Self Designed Communties

We have talked previously about housing alternatives in retirement. A recent article I read in Marketwatch talked about some people that are living this reality. Below is the article:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/create-your-own-retirement-community-2015-04-06?page=1

Comparison to “55 Plus” communities

These housing arrangements share some things in common with builder’s “55 and Over” communities, but they are self created by groups of people who have carved out little communities for their shared use. Some people don’t like having all the people the same age group in a big retirement community. They would prefer a tiny community within a large general population community of many ages.

While these communities will vary greatly, here are some common chracteristics:

People watch out for each other

People share resources – this can be appliances, tools, cars, or almost anything

People share skills – maybe somebody is good at carpentry, another is good with computers and still another likes to fix cars

Sometimes there are shared common areas – like a shared backyard or deck

In general people have the opportunity to form lifetime friendships

Some Self-Created Community Ideas

Here are just a few examples of how a shared community might be created:

A townhouse or condo with 3 bedrooms is converted to 3 little studio apartments with shared areas for watching TV, relaxing, snd socializing.

A 3 or 4 bedroom fixer upper is gutted and converted into three apartments with a shared backyard and storage areas.

A group of friends take over a building in an existing apartment complex. Say a complex has several bulldings with 8 apartments in each building. You make an arrangement with the owner so 8 friends can reside in the building and created your own little community without the need to buy a building.

A group of retirees take over and renovate a small dilapidated motel – a recent trip along the old Route 66 gave me this idea. There are still some struggling motels that were bypassed by the interstates long ago. Some are located in nice little communities. Why not take one over with a group of friends?

Share a big McMansion. As some baby boomers shed their McMansions there might be some opportunities for a small group of people to share them. Note that some communities limit the number of unrelated people that can occupy a single house. However I see this changing as millions of retired baby boomers look for affordable housing alternatives.

Some questions to consider

No arrangement is ever perfect and difficult scenarios will sometimes arise that affect all members of the community. None of these reasons should stop the idea. Here are just a couple:

What happens when someone cannot keep up financially?

People get sick and grow old, both physically and mentally. What happens in this situation?

What happens if someone gets ill?

What happens when someone passes away?  The reality is that this will happen someday. Is the deceased person’s share  in the community sold? Split up amongst the remaining membes? How are expenses handled while the transition is taking place. Are legal documents in place to handle this situation?

I hope this article keeps you thinking about housing alternatives and the need for community in retirement. What are your ideas for self created communities?