with prices around $350k, 2 beds inc garage $420-450k and 1 x 3 bed plus study & garage at $560k, monthly fees $1000/1250 and all very well finished.
-- Edited by whiteman on Friday 25th of October 2013 12:39:16 AM
