‘I’ll be keeping to myself when I move into the lifestyle village’

After taking what felt like an age to make the decision, I have now found the downsized home I want! It is brand new manufactured house in an over-55s lifestyle village. I’ve paid a deposit and have a contract subject to the sale of my current home.

It will be a dramatic change. I’m a natural introvert – a friend once described me as “living a solitary life” and I like it that way. People may find it strange, but I comfortable in my own company. I enjoy living alone. My current home is quite secluded, surrounded by bush, no curtains needed and plenty of privacy. In nine years only three uninvited callers (sales people or evangelists) have knocked on my door! My neighbours are perfect, we wave and say ‘hello’, stop for a brief chat when we see each other and, although I have asked the strapping young man for physical assistance a couple of times (which he has cheerfully given) we don’t socialise. I take myself out to dinner and a movie. I catch up with local friends regularly and I stay in touch with people far away by phone calls, FaceTime, WhatsApp and Facebook. Moving into an over-55s community will be a massive social change.

One of the criteria for my choice was maximum privacy. My new house is right at the edge of an almost finished village of manufactured homes. I have a back deck that looks over grass to the bush, which is Crown Land and unlikely to ever be built on. The house next door is close but I’ll have a strip of garden and their carport in between. As luck would have it, the block on the other side will remain open space, because the council would not approve a dwelling to be built there. My carport is that side and I intend to close it in and put a roll-a-door on the front, to make it more like a garage — and private.

People are very social in these villages — I’ve looked at a lot and everywhere people greeted me and were friendly and inviting. I visited the one I’ve chose at about 4:30pm and saw several groups enjoying ‘Happy Hour’ and lots of people out walking their little dogs. I know I’m going to have manage the social life carefully — polite but reserved. I figure it’s easier to get more friendly than less as I get to know people.

My new home is 4.5 hours further north, so it will be a big move. I’ve moved four times since the split with my husband 17 years ago, so I have experience, but that only makes it more daunting — they were all short distances, less than 20 minutes. Then there’s the fact that the new home is so much smaller! Fortunately, my son-in-law is a draftsman and has prepared a floor plan and drawn my furniture to scale. Imagine, turning up with a truckload of furniture that doesn’t fit!

This all presupposes the village owners will wait for the sale of my current home. We’ve passed one date in the contract already. They said they would be flexible before I paid the deposit, even though the contact said I needed a sale by May 17 and to settle by June 28. I am a little nervous. I looked at so many places before I found the perfect one, I don’t want to lose it.

Most of the groundwork was online searching. I had a spreadsheet set up to keep track of those I did not rule out immediately because they did not allow pets (I have two strictly indoor cats). Some villages say they are “pet friendly” but only allow small dogs, caged birds and fish in aquariums. That narrowed the list of locations to about 30. Some had no homes available, some did not return my phone call enquiry. I visited six or seven villages on the south coast, central coast and north coast of New South Wales. I looked at both new and ‘pre-loved’ homes. My criteria included: being close to the beach — preferably walking distance; the village being over-55s residential-only and well kept; and, as mentioned before, a house that afforded some privacy. This one meets all the criteria!

My current home has been on the market for nearly six weeks. After an initial flurry of interest – four or five inspections in the first week, I’ve had no offers. When interest waned, my agent urged a dramatic price drop. I resisted, because none of the feedback from prospective buyers had concerned price. Some said the house was smaller than they expected (those clever photos taken can work against you). Most were put off by my steep driveway — the cost of seclusion. Many were investors looking to rent or Airbnb the house, and being surrounded by trees and leaves makes for too much outdoor maintenance. After a week without any inspections at all, I capitulated on dropping the price, but only just enough to get it into a lower search bracket. Now it’s a waiting game.

Meanwhile, I’ve goy three more bags to go to Vinnies and a bootload for the bin as soon as it’s emptied today, and there is still a lot to downsize.

Would you ever live in a lifestyle village? Do you like to socialise?

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