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The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
EP. 1419 When Stubborn Meets Stubborn, Downsizing Mum and Dad
The emotional journey of downsizing after decades in the same home presents unique challenges that go far beyond simple real estate transactions. What happens when cherished memories, comfortable routines, and fierce independence collide with the practical realities of aging?
Our fascinating conversation with Josh Wapshot reveals the delicate art of helping long-term homeowners transition to their next chapter. We unpack the psychology behind resistance ("You're only going to take me out of here in a box") and the surprising sense of relief many experience once they've made the move ("Oh my God, thank God we did that").
Size concerns naturally dominate initial discussions, as clients worry about trading spacious family homes for apartment living. But there's so much more to consider: strata costs that seem daunting until compared with ongoing home maintenance expenses; the increasing importance of accessibility features as mobility decreases; and the thoughtful process of "future-proofing" new homes with modifications like replacing sharp handles with pull drawers.
Perhaps most interesting is why many seniors actively choose apartments over retirement villages. Asset protection plays a role, but equally important is the desire to maintain vibrant, independent living among diverse neighbors rather than age-segregated communities. And for couples, there's often the touching motivation to ensure the surviving partner won't face this challenging transition alone.
Connect with us to learn how we take a patient, educational approach to guiding downsizers through what may be their final home purchase. With the right support, downsizing can transform from a dreaded necessity to an exciting new chapter with less maintenance, greater accessibility, and a home that truly supports this important life stage.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're dealing with people that have been in their homes for long, long periods. They get a little bit stubborn when it comes to downsizing. What are the solutions? How do people do it? We're going to talk about downsizing today. Stay tuned I'm the ringleader, so let's go. I've been here for 43 years. You're only going to take me out of here in a box.
Speaker 2:Dr Downsizer.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, Mr Wapshot, how you good, good.
Speaker 2:How are you?
Speaker 1:yeah, good, what do you reckon about this? You're um, you're, a bit of an expert when it comes to people downsizing. What are the problems with? What are the and what are the problems that people have with downsizing? How does, how does the conversation go?
Speaker 2:Well, generally it's obviously quite a big change. Like you said, a lot of these people you know previous generations. They've sort of staked the ground and stayed where they are for most of the time. A lot of the people I've been speaking to 20 plus years, 35 years. I've got one customer in particular. So it is a big change and, like anything you know, it can be quite daunting the unknowns, the whole strata, strata talk. But I think it ends up being a process, once you get to the other side, that it all of a sudden goes click and um, it's, oh, my god, thank god we did that. So I mean, there's a few few things to un unbox, but yeah, quite daunting. Um, at first on the initial conversation with the, with a lot of the downsizes, but um, yeah, we generally take a slow, step-by-step process Generally. Then the kids get involved in the conversation. Yeah, quite a big process because it's quite a big change. You can appreciate that.
Speaker 1:So they reluctantly come and see you because they have to get out of their house. They've been in the house a long, long, long, long, long time.
Speaker 2:What's the first question they ask? First question they ask is uh, pretty, it'd be, it'd be on more like sizing what's available. Size, I'd say is a big one because they've come, come from this, you know, generally, you know you've got some sort of views or big backyard, I've got got this big TV area, so I'd probably think size is a big one. Generally, they want to get an idea of oh Josh, I'm so used to this, I'm so used to this. So, yeah, definitely size layout, which is an important one.
Speaker 2:So finding a good layout, a good amount of light in the property, because you know, when they've been living in the traditional block house, you know they've got pretty much sunshine coming from left, right, front and centre, because obviously you've got your, you know your setbacks from streets and your neighbouring properties, whereas heading into a unit, you know you're going to have some common walls. Generally, you know one side of the unit is what's going to be capturing all the light. So a lot of conversations around that. Um, but yeah, size being the biggest thing. Obviously, coming from a big, you know generally, a four or five bedroom um home to to generally a two, three bedroom apartment and then uh number two question number two question um strata.
Speaker 1:Strata is always up there, uh, definitely right up there with these, with older people, isn't it? With downsizes, they love us.
