How can I get help locating a nice retirement community for my parents?

Question

How can I get help locating a nice retirement community for my parents?

Answer 1

There are senior referral services in all area.

They are in constent contact with both elder homes / communities and are aware of who has availability in your area and pricer ange.

They can make the whole process much easier for you.

These 3 sites might answer some of your questions:

Answer 2

Sun City , Arizona.  Weather is perfect.  $100,000 buys a nice house with golf course and shopping near. /

Answer 3

Plan ahead. It took me several years and many trips before I found the right place for me. I don't list it here because what is right for me may not be right for your parents.

Search for retirement communities using yahoo search. Analyze all the information you can get about each place or area. You should be able to quickly rule out many places because they are too (close / far) from the beach, too expensive, residents too old (or too young), etc. Group the ones that look the best by area. Next call each place, ask the salesperson for the story about why their place is so great and why theirs is better than the other nearby places. The reasons they give could be very important to you or they might not. Take very good notes!

Many have a preview trip offer. Stay a day or two and they will pickup the tab (or discount) for the hotel, meals, even the flight. Ignore those that offer to return your money if you decide not to buy or apply it to the down payment. (Too much pressure on salesperson to sell you something.)

Next plan a trip to check each area out. Try to arrange things such that you can visit several nearby places on each trip. At some point they will find the ideal place to retire to.