Why Should Retired Seniors Downsize from a Home to an Apartment?
Posted on June 21, 2009
Filed Under Apartment Living | 18 Comments
While it is not the easiest thing to move on to, there is going to come a point in time when retired seniors must face crucial decisions. One of the many decisions that you will face is moving on and leaving behind your home. Instead of moving into a retirement home, downsizing to an active adult apartment home is ideal for seniors looking for an independent living lifestyle.
Even moving into an apartment can be a difficult step, but planning early can make things far easier. It will allow you to prepare for what is to come and smooth things over when it actually happens. This is not to say you should plan on moving out years before it actually happens, but knowing what to expect can make things easier on you.
Relocating to a different place can be sad and confusing at the same time for retired seniors. However, it is important that you do not feel like a burden if you lean on family and friends for advice and support. These are the people that care about you and want what is truly best for you in the future.
Moving to an apartment can have a number of perks that you may not even think of. It will free up equity which is capital that you can use to invest in order to give you interest or dividends that you can use to supplement your income. It will make retirement much easier as living expenses will be far less than in a home. You will no longer have to pay property taxes, home owner’s insurance, and apartment living will free you from maintenance expenses as you will have full time maintenance at your fingertips anytime you need them (no more paying plumbers, painters, electricians, etc.). You will also be free from the tedious chore of lawn maintenance or from the expense of paying someone to do lawn maintenance for you. In addition, many senior apartment homes will save you money by offering such things as FREE high speed internet access, cable TV, fitness centers, etc.
Also, at times, it can feel lonely living in a large home filled with items rather than people. Moving into an apartment will make this easier and allow you to feel less lonely since apartment living places you in the midst of people on a daily basis which presents the opportunity to meet many new people and make new friends. With your new friends, you can truly live your life the way it is supposed to be lived as a retired senior.
Something you will face when moving into an apartment is disposing of belongings that you won’t be able to take with you to an apartment. Because an apartment is normally smaller than a home, chances are that it will not be capable of holding everything that had fit into your home. However, on the bright side, this gives you the opportunity to share sentimental items with others close to you. You can hand down various sentimental items to children and grandchildren that they too can pass down from generation to generation.
Moving out of a home that you may have lived in for many years is a difficult step to take in life. However, retired seniors have to look at the many positives that can come from moving into an apartment home. Take into consideration the benefits listed in this article as you move on to the next step in life.
Watch the video related to apartment living expenses
Help answer the question about apartment living expenses
What kind of expenses will I run into living in a single apartment? Also could you give an estimate of cost?Im trying to brainstorm what my expenses will be. Ive got the obvious ones like rent, food, gas, electric, cable/internet; but I will be on a fairly tight budget and would like to know everything that may come my way.
About Author
Shirley Clifton with MAX42 writes various articles for the apartment rental industry including The Overlook at Oxon Run, an affordable apartment home community in Washington, DC.
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18 Responses to “Why Should Retired Seniors Downsize from a Home to an Apartment?”
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dude, you own! this looks identical to a photograph
Since you have no credit it's unlikely you will be able to get a loan on your own. If your parents are willing to co-sign for a private student loan, that money will be sent to you and them directly and you can use that for living expenses.
Private student loans, like federal loans offer an option to defer payments until after you leave school. However they have a higher interest rate than a federal student loan. As such you should borrow smart with them. Only take out the absolute minimum you need. Shop the lenders for the best rate and fees at sites like http://www.studentloanconsultants.com and check each of the lenders website for specific information about re-payment and discounts that may be available.
I'd approach your parents and ask if they'd be willing to pay for the living expenses and let you pay for the tuition. Then you could apply for federal student loans after completing your fafsa. If you get a federal student loan you wouldn't need them to co-sign although you'd need to show their income if you are still a dependent under the federal guidelines.
It depends very heavily on your area, especially the rent.
Where I'm at:
Gas: $30
Electricity: $30ish, it varies around there.
Water: it is paid for by the apartment in my case. Check your contract.
Internet: is also paid for by the apartment here. Other local places its $30.
Rent: My share is $225. Total for the whole apartment: $675 Other local apartments go from 400 total to 1000 dollars and up.
Other things to consider:
Land-line phone bills, cable if you want it, any type of insurance you may want to get, transportation bills, etc.
If you're renting from a corporation, watch out for annual rent increases. Renting from a private party (aka, Joe Shmoe's basement) avoids that, but then Joe Shmoe might have kids that have to be asleep at 8:00 pm sharp, so choose your battles.
Loans for students help the student to deal with all the expenses that are to be incurred during his education phase like it includes entire cost of the student’s education from tuition fees, accommodation, books, and computers to transportation and many more.
http://student-loans-info.50webs.org/
Many Banks, financial institutions, online lenders etc are ready to offer the loans for students. But students considering their precious time and finds easy to via online as it provides easy access than other source. There are a large number of requirements other than college or course fees.
http://loan-house.we.bs/studentloan.html
Some of the most crucial are computer expense, hostel charges, and books and so on. The best college student loans are one which comprises all such expenses. But, to qualify for any such one, you have to give it your best shot as far search is concerned. Such purpose can be accomplished by exploring World Wide Web. You will find an innumerable number of lenders offering college student loans.
Dear dnice:
You will need to do 2 things to make this work.
* Get a Roomie~
* Find a job that pays DOUBLE!
Good Luck!
Awesome work Williamsshamir
Great video.
Much love Kat
I'm going to start from your list. Rent-I live in Iowa we have studio apartments for rent that are 450 per month with all utilities included. I suggest renting something like this because it means you don't have to worry about six different bills. But if there isn't any available in your area you will have multiple bills. Rent, hopefully renters insurance (usually very very low, here it is less than 20 per month) gas 20, electric 50-75, WATER40-50, cable 30-40, internet10-50, PHONE 35-40. Food for one person should be low 200 max. Also like the other people said transportation-car, insurance, gas etc.
If you are in college you may want to reconsider. If I moved off campus I would lose some of my financial aide.
It really depends on where you live and the kind of amenities you want.
Hope this helps
i use photoshop
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wich program he is for doing this ? beside a tablet ofc
Inexpensive local rentals can often be found in either the local paper (in this case, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal) or Craigslist.
I did a search in the J-S for rentals under $600 per month within 10 miles of Oak Creek and got 55 possible rentals, down to $425 per month, and rooms for rent as low as $350 per month for a single room with a kitchenette.
Craigslist had apartments in Oak Creek as low as $525 per month. (I'm not sure what you consider "cheap".)
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HOLY CRAP! Comparing this to the original picture, they’re identical!
It depends on the size of the apartment and how you arrange to pay for them. Some will cover all utilities, some will have you pay for water or electricity or both.
Usually, you can call the power company and ask for the most recent year's average bill on electricity.
awesome, keep up the good work!
If you have any money left over after your tuition and books are paid (or if they are already paid) yes, your school will give the money to you (usually a few weeks after school has started) to do with as you wish.
Room and board is just a generic term and yes, it can be used to supplement your rent and utilities and such.
Try to ignore all the spam. Every time someone asks a question about a loan, they explode with horrible companies wanting you to borrow from them at high interest rates.
Yes, you can use your student loans to cover any direct or indirect costs you incure because of school attendance. That includes the cost of paying your rent and all your food and bills. The problem here is that it could be difficult for you to get a private student loan without a cosigner. Federal backed student loans like the Stafford loan do not require a cosigner.