Speaker 2:It's huge yeah, and I look I do get it there as well, obviously, um, a lot of them moving forward. You know you just got your super or whatever's left. You're not working anymore, so you know it. It is something that you've per se budget for, because that kid is as big as it is now. Obviously they've sold their big assets or assets to get into the units and leave themselves a little bit of a kitty to live on. So, yeah, generally the strata is a big thing, so they can account for the future years. And how much is that going to take a play on their funds that they're holding?
Speaker 1:Now Michael Berger from the office was shaking his head yesterday when we had this topic as a team. We're having a chat about it because we're doing a lot of downsizer work at the moment and he's like why would you even care if the strata levies are double? And I was like what do you mean by that? He goes say the strata levies are $1,500 more than they should be per quarter. He said, amitai, you put that over five years or 10 years Like who cares? Do you know what I mean? So but there's this.
Speaker 1:It's almost been imprinted into these clients' heads that they want to save money. They got to save money. They gotta save money. They gotta watch the dollar. But it's like, hang on a sec, you're gonna put 500 grand in your pocket. If you're gonna bleed like an extra 20 over 10, over 5 years or 10 years, um, it's okay, you'll be just fine, you'll still have plenty of cash. It's a really hard thing for them to remap or reprogram themselves for strata costs. My mum had the problem. She was like, ooh, strata, it's a bigger problem in their head than the reality.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's big Mark. I think it's perceived because it's something new. I find a lot of the clients I speak to it's perceived as a new cost, a new cost that they didn't have before. But by owning a unit I'm going to pay it. But when you start to strip it all back and and and think of the maintenance and care of a four, five bedroom house needs um 15, even two grand a quarter doesn't seem too bad um, when you think about it and make that comparison. So I think a lot of the time they do forget that you are going from maintaining, you know, landscaping, exterior, interior of a four, five bedroom home um, where that fund or that strata fee is essentially paying for the maintenance and and landscaping and so forth for their unit. So it's not actually an additional cost. So I think it's just having that conversation, education and explaining um and it goes a long way and I've had a few of these um conversations now.
Speaker 2:Uh, especially for the uh project up at bellrose. Traditionally got a lot of um owners up in that bellrose davidson area. Uh, they've been there 20, 30, 40 years um, nothing else in the area, quite like the bellrose collection. Uh, it's a quite a new project being units. It's, it's generally all houses over there, um, but things like accessibility, stairs, um, you know, maintenance, all these things are, uh, becoming a factor.
Speaker 2:And and as I sit down from the first, you know we go and sit in a cafe for an hour and a half go through all the floor plans, your aspects, you know what's going to be in the complex. You know, step by step, that process, they become more and more comfortable with it and obviously yeah, you know it's a big unknown what do you buy when I have it sold? So, having that whole process of giving them a value on their place, getting an understanding of where that's going to be, finding a unit that's going to meet their needs within their budgets, and sort of bringing it all together, so bringing that campaign in time with the finishing of the project so that they essentially sell seamlessly and move straight into their new apartment right next to shops, um, medical, um, medical options, all the stairs is a big one, isn't?
Speaker 1:it yeah, huge stairs and transport, because what I've noticed is often, um, one of the downsizes has had a medical condition or sometimes a fall or something, and the nice thing about the downsizes has had a medical condition or sometimes a fall or something, and the nice thing about the downsizing is generally you're eliminating any stairs, so it's easy to get in, it's easy to get out. There's not even one stair the whole way through, very, very efficient.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it definitely is. But yeah, um, it's been a it's it's actually a really rewarding process. Um, you know, even the, the couple we've got a bell rose exchanging today, beautiful couple um in a bell rose, all their, all their lives. I think he was a school teacher. Um, yeah, really nice couple and they've just finally made that move. Josh can't do the steps anymore, need something.
