Lifestyle Choices - 10 Questions Baby Boomers Ask (2)
Asheville Real Estate Journal
For Baby Boomers making lifestyle choices, an understanding of appropriate solutions in perfect nest building and maintenance is important. Yet, how would you define “appropriate”? If you are a high-flying Boomer who demands sustainable innovation and enduring excellence, that could mean you demand high performance building strategies to make your perfect nest a comfortable, healthy and affordable place to live.
It could also mean that you implement strategies to reduce energy and water usage, promote renewable energy use, help protect the land and natural resources where the home is built, and reduce pollution and the waste of natural resources during the manufacturing and construction phases and throughout the life of your feathered nest.
And then there is the question of MOVING. .or BUILDING. . or ???
To Move or Not to Move . As Boomers are making choices about Moving (or not) toward (UN) retirement, a number of questions seem to arise- especially around the issues of home improvement and a spending plan for updates. Frequently Baby Boomers ask about ways to ensure being comfortable over the coming years. Possibly that is why conversations about planning for “aging-in-place” come to the fore- and with those conversations, the worthiness of universal design elements.
Baby Boomers have demonstrated a desire to gain insight into the value of sustainable innovation. (Note: In terms of industry planning, this suggests strong employment opportunities for skilled workers who can upgrade/modify homes to accommodate changing needs as we age.) Research shows that any number of Boomers who had planned to retire and move to a different home have taken a step back from making that decision. Many of my clients confided that the recent financial crisis not only took a toll on the equity in their homes but on their retirement accounts, as well.
Here is Part 2 of my series on Lifestyle Questions Baby Boomers Ask
Question 2. Can you predict what age group is likely to buy our home? And in what kind of housing (age of home and condition) are future buyers likely invest?
Answer: YES there is a certain demographic- that being 20-30-something individuals and their families. Many Baby Boomers have been in their homes for many years, and, like previous generations, many will turn over their homes to younger buyers.
In terms of the age and condition of our homes, the Boomer Generation tends to live in more recently built housing- typically built from the1960s and 1990s. So a good number of our homes are around 20-50 years old. As far as the condition goes- many Baby Boomer homes will be in need systems updates, remodeling, and repair.
Here's an interesting tidbit from The Joint Center for Housing Studies- Harvard University .
It seems that recent remodeling activity in houses built in the 1980s and 1990s shows that "...suburban housing stock lends itself to remodeling activity." So, in answer to
what kind of projects Boomers may choose to consider here is a list from the Harvard study.
1. Updating kitchens and baths
2. Increasing energy efficiency
3. Reconfiguring rooms
4. Updating heating and cooling systems
5. Enlarging garages
6. Adding decks,
7. Adding rooms for offices, gyms, or other activities that were not a part of typical home life when the homes were first built will continue to be demanded.
NOTE: Some of this remodeling (perhaps even the majority) could well be done when/if selling a home.
But what if you prefer to "Age in Place"?? Stay tuned for Part 3
© 2012 whd atwww.WhiteHair365.com
10 Lifestyle Choices and Questions Baby Boomers Ask
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