Not for me.

My limited experience with body corporates makes me wary......great opportunity to be bullied if not done properly.

At least retirement villages have attracted the attention of governments and regulators, and this while perhaps not perfect, makes me feel more secure.

If and when I need to go into care, it will be because I need equipment or services that wont fit in a caravan, or a unit or a house.

No, not for me, but interested in the discussion.

Interesting comments Rosie.
I agree about Body Corporates.
My experiences with them going bad is when people with different aims and ethics are involved. Which is why I currently live in a separate house.

The examples of multiple occupancy I have looked into start with and insist on people with matching ideals.
Perhaps that is why they have worked so well for decades.

As well as what we have seen in the media about poor aged services they can be very expensive.
My mother's mid range facility needed a bond of $450,000 plus $6,000 a month. This does not cover everything.
When she first moved in it was brand new with good staff and facilities.

Four years later the staff numbers have dropped and the facilities are wearing out.
They keep building more and more self care units with rising prices and the people who need higher care have their services cut.


Hence my reason for opening this discussion.
Diana

In a word NO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET2zQ6-HkWw

-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Thursday 13th of December 2018 03:22:48 PM

Great idea Diana in theory...but how to make it work...full power to you and your idea if you can make it "work"...

I had mates in the late 70's who were into back to earth festivals etc...some purchased a large Nursing Home on acreage at Mt Barker S.A....and took separate multiple rooms etc....theory was the kids were better raised in Community etc...they purchased their Groceries Wholesale and set up small Supermarket within the 'Home'...I was their Banker who oversaw their 'Enterprise'...going swimmingly and the intention being they could all grow old together...many were Highly Educated...Chemist, Academics, etc etc..the ONE thing that brought the whole Enterprise undone was their ages...Human Nature being what it invariably can be....they all started 'Argy Bargy' with each others wives etc......terrible situations developed and it all unravelled/ disbanded..


My point being: it was their ages and the stage of their lives that brought them undone.....we won't have those same problems now will we???.....or we will certainly be more discreet..Lol

I always harboured the thought that one of the small Victorian Towns which were going backwards, and houses were going for a 'song'/unwanted....a group of 'like minded' could have quietly gone in and started purchasing homes discreetly so as not to raise prices....set up dam for water....alternative power off the grid.....have a carrot growing specialist, tomato,potato, onions specialists....learn all about One thing and become a specialist....not hard that way..at our ages.. ...etc etc...barter systems....our own Representatives on local Council to represent 'Our' interests....not the greedy vested etc...


Only rules would be no former Politicians...no big heads/egomaniacs.....there for the right reasons....all could look after each other whilst you travel etc....and even later in life actually caring about each other's health issues.....Trust/Genuine Caring.....seems to be so hard to find today.....why?...greed/power/Its all about 'Me'....


It could work.....Baby Boomer Underachievers....rich in life's capacity if not rich financially....""We're in"!....which Town?.....hopefully one near Goldfields..I'll teach you all how to prospect for Gold...another little possible earner...keep you all fit anyways....


Good luck Diana....don't let the 'Sooth Sayers' bring you down..Hoo Roo.

-- Edited by Goldfinger on Thursday 13th of December 2018 11:49:04 AM

-- Edited by Goldfinger on Thursday 13th of December 2018 11:53:33 AM

Back in the seventies, there were several properties each around the hundred acres down in the Oberon Shire set up by a group of women where the members bought land as Tenants in Common - there were some very down to Earth women amongst them - some built Adobe type dwellings, humpies and shacks, complete with a gasometer that made methane gas from pig manure. Solar power was unheard of commercially other than water heating. Some may remember an American soldier that went AWOL in Vietnam and was found living with five (from memory) "wives" complete with multiple children each, those women were part of the group. It ended up as a hippie commune and original owners sold or gifted their lots. It was a great area but really totally "öff grid" in more ways than one - I still see some of the originals occasionally, they all appear to be fit and well living with herbs and potions as their only medical system. And of course they are all recipients of age pension now, so life is a little easier for them.

Be great if it could work, but for most it cant. Human nature gets in the way, always someone dominates, always someone ends up down the bottom end of the pecking order.

There are loads of options in theory for this, from on call nurses shared amongst a group of 6 individuals, through to cooks, drivers, the whole kit and kaboodle. Quite simply the more people the more room for conflict.

Shame innit!


Good luck finding people you can fully trust implicitly with your whole lifestyle for the next 30 years or so. Even couples fail at the rate of circa 40 to 50 pct.



Got to admit personally I think sharing "things/lifestyle/costs" in later life is far more difficult than in ones earlier years. I took a look at a couple of over 55 places and the proximity to neighbours/shared facilites/contained world, totally freaked me out. Was surprised at my own intense flight and run reaction actually.

I have lived on a smallish block of units for 3 decades. It is well run but it is tough due to the politics, but in the end most things work well but you have to keep on top of things. Have also been on the Committee for a very long time. Even though we have an administrator we quite often get our own quotes, better work & cheaper prices.

We also had a third world war with the admistrator over building insurance. We reduced our building insurance from over $7k to a bit over $4k. The administrator didn't like it as they were not getting their commission any more! Also make sure you have plenty in the sinking fund, most buildings don't have anywhere near enough. You will need, safety report, asbestos report, valuation report, fire safety report etc on a regular basic. Fire extinguishers etc checked every 6 months & certificate sent to council annually. I had to follow 6 monthly check-up as is had not been done for over a year.

If you can't change you own light globes you will need to get the electrician in everytime at great expense, same with smoke alarms batteries. Not to forget to change the actual smoke alarm every 8 years as they also have a use by date stamped on them. Leaking taps & blocked plumbing or leaking roof, a plumber everytime.