Speaker 2:That is going to be the next spot that we stay for the rest of our lives and, happily enough, I was happy to assist them there and they found a unit that's really gonna, you know, um meet all their requirements and needs and um with it, with the daughter-in-law and son, we're future-proofing the unit. So, because it's not too close to completion, we've made a few tweaks um just to make things easier moving forward. Over the next three, five, six, seven years, you know, mobility is going to decrease dramatically. So just changing like little handles on the on the kitchen from sharp nose to a to a pool draw, um on the kitchen from shark nose to a pool drawer, running a 15-amp circuit out to the balcony to allow for heating so that they can both sit outside together on a cold night enjoying their new balcony. That's been really rewarding and something now that I can bring to every couple that I meet in the future. So it's been a pleasure dealing with the downsizers.
Speaker 1:I have about probably I reckon two to three downsizer appointments a week, so it's very, very common. Why aren't they going into retirement villages?
Speaker 2:Can you blame them in a way? I mean, it's always had that. I mean, I think retirement villages work for some people, maybe don't work for others, and I think it's that whole idea of maybe taking away independence, you know, being able to operate on your own, I think that's the whole idea behind a a village, so, um, so to speak. So I think these are perfect, um, opportunities for those type of people that don't feel like the old retirement village works for them. Um, you know, lifts, lift up to your door, shops at your feet, transport at your front door. Luckily, with the way technology, infrastructure changes, it all makes it possible now for these people that where it once wasn't, now it is, you know, with having all these facilities around them, without having to strain themselves, or whatever it may be. Yeah, I really think, mark, it was something that wasn't as possible as it was before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the conversation I have with people about the retirement village is asset protection, so they don't really want to leave a lot of money on the table for the retirement village. The way they calculate that when you pass how much they take, a lot of them are different in their ways, but they don't want to leave any more money on the table. Another one like someone like my mum is they don't want to be around. What's a nice way of saying it? Not death, but they don't want to be around. What's a nice, what's a nice way of saying it? Not not, not death, but they don't want to be around sickness, um, they don't. They want to be around more vitality. So they want to have, they enjoy, a, a strata neighbor more than a retiree neighbor. I'm really trying to say this respectfully, um, but you know I there's just a bit more. It's a really good community with a retirement community, but they feel it's not them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, there's definitely those two sets of people and you probably feel like you know nothing's, nothing's changed. You're still your, uh, your young self, just in a brand spanking new apartment.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, no, I think it's a really rewarding experience, but, yeah, something quite important moving forward and some of these guys that that, um, we're moving particularly into bellrose, collection 93 95, and then some of them are in their 90s and I'm like, dude, you should be going to retirement village, like no but I think that's really nice, like I've had one of the um couples I've worked with as well.
Speaker 2:Um, the, the male, uh, the husband, is a little bit older than than his wife and I think you know, as morbid as it can sound, he wanted to make sure that if anything did go wrong at at you know, because these things can happen unexpectedly that she is taking care of that, she is in a place that she feels safe, that she can accessibly use. Um, you know that he wanted to make sure that if something did happen, she was sorted, she was okay, they were in a place where she felt comfortable and at ease, which was really nice I reckon, if you don't mind, I reckon we can put that at number one.
Speaker 1:Um, I know that was for my mother-in-law and father-in-law. Um, I know that was a really, really big thing and I hear that all the time that they want to make sure the other partner's not doing that move by themselves. Yeah, that's a huge one, huge one, yeah exactly, yeah definitely.
Speaker 1:well, there you go, guys, downsizing. It's real. There's some of the things that we see, uh, in the downsizing world and, um, you know, it doesn't have to be uh, it can be exciting Going new place, new furniture, new environment, challenges the brain and that's there you go, downsizing. Thank you, mr Wapshot.
Speaker 2:No worries, guys. Just wanted to say if you're in this position, some people can sort of jam it down or other agents can jam it down People slow, so to speak, or rush. I'm happy to take the sort of time to educate you through the process. I know it's a big move. So if you're looking for someone to make that step or start to educate yourself Novak's the place for it I'm more than happy to help. So feel free to reach out.
Speaker 1:Boom, have a great day, see you guys. See you, boom, have a great day, see you guys.