Real Estate Options for the Nomadic Retiree

A Private Park Home Village is a very Australian solution to the baby-boomer problem of how to downsize your home to free up the money you need to enjoy your retirement: without actually compromising your lifestyle.
Although some Australians prefer a permanent seachange or treechange others like to become “gray nomads” moving north for the sun during the cooler southern winter. This lifestyle is particularly popular for Tasmanians and Victorians but there are plenty of gray nomads who head north to avoid the winter weather of Perth or Sydney too.
The setup of the gray nomad lifestyle can easily cost $250,000 once a suitable tow vehicle, van and other gear is bought. So the first problem for the aspiring gray nomad is where to find that amount of cash. The other issue is how to lock up and leave your home for 6 months a year, without concerns about security and maintenance.
A Private Park Home Village is a solution for both issues. Residents of these home villages lease their own home and the village provides grounds maintenance and common facilities such as a pool, spa and additional parking for boats and motor homes. The park homes are typically steel framed low maintenance construction and the option is there to either maintain your own garden or have it done for you. These facilities are modeled on the typical Australian holiday park with one important difference: no temporary holiday makers. This means that a Private Home Park has a stable population and good security and also with less noise as most residents are over 40 or 50 years.

In a lot of ways a Private Park Village are similar to a “lifestyle village” - in fact the only real difference is the price: for example the Riverside Gardens Estate in Perth are offering villas from $278,502 to $339,349 and those are 2 or 3 bedroom standalone homes. A typical family home in Perth would sell for over $500,000, so the price difference is definitely a way into funding a better lifestyle. Admittedly the community focus of these communities is not to everyone’s taste and the interior decoration is more suited for those in the 70’s rather than the 50’s, but there is no actual age limit or prohibition on working, making a Private Park Village attractive for younger down sizers too.

Buying leasehold in Western Australia, also means that the purchaser does not have to pay State stamp duty is payable. There is no complex financials involved: the owner is free to re-sell their leasehold property at any stage. There is however an on-going weekly charge levied to pay for the running of the complex including maintenace, security and rates.