We do our own garden & these days with a hand push mower, works really well. Did use a gardener & cleaner, it was a constant battle as after a few months the quality of work dropped then we would replace them again. I could not live where I do without living in a unit so have to make sure things work well put the effort in. Luckily a new recent owner is good but that is not generally the case.

Some interesting ideas in here.

Not completely sure the model would work, but the "through life stage" discussion is one worthy of having.

As an E.g. You might start with a "community" of aging (but not necessarily "aged") people, who put a certain portion of their income into a central (properly managed and accounted for) "pot". As they age, this "pot" is then used to provide for assisted in-home care, and group activities, allowing people to stay in their own home for longer, while still enjoying the company of others.

Later, via a "transition to care" arrangement, these people might progressively move into *something* else, whether it be a communal-style thing as mentioned by the OP, or into a retirement home (initially independent living, but with on-call care and in-home assistance, and later into full-time care).


*shrugs*

The biggest issues (as alluded to by others) are:

1) Finances. How do you set something up so that people pay a small proportion of their incomes, say from later working life, so that it can be invested on behalf of the group, and then returned in the form of accommodation "bonds" or similar?

2) Human nature: There are always people who want to impose their will on others. There will always be people who form "cliques" and ostracise others. What starts out with the best of intentions, can quickly break down, as in one of the examples cited above.

3) Regulatory: How the venture is "framed" will impact on how it is regulated. There will always be some do-gooder Department or other wantin to stick an oar in, and add red tape (and hence cost) to pretty much ANY venture, so that also needs to be considered.

4) Lead time: The time to be setting something like this up is well before it's needed. Get the finances sorted and invested TODAY, so that with contributions and returns, it is available for use when people are aging (rather than having people needing to sell up/liquidate in order to afford large up-front sums, or pay "break costs" later. Trouble is, how many "younger" people have the foresight - or even the ability - to plan for and finance something that far out on the horizon...?


Still, some kind of community along the lines of what Goldfinger suggested sounds interesting. Not sure about having single "specialists" in certain fields (sounds like several single points of failure to me), and there would still have to be provision to pay for younger, more able "help" for certain things as the general cohort ages, but still...

Definitely an interesting discussion.

Whenarewethere wrote:

---

Worth reading this from ABC before thinking about a retirement home of any kind. Frightening stuff!

https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-26/regulators-gone-missing-in-retirement-village-industry/8647990

---

 We had a close look at the 'over xx' village market earlier this year and decided that it was not for us.

The ABC link in this post refers mainly to Federal Legislation.

In Queensland there is a set of strong legislation that covers these villages.  I have a copy of it somewhere & at the time studied it very closely.  The villages that we visited provided copies of their contracts or the then required Public Information Documents, that complied with the legislation.

Despite this, there is absolutely no way that WE would be happy with this option, though we have several friends who are very happy in their villages.

Points that we didn't like included ..

On exit sale, the Operator was entitled to 9% of the Sale price for the first 4 years of occupancy.  (ie 36%)

As well they were entitled to 50% of any capital gain but no exposure to capital loss.

They were to be the sole Sale Agent.

The property was to be returned to 'as new' condition ready for sale with any non-wear & tare work at sellers cost.

Monthly fees to continue until sale (But limited to perhaps 3 mths . but not sure of that time frame).

The unit that we were interested in was on the market at circa $700,000 with monthly fees of $700, which didn't include power of communications.

And on & on it goes.

Oh yes .. If you were assessed at not being self-sufficient, even with the aid of in-home care then you were required to move out.

A great investment for the 'Operator' especially with the over 60's Village.

 

As to the OP's proposal that seems to seek to be outside the ambit of the legislation, I would be very wary of any arrangement that relied on goodwill/nature of ageing occupants on such a vital part of my life.   A very strong legal (and therefore costly) framework would be required before I would even consider it.  Then there would be the previously mentioned likely future intervention by Government Instrumentalities.

Sorry to be so negative.  But that's how we feel.

 

 

 

Great idea but can't see it working, at least for me. When you get too old/ill to look after yourself, you will have to move somewhere with help unless you have someone devoted who will care for you. I did this for my mother but don't expect anyone will do it for me.

-- Edited by Lily2018 on Friday 14th of December 2018 11:18:20 AM

Whenarewethere wrote:

---

If you are bed bound one of the best things you can get is an alternating pneumatic mattress to prevent bed sores. They have rows of air tubes and every third row moves in a wave upwards to move the blood to maintain circulation. They more very gently so you do not really notice any movement

---

I have to say: I designed the control electronics and software for the original patent unit and subsequent production version sometime around 1986 in the UK - we called them "ripple beds" at that time. The company later also produced a similar principle cushion for wheelchair users. They are a truly wonderful device for people who are prone for long periods. I used an Intel 8048 microcontroller and wrote the code in assembler.

Diana + Mike =problemo solvered...however you can no longer contribute to the Solo Threads.....Lmao...Good luck.....I think Jules and Billleeee teamed up on here..=great relationship.....Hoo Roo

-- Edited by Goldfinger on Friday 14th of December 2018 02:31:05 PM

Mike Harding wrote:

---

Goldfinger wrote:

---

Diana + Mike =problemo solvered...however you can no longer contribute to the Solo Threads.....Lmao..

---

Goldfinger: I thank you for the thought and I have no doubt Diana is a gorgeous and highly companionable lady... but I doubt she, or any other woman, would put up with me for more than one week... at most! :)

---

 

 

Hey Mike ,are you saying you're hard to get on with .

We are all individuals.
Just like everyone else. lol

All this being said, I will continue with my current plan and who knows what can happen in the future.


For the record I am an heiress, underwear model and my dad owns a brewery!!!!


Diana :)