By Graham Norwood
Frustrated sellers and savvy retirees are becoming ever more creative to seal the deal in today’s tricky market, says Graham Norwood .
Does retirement mean stopping the daily grind, kicking back and taking it easy? Yes, but first you need to decide whether you want to move house. Do you want to live out in the country, nearer your family, in a retirement community or just downsize to release equity?
Today’s uncertain housing market, with far more homes on sale than buyers on the prowl, means you must work hard to sell your property. But it is also a good time to pick up a better place than you ever thought you could afford. There are some serious reductions out there and a lot of bargaining can be done.
Don’t take our word for it – ask Simon Hirst. He has retired from a job in the City and wants to move but knows his former rectory near Honiton in Devon needs to stand out from the crowd.
Hirst has already reduced his asking price by £200,000 (it is now on sale for £1.3m through Savills, 01392 455755; www.savills.com) and is also giving away his £180,000 collection of antiques and paintings.
“That includes some Empire period candlesticks that I bought in New York in the Eighties and landscape paintings dating from the 18th and 19th century. They are valued at £5,000 to £10,000 each,” he says.
“Even the rugs are going to the buyer. They belong in the house and it would be wrong to move them anywhere else.
“I recognise how challenging the market is, yet I want to downsize, so the house has to go. The house has been on sale since May, and I have to try something new. Therefore a buyer is welcome to everything in the house, other than my personal effects.”
Selling a home in a specialist sector of the market is even more difficult for retirees such as Dr Andrew Pearson.
His four-bedroom house at Newton Ferrers, also in Devon, sits right on the water. In addition to beautiful terraced gardens and a summerhouse, it possesses the holy grail of riverside homes, a private jetty and quay (see above).
Even so, the property has been on sale for a year and has had a price drop from £2.75m to £2.5m (Knight Frank, 01392 423111; www.knightfrank.com).
Now there is something extra thrown in. “I’m going to give the buyer a Hagg 36ft boat. The design is a classic from the Fifties and Sixties and this particular boat is well known in the area. It’s worth about £25,000,” says Dr Pearson.
“The house is quite specialised. It will appeal to a sailing buyer who will appreciate just what it has to offer.”
It is a sign of how challenging the market has become when owners of beautiful homes are resorting to such incentives. The latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs show 79,000 homes were purchased in July, some 10 per cent down on July last year.
But while many younger sellers have the time, and perhaps the money, to wait until the market recovers, retirees are up against the clock. They want to make the most of their new-found spare time, hence the spate of deals and incentives offered to woo reluctant buyers.
Maximising property choices for older members of the population is becoming more important. A further 800,000 baby-boomers, born in the years just after the Second World War, will pass the age of 65 by the end of 2012. In the longer term, the proportion of Britons who will be 65-plus is forecast to rise from 17 per cent now to 23 per cent by 2034.
That population growth means it is more likely that older home owners may follow the unorthodox example now being set by people such as Elizabeth and John Manners.
The siblings, who are in their seventies, have not lived under the same roof since they were teenagers. Until now, that is.
They have each sold their own homes in Dorset and Berkshire, pooled their funds and bought a two-bedroom apartment in the Richmond retirement community in Letcombe Regis, Oxfordshire.
“It made sense. I had never married so lived alone, but was finding it more difficult to manage the house and garden,” explains Elizabeth. “John had just lost his wife, so we decided to get together again. We have separate interests but the move has released money for our later lives.”
Making the move was a lengthy process. “I sold my house first – it took some time – then moved in with my sister while she sold,” says John. “We then came here together. There are support facilities on hand if we require them, but the important thing is to live independently for as long as possible.”
One-bedroom apartments at Letcombe Regis start at £295,000 with two-bedroom homes from £535,000. The scheme, like many purpose-built retirement communities, has carers on site 24 hours a day. But most residents, such as the Manners, live in self-contained homes.
Family living of another kind appealed to the Simpsons, an example of what has become known as a 3G family, when three generations live under the same roof.
Margaret and Pete, in their sixties and retired, own a six-bedroom house in Ealing, west London. They were planning to downsize until they considered the plight of their grandson, Mike, 22.
“He’s just left college and has his first job based at Heathrow,” explains Pete Simpson. “He wanted a place of his own but couldn’t afford it. So we thought, 'Why not modify our home and get Mike and his parents in here too?’ ”
He and Margaret adapted their house, leaving themselves with a two-bedroom section. They converted the basement into a self-contained one-bedroom flat for Mike. Then they divided the main body of the house so that Mike’s parents, Sirana and John, could have a three-bedroom section.
“It’s not exactly a quiet retired life,” admits Pete. “For example, all five of us have Sunday lunch together if we can.
“But it’s lovely having everyone in one place, and it has avoided the difficulty of selling and buying in what has become a pretty difficult housing market.”
Some retirees step off the ownership ladder completely and rent, freeing their equity to spend on holidays or families. Market commentators say this approach is on the increase because it allows older owners to realise the capital that they have built up in their homes.
Many also use the equity to rent in a location where they may not have been able to afford to buy, while others help their children or grandchildren purchase homes to beat the current mortgage drought.
With the army of retirees growing in number, these new means of enjoying later life may become more commonplace in the future. And this looks set to continue even when the housing market eventually picks up.
In the meantime, those wanting to sell their home and buy the perfect retirement haven have to come up with increasingly novel ways of living their dream.
Buy the right home for your retirement
Check access to transport and what’s important to you – theatre, restaurants, sport or visiting family.
If you want to live near other retirees, highest concentrations are in Devon, Cornwall, Suffolk, East Anglia and the Yorkshire Dales.
