DEC 2012/JAN 2013 |www.opp-connect.com available nearby.


Community By and large, people do not like to live in isolation. The reluctance to do so increases with age. Most, therefore, will be looking to retire to a place where there is a local community. Having said that, people’s ideas of what they would like to see in a local community vary dramatically. For some, it is indispensable that there is an ex-pat community of people of their own nationality. This applies just as much to Americans retiring to Mexico or Costa Rica as it does to the British or Germans retiring to Spain. However, for others, the idea of living in an ex-pat community would be truly horrifi c. They choose to retire abroad, at least in part, to enjoy the benefi ts of a foreign environment. Fortunately, if you are selling to a potential retirement market, you can often cover both bases. Locating your project in a place where there is a signifi cant but not overwhelming ex-pat community of several different nationalities and, at the same time, an active local community, is something that can often be achieved.


Medical Health and problems with health loom


ROUND TABLE


large in most people’s retirement planning. By the time they reach their 50s or 60s and are ready to move abroad they may have existing medical conditions.


Even if they do not have any such conditions, they are likely to want to live somewhere where there is an


“For some, an ex- pat community of their nationality is indispensable. For others, the idea would be truly horrifi c”


adequate level of medical care and where the medical care can be accessed in their own language. If they have a known medical condition, this will be even more important as, of course, will be the fact that there is local expertise to treat their particular condition. For some, the issue of ongoing medical treatment is of major concern. Their condition may be such as to preclude them from getting medical insurance, making a place that offers


Fig1. Percentage of the World Population Over 65, 1950-2050


18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0


Source: UN World Population Prospect, 2008


Fig3. Percentage of Older Adults (Age 65+) in China, 1950-2050 25


20 15 10 5 0 Source: World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision (2005).


unconditional medical treatment that is either free or subsidised highly attractive.


The whole issue of medical care is something that too seldom features in the marketing materials of people wishing to sell property to this group of buyers.


Access to advice


When moving to a new country, most of the professional know-how that you have built up over the years ceases to be of much use. You now need to understand the tax and legal systems of your new country and you will need help to do so. Putting together packages to make this easy will help you make sales.


Similarly, people newly retired to a country will need good advice about their fi nancial affairs in general and their investments in particular. This can make all the difference between a happy retirement and one that is stressful and ultimately needs the person to move back home.


Once again, putting together a package to supply these services is a great sales aid. It can also be profi table as, very often, the people supplying them will be happy to pay you commission for the introduction of what could be very valuable clients. Much the same applies to providing the services of plumbers, electricians, general builders, odd-job men, pool maintenance people and the like. Marketing materials that show that you have thought of the needs of your retired buyers and can address them will help you make sales.


Additional services


The provision of these, and other additional services, can create a substantial and ongoing source of income for your business as well as helping generate the initial sales. To do this, the services need to be of a high standard. These people will be living in the area permanently and news of poor service spreads like wildfi re.


Is there a place for sheltered housing?


Most people buying for retirement are aware that, as the years roll buy, their ability to look after themselves will diminish and could reach the stage where they require regular help, resident or otherwise, or the facilities of sheltered housing. However, this unpleasant reality is not something that most people like to address during the euphoric moment when they have given up work and are looking forward to a long retirement in the sun playing golf and drinking lots of gin and tonic.


This is unfortunate. It makes the provision of a “retirement to grave” complex more diffi cult. There are specialist retirement complexes that


RETIREMENT | 45


feature various levels of ongoing support, usually as optional extras, but how to market this is something that requires great consideration. People wish to buy with a positive focus of being able to enjoy their retirement. Of course, there are also opportunities to build specialist sheltered housing aimed not at the initial retirement market but at those who have already lived in the area for 10, 20 or 30 years and whose living arrangements need to move on.


How to sell for retirement One thing shared by most of the people who are successful in selling consistently to the retirement market is that they do not engage in high-pressure sales.


The decision to retire to a certain place is usually one that is made gradually over a number of years. Often it will be made during and after many visits to the area.


“People newly retired to a country will need good advice about their fi nancial affairs and investments”


Similarly, the choice of property tends not to be one that is made on the spur of the moment. However, once the person has decided to buy a property for retirement, they are much like any other buyer in that they need to be persuaded to commit. It is just that the methods of persuasion tend, in the case of successful sellers, to be rather more gentle and subtle than in the “normal” market.


One feature that crops up again and again on the wish list of buyers is the provision of comprehensive information about all of the items mentioned in this Round Table. This can usually be accomplished by preparing a separate retirement guide to accompany the materials produced in connection with the properties themselves. One subject that caused great debate was the question of choosing the right marketing medium for this group of people. Some of our participants believed that their buyers were still old-fashioned and print- based – that internet marketing was a waste of time for this group. Others felt that these buyers were probably more internet-savvy than most and relied exclusively on the internet to target potential buyers. This is a subject that we will address in a future edition of OPP.


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