[mylittletibbies]

I am retired and living in a rental unit. I recently moved as my rent increased 100% a week. I am a widow and have been an excellent tenant, but I'm afraid that doesn't account for anything.

So sorry for you, some landlords are just so greedy . Excellent tenants are hard to come by, he should have been grateful
Hope he gets his karma with his next tenant, serve him right for being so greedy

 

[Geoff8]

Wife and I moved into an over 55’s retirement village 5 years ago. We downsized from a 4 bed and a huge garden and now have 2 beds and a small garden. The community here is fantastic and quite a few have caravans and travel every where and come home again, some go for upto 4 months but at least they have a home to come back to. We pay around $400 month which covers the rates, gardener and building insurance and water. We only have to pay electric and house contents and we are on the pension.

 

[Caravan2022]

We live permanently on the road and have been for about 14 years We will keep travelling for as long as we can and when we can not travel anymore we would be very happy if we could find a park to stay permanently Our van is an apartment on wheels and has everything we can possibly need Happy happy nomads

 

[MJFlack]

With no family support and a limited income I can imagine myself ending up in a small pub one bedroom. Right now I'm enjoying the old house I rent. Been here for 22 years. Turning 65 this year will mean a need to consider what the future might hold. At least life is never dull.

 

[Catherines]

Wife and I moved into an over 55’s retirement village 5 years ago. We downsized from a 4 bed and a huge garden and now have 2 beds and a small garden. The community here is fantastic and quite a few have caravans and travel every where and come home again, some go for upto 4 months but at least they have a home to come back to. We pay around $400 month which covers the rates, gardener and building insurance and water. We only have to pay electric and house contents and we are on the pension.

Perhaps it’s time to carefully re-read your housing contract with your village. Not saying you will eventually be behind the eight ball, but some (may even be most) of the contracts of these retirement places state that you only own the house while you live in it, but not the land. And most have an exit fee when you leave or when you die and that fee could be quite exorbitant. Please re-visit your contract with this place carefully with legal assistance, if you can. I sincerely hope you don’t get scammed. The advantage is the company and friends you make in these communities, I agree.

One place near me charges for the house on entry (land is the village owners), you pay monthly fees (like body corp fees in units for maintenance of the grounds and other facilities - this one is about $500+ in addition to electricity & gas which you also pay), then on your death or on leaving they charge you a variable fee upto 34% of your entry cost if you’ve been there 7 years or more. That’s a huge amount that your children or beneficiaries will lose upon your death. One of the main reasons we refuse to move in to one of these places is this exit fee. We own our home, everything in it so our children will benefit from the sale on our deaths, and apart from legal fees to prepare and execute a will (& agents fees to sell - normal with any sale) our hard earned finances will not be going into someone else’s pocket just because we lived there (& paid for services while living there); all other expenses are normal on death & sale of property. Agreed you won’t miss the money on death but if you have children it could be a huge benefit for those you love who could be struggling in the current housing climate and cost of living. Good luck - I hope you don’t get scammed out of your hard earned cash over so many years.

 

[mylittletibbies]

I moved to the country 18 months ago and love it.
Lucky to own my own home. It's a 1/4 acre block with quite a large garden.I am 76 now and carer to both my husband and daughter. I am still healthy, apart from arthritis, but guess I really need to think more about the future as I have to realise that this situation cannot gone on forever, that sooner or later I will not be able to cope.
Problem is my head thinks I'm still 20.

Perhaps it’s time to carefully re-read your housing contract with your village. Not saying you will eventually be behind the eight ball, but some (may even be most) of the contracts of these retirement places state that you only own the house while you live in it, but not the land. And most have an exit fee when you leave or when you die and that fee could be quite exorbitant. Please re-visit your contract with this place carefully with legal assistance, if you can. I sincerely hope you don’t get scammed. The advantage is the company and friends you make in these communities, I agree.

One place near me charges for the house on entry (land is the village owners), you pay monthly fees (like body corp fees in units for maintenance of the grounds and other facilities - this one is about $500+ in addition to electricity & gas which you also pay), then on your death or on leaving they charge you a variable fee upto 34% of your entry cost if you’ve been there 7 years or more. That’s a huge amount that your children or beneficiaries will lose upon your death. One of the main reasons we refuse to move in to one of these places is this exit fee. We own our home, everything in it so our children will benefit from the sale on our deaths, and apart from legal fees to prepare and execute a will (& agents fees to sell - normal with any sale) our hard earned finances will not be going into someone else’s pocket just because we lived there (& paid for services while living there); all other expenses are normal on death & sale of property. Agreed you won’t miss the money on death but if you have children it could be a huge benefit for those you love who could be struggling in the current housing climate and cost of living. Good luck - I hope you don’t get scammed out of your hard earned cash over so many years.

