There are a few considerations when buying a house for retirement that are obvious, such as a location close to amenities and preferring single-level homes. However, there are a few features that you may not have thought about which may cost more of an initial investment, but I promise you won’t regret them!

1. Walk-in showers: Too often I hear of elderly (and everyone else for that matter) falling in their bathtubs while taking a shower. Instead of having a tub-shower combo, consider having a separate walk-in shower and standalone bath tub.

2. Wide rooms, doorways, etc.: I don’t think I can overstate how great it is to have extra space to maneuver. An extra couple feet around your kitchen island can make a huge difference when taking that big thanksgiving turkey out of the oven. Having wider doors and hallways will also make it so much more pleasant to bring out the chairs from storage when company comes over. Also, narrow halls and doorways can become especially frustrating when using a wheelchair or walker.

3. Heated tiles: Often I hear comments explaining how walking on cold tiles without slippers on during the winter “makes their bones ache” (especially in ranchers with slab or crawl space foundations). Heated tiles introduce a wonderful comfort that you can enjoy while still heating your house in a more energy efficient manner than baseboards.

4. Solar energy: Solar panels have been consistently increasing in efficiency while becoming cheaper year-over-year while electricity fees from utility providers have been steadily increasing. These opposing trends will soon render this decision a no-brainer for retirees (or soon-to-be retirees) looking to minimize their future living costs.

I hope this information was useful! Contact me here if you’ve got any questions or want the contact information for some great tradesmen in the Cowichan Valley!

Posted by: Warren