If you’re considering the coast, visit during winter – some resorts close down – and check for flooding.
If you choose the country, does it get cut off in snow? Will it suit if you no longer drive?
Bargain hard. It’s a buyer’s market and money saved now will help later.
Check if rooms, doorways and corridors can be modified should you find it harder to walk?
Is the garden easy to manage?
If buying in a retirement community, check any service charges – they can be high.
Check if you can move away from a retirement community if it does not suit you. Some have exit fees.
Specialist advice services include the Accessible Property Register (www.accessible-property.org.uk) and Mobility Friendly Homes (www.mobilityfriendlyhomes.co.uk).
“I recognise how challenging the market is, yet I want to downsize, so the house has to go. The house has been on sale since May, and I have to try something new. Therefore a buyer is welcome to everything in the house, other than my personal effects.”
Selling a home in a specialist sector of the market is even more difficult for retirees such as Dr Andrew Pearson.
His four-bedroom house at Newton Ferrers, also in Devon, sits right on the water. In addition to beautiful terraced gardens and a summerhouse, it possesses the holy grail of riverside homes, a private jetty and quay (see above).
Even so, the property has been on sale for a year and has had a price drop from £2.75m to £2.5m (Knight Frank, 01392 423111; www.knightfrank.com).
Now there is something extra thrown in. “I’m going to give the buyer a Hagg 36ft boat. The design is a classic from the Fifties and Sixties and this particular boat is well known in the area. It’s worth about £25,000,” says Dr Pearson.
“The house is quite specialised. It will appeal to a sailing buyer who will appreciate just what it has to offer.”
It is a sign of how challenging the market has become when owners of beautiful homes are resorting to such incentives. The latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs show 79,000 homes were purchased in July, some 10 per cent down on July last year.
But while many younger sellers have the time, and perhaps the money, to wait until the market recovers, retirees are up against the clock. They want to make the most of their new-found spare time, hence the spate of deals and incentives offered to woo reluctant buyers.
Maximising property choices for older members of the population is becoming more important. A further 800,000 baby-boomers, born in the years just after the Second World War, will pass the age of 65 by the end of 2012. In the longer term, the proportion of Britons who will be 65-plus is forecast to rise from 17 per cent now to 23 per cent by 2034.
That population growth means it is more likely that older home owners may follow the unorthodox example now being set by people such as Elizabeth and John Manners.
The siblings, who are in their seventies, have not lived under the same roof since they were teenagers. Until now, that is.
They have each sold their own homes in Dorset and Berkshire, pooled their funds and bought a two-bedroom apartment in the Richmond retirement community in Letcombe Regis, Oxfordshire.
“It made sense. I had never married so lived alone, but was finding it more difficult to manage the house and garden,” explains Elizabeth. “John had just lost his wife, so we decided to get together again. We have separate interests but the move has released money for our later lives.”
Making the move was a lengthy process. “I sold my house first – it took some time – then moved in with my sister while she sold,” says John. “We then came here together. There are support facilities on hand if we require them, but the important thing is to live independently for as long as possible.”
One-bedroom apartments at Letcombe Regis start at £295,000 with two-bedroom homes from £535,000. The scheme, like many purpose-built retirement communities, has carers on site 24 hours a day. But most residents, such as the Manners, live in self-contained homes.
Family living of another kind appealed to the Simpsons, an example of what has become known as a 3G family, when three generations live under the same roof.
Margaret and Pete, in their sixties and retired, own a six-bedroom house in Ealing, west London. They were planning to downsize until they considered the plight of their grandson, Mike, 22.
“He’s just left college and has his first job based at Heathrow,” explains Pete Simpson. “He wanted a place of his own but couldn’t afford it. So we thought, 'Why not modify our home and get Mike and his parents in here too?’ ”
He and Margaret adapted their house, leaving themselves with a two-bedroom section. They converted the basement into a self-contained one-bedroom flat for Mike. Then they divided the main body of the house so that Mike’s parents, Sirana and John, could have a three-bedroom section.
“It’s not exactly a quiet retired life,” admits Pete. “For example, all five of us have Sunday lunch together if we can.
“But it’s lovely having everyone in one place, and it has avoided the difficulty of selling and buying in what has become a pretty difficult housing market.”
Some retirees step off the ownership ladder completely and rent, freeing their equity to spend on holidays or families. Market commentators say this approach is on the increase because it allows older owners to realise the capital that they have built up in their homes.
Many also use the equity to rent in a location where they may not have been able to afford to buy, while others help their children or grandchildren purchase homes to beat the current mortgage drought.
With the army of retirees growing in number, these new means of enjoying later life may become more commonplace in the future. And this looks set to continue even when the housing market eventually picks up.
In the meantime, those wanting to sell their home and buy the perfect retirement haven have to come up with increasingly novel ways of living their dream.
Buy the right home for your retirement
Check access to transport and what’s important to you – theatre, restaurants, sport or visiting family.
If you want to live near other retirees, highest concentrations are in Devon, Cornwall, Suffolk, East Anglia and the Yorkshire Dales.
If you’re considering the coast, visit during winter – some resorts close down – and check for flooding.
If you choose the country, does it get cut off in snow? Will it suit if you no longer drive?
Bargain hard. It’s a buyer’s market and money saved now will help later.
Check if rooms, doorways and corridors can be modified should you find it harder to walk?
Is the garden easy to manage?
If buying in a retirement community, check any service charges – they can be high.
Check if you can move away from a retirement community if it does not suit you. Some have exit fees.
Specialist advice services include the Accessible Property Register (www.accessible-property.org.uk) and Mobility Friendly Homes (www.mobilityfriendlyhomes.co.uk).
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