Yes, unfortunately, I am of the same opinion with regard to these retirement villages. I can see the benefits for people who enjoy the facilities etc but they are such a rip off.
Although it's been many years since my mother passed away, and I do believe things have improved slightly, having to deal with the retirement village for the sale of her unit was a nightmare.
Even though they sold it in just under 3 months, they took over 8 months before they paid out, I don't recall what my mother paid, but on the sale(it sold for 45%more than she paid for it) after they deducted selling costs, their exit fee and whatever other costs they dreamed up I received less than 50% of what she paid. Yes less than 50%of the purchase price, not the selling price.
I was extremely grateful for what I received, but absolutely furious that they could do this.
There is no way I would go into one of these places. I have worked hard all my life for what I have and I want this to go to my children and grandies,.not some greedy corporation or church.

 

[Catherines]

Yes, unfortunately, I am of the same opinion with regard to these retirement villages. I can see the benefits for people who enjoy the facilities etc but they are such a rip off.
Although it's been many years since my mother passed away, and I do believe things have improved slightly, having to deal with the retirement village for the sale of her unit was a nightmare.
Even though they sold it in just under 3 months, they took over 8 months before they paid out, I don't recall what my mother paid, but on the sale(it sold for 45%more than she paid for it) after they deducted selling costs, their exit fee and whatever other costs they dreamed up I received less than 50% of what she paid. Yes less than 50%of the purchase price, not the selling price.
I was extremely grateful for what I received, but absolutely furious that they could do this.
There is no way I would go into one of these places. I have worked hard all my life for what I have and I want this to go to my children and grandies,.not some greedy corporation or church.

So glad to hear your agreement with my comments. It is an absolute rip-off when one is buying only the house and they charge you for everything else and then rip-you off at the end when 'your' place is sold. I have also heard the 'exit fee' is a government set (or approved) fee. Not quite sure about this though. Keep your own home, if you can, and on your death at least your family will pay the same agent's fee (commission) and any other fees that the village would charge you for sale of your home - excluding their cut over and above. And it's still a rip-off if they took over 8 months to pay you out when it was sold in 3 months. In aged care they have to pay you your deposit less any fees within 14 days. That means keeping their books up to date so they can do this in 14 days.

 

[mylittletibbies]

So glad to hear your agreement with my comments. It is an absolute rip-off when one is buying only the house and they charge you for everything else and then rip-you off at the end when 'your' place is sold. I have also heard the 'exit fee' is a government set (or approved) fee. Not quite sure about this though. Keep your own home, if you can, and on your death at least your family will pay the same agent's fee (commission) and any other fees that the village would charge you for sale of your home - excluding their cut over and above. And it's still a rip-off if they took over 8 months to pay you out when it was sold in 3 months. In aged care they have to pay you your deposit less any fees within 14 days. That means keeping their books up to date so they can do this in 14 days.

Yes, the retirement villages don't pay you until the unit is sold, and then I had to wait.
Even realestate agents fees are a rip off. As my husband and I used to "flip" houses for a living and so I quickly learnt how to do this myself, saved hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. In WA it's quite simple, a little more needs to be done in SA but still quite simple.I recently sold my son's house for him for $45,000 more than the agent said and saved him over $20,000 in agent's commission.
They are as bad as car salesmen, either tell you a high price so they can get the listing then tell you later that people won't pay that price and make you drop it, or they give you a price way too low, in the hope you have no idea, so that they can make a quick sale.
I've had many people contact me over the years to question how they can go about doing this themselves and they are quite surprised at how easy it really is. Not sure about other states but should imagine it would be roughly the same.

 

[Ricci]

So glad to hear your agreement with my comments. It is an absolute rip-off when one is buying only the house and they charge you for everything else and then rip-you off at the end when 'your' place is sold. I have also heard the 'exit fee' is a government set (or approved) fee. Not quite sure about this though. Keep your own home, if you can, and on your death at least your family will pay the same agent's fee (commission) and any other fees that the village would charge you for sale of your home - excluding their cut over and above. And it's still a rip-off if they took over 8 months to pay you out when it was sold in 3 months. In aged care they have to pay you your deposit less any fees within 14 days. That means keeping their books up to date so they can do this in 14 days.

My mother was in aged care, they had her pension and we had to pay a daily difference fee that amounted to thousands every month. They were hopeless at keeping records and thank goodness I was on top of everything. The account they sent us monthly was always in error and I reckon that for the five years she was there it was only the first two months that were correct.
We had an ongoing dispute for years about the amounts owing and it was only when I threatened to report them that they got their finger out and reconciled their books from the start of her residency. It resulted in a refund to our account of some $15.000 and change. No explanations or apologies and definitely no interest paid on the amounts of overpayments.
All because we refused to let them sell her property to fund her stay. If we had let them at her property we would have received nothing back upon her demise and we would have had no way of checking their shonky bookkeeping methods.
This was a highly respected Aged Care provider in WA.

 

[NotNats]

Sad thing is "Yes I own my own home at the moment but thanks to a scammer & a hacker and then my bank not caring I having to sell it as I can no longer afford to pay all the bills and upkeep. But even sadder is even if I buy a smaller place, I will have possibly have no money left over from the sale because houses are so expensive now a days. Catch 22 as they sad, plus I just been give very bad news about my health that makes life shorter & harder.

 

[mylittletibbies]

Sad thing is "Yes I own my own home at the moment but thanks to a scammer & a hacker and then my bank not caring I having to sell it as I can no longer afford to pay all the bills and upkeep. But even sadder is even if I buy a smaller place, I will have possibly have no money left over from the sale because houses are so expensive now a days. Catch 22 as they sad, plus I just been give very bad news about my health that makes life shorter & harder.

 

[Geoff8]

Perhaps it’s time to carefully re-read your housing contract with your village. Not saying you will eventually be behind the eight ball, but some (may even be most) of the contracts of these retirement places state that you only own the house while you live in it, but not the land. And most have an exit fee when you leave or when you die and that fee could be quite exorbitant. Please re-visit your contract with this place carefully with legal assistance, if you can. I sincerely hope you don’t get scammed. The advantage is the company and friends you make in these communities, I agree.

One place near me charges for the house on entry (land is the village owners), you pay monthly fees (like body corp fees in units for maintenance of the grounds and other facilities - this one is about $500+ in addition to electricity & gas which you also pay), then on your death or on leaving they charge you a variable fee upto 34% of your entry cost if you’ve been there 7 years or more. That’s a huge amount that your children or beneficiaries will lose upon your death. One of the main reasons we refuse to move in to one of these places is this exit fee. We own our home, everything in it so our children will benefit from the sale on our deaths, and apart from legal fees to prepare and execute a will (& agents fees to sell - normal with any sale) our hard earned finances will not be going into someone else’s pocket just because we lived there (& paid for services while living there); all other expenses are normal on death & sale of property. Agreed you won’t miss the money on death but if you have children it could be a huge benefit for those you love who could be struggling in the current housing climate and cost of living. Good luck - I hope you don’t get scammed out of your hard earned cash over so many years.

Yes we read the contract and with no one to leave it too it will be sold with all proceeds going to a charity of which is in our wills. Thank you for your reply

 

[Catherines]

Yes we read the contract and with no one to leave it too it will be sold with all proceeds going to a charity of which is in our wills. Thank you for your reply

Thank you for your contribution to charity. I’m sure whichever charity you have left this to in your wills will be forever grateful. More people like you needed in this world because charities struggle without government support. I have one adult son without a cent to his name due to a previous alcohol problem (now resolved but all money gone & difficult to save now on casual wages as he lives away from home). Another marriage break-up with pending asset division and one son doing alright having paid off his house. So what we have will be divided between them. Once more, thank you for your generous support of charity on behalf of, I’m sure, many of the seniors here - those struggling and those who aren’t.

 

[MJFlack]

I find it sad that many Western countries such as Australia lack the same respect for the elderly as many non Western countries. In Japan where they have a special day known as Keiro No Hi, translated in English as “Respect for the Aged Day. Where as in China There is a legal responsibility of adult children to provide support for their older parents has been a Chinese tradition for thousands of years. Because parents raise children, it is the children's responsibility to show their filial piety when their parents become elderly.

What i am saying is simply that a whole generation of selfish egocentric children have chosen to walk away from their parents. Seeking to only care for themselves. A sad indictment on our society.

 

[Catherines]

So sorry for you, some landlords are just so greedy . Excellent tenants are hard to come by, he should have been grateful
Hope he gets his karma with his next tenant, serve him right for being so greedy

Marjan, there is only one word for an owner like that - but I won’t mention that word here. He/she will get what he/she deserves. 100% increase is absolutely criminal. There needs to be some government control over these increases. Stay safe and I hope you find some place you can afford to once more call home.