Ok here goes.
I have a 75 year old mum that is quite capable of doing most things for her self (dont know how long for though). She lives in a property that we are paying off but we only ask her for $90 per week. She has no savings and the only thing she owns is an old car and lots of furniture.
We need to move her to a location that is closer to public transport etc for the day when she can no longer drive.
I have spent hours on the internet looking for help regards pensioners to no avail.
Retirement Villages would be just throwing our money to the wind. Cant find where the Government can assist us, infact if we negatively gear our property too much for too much longer we could be in all sorts of trouble.The best I have been able to come up with is rental allowance.
If you have any advice at all it would be very much appreciated.
Government, wraps, lease options, legal etc???What I have been thinking of doing. Purchasing another property near my home which will have to cost more than the one she is in now. The place she is in now is very negatively geared the new one would be extremely negative. Asking her a bit more for the rent (cant afford much more) and selling the home she is in now to fund it. We dont have the cash flow to keep them both at the moment.
Got any clues??
regards
Rebecca[rolleyesanim]Beck.
“A person must keep his mouth open a long while before a roasted hen flies into it” Early PoverbBeck.
You learn more from doing it.You do not say if the house your mum lives in is under her name or yours, I assume it is in her name, and that she has no other assets and is on full pension.
Is your house big enough to have here living with you?
If so, she can sell her property and the equity remaining will be her contribution for you having her for life in your place. Must be done legally and is called the “granny flat interest” or “life interest”.If your house is not suitable, you can either build a granny flat, subdivide and build another house in the back, or sell both and purchase one that has a granny flat or that is big enough for privacy. Again, it is you who buy the new property and your mother who purchases a right to live there for life. In this way, her money is not counted as a gift and will not affect her pension. If she just gives you the money to buy in your name, anything over 10k will become an asset and affect the pension under the income or asset rule.
If both houses are in your name, she can claim rental assistance right now, since she is paying you rent. The maximum payment she can get is $95.40 x f/n and this if the f/n rent is $212 or higher. No rent assistance if f/n rent is lower than 84.80.
If she purchases a life interest in your home, no rental assistance is payable, but if both houses are in your name and you still have her with you in a granny flat or in your house, rental assistance is payable according to how much she contributes in the form of rent. The assessment varies in this case if it is only rent, board and lodging or sharing accommodation.
Before doing anything though, please consult your Financial Information Service Officer FISO in the local Centrelink office.
May God bless you
and prosper you.
MarcIf you are really commited to looking after your mother then perhaps a serious downsize in debt and area she has to look after should be considered. Either a granny flat or a one or two bedroom unit could be considered. Couple this with the earlier suggested rent assistance I could see a fair amount of financial relief.
whether you sell the original block she lived in or refinance using equity (if you have any) would depend on you financial position.
Rebecca, what state are you in? If its Qld I have a nice house witha 2 bed granny and a pool. Currently rented out but all things can be looked at.
DD
REbecca, I can empathise with your situation as my mum went through the same situation with my grandmother 13 years ago.
Where she was was not suitable as it was far away from family and all her friends were peggin it so she decided to move but her two other children couldn’t help. Not to say my parents could really having 4 children.. but hte opportunity came up to buy the house next door and they did so and we moved nanna from Bribie Island to Perth. A huge move for a 74 year old!
She paid my father rent which was minimal and it turned out he was giving her money back… Anyway to cut a long story short, my parents sacrificed a lot to have my grandmother come over so she could be a part of our life and to give her a better quality of life too.
It eventuated that she needed somewhere smaller so she moved into my parents house. They now rent out the other house, she still pays them a little bit of board money and my parents know she is safe and sound. It is a little bit of a hassell from time to time but there has never once been a thought of a home for her at all.
Could you not work it out so that perhaps your mum could live with you. I mean my parents extended their home to make a mini living area for her. She hardly ever comes out of her place (More so now coz she finds it difficult to walk but you know…) You need to sit down and ask yourself questions about how important your mum is to you. Could you build a separate granny flat thingo for her on your existing property and sell the other or rent out the other place? Have you asked her what she wants? What benefits would she bring to your family if she were to live with or close to you? Ours was babysitting my younger brothers… Oh and the constant flow of cakes and biscuits…
And to boot she is what I would consider one of my best friends and I don’t know what I would do without her…
Then again, this is from a granddaughters perspective. I know it was hard on my parents financially especially repaying a house during the last major recession plus helping her survive… But I figure, they were dedicated and the benefits out weigh the downfalls…
GO with what your heart tells you. Discuss it with everyone involved directly in your life and see whay will work for everyone. You will work it out.
Good luck and sorry this message was so long.
Steph.Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
“Retirement Villages would be just throwing our money to the wind.”
Ouch! How can looking after your mother be classed as throwing money to the wind? If that is ultimately the kind of care your mum will need, instead of saying ‘we can’t afford it’ or ‘it’s not worth it’ – say ‘how can we afford it?’ and then go solve that problem.
I think the solution is to increase your own wealth so you can look after your mother privately, rather then staying poor so the government will give you some kind of handout.
just my two cents
and I love everything Steph said about the practical considerations and the ‘heart’ benefits.Sorry I did’nt mention that the home she is in at the moment is one that we are purchasing. We still owe most of it so the repayments are quite high.
Basically she would prefer to live on her own. She has the belief that you would only move in with family or a bed sit when you are at the end of your days and incapable of looking after herself. After all her Mum died because they moved her to a Village and away from her home and then she died. I cant argue with that when she tells me. We would like to move her closer to us though. This way if she needs us we can be there in a flash. In respect to the retirement villages we would’nt be able to afford to pay the repayments of the loan entirely on our own. Because with all the places we have looked at you also have to pay the village around $50 per week management fee. As I said our cash flow is a bit low at the moment and we wondered if there was something creative that we hadnt thought of.
Throwing your money to the wind. All the Retirement Villages we have looked at you have to put the dwelling in Mum’s name. We dont have the money and the bank wont lend to her. Even if they did give us the money and we bought it for her (and put it in her name) the village takes heaps of the money when she either moves or passes on in one case 60%. I have to convince my husband that this is a good idea???
Yes I believe that we will probably have to look at the retirement village option eventually. Mum is in her 70’s but fit and healthy enough to live for another 20 or so years. (God willing)
Thanks for the offer DD we live in Melbourne.[rolleyesanim]
Beck.
You learn more from doing it.yeah, just a thought. its completely self contained with a nice sunroom too.
Hope all goes well for you and you find some wonderful solution out there.Family is so precious, I know because I lost my mum 20 years ago a week before mothers day. This time of ear sucks for me.
DD
Rebecca
Are there alternatives such as park homes.Here in WA a lot of retirees live in park homes and pay a minimal rent.There are also council funded retirement units at very low rents.The retirement units in our town are on the beach front and the retirees have the best and cheapest housing in the area.LOL.
Russ.Hi RussH,
It’s probably going to start sounding like she’s fussy, but she would’nt like in a Caravan Park. (Is that what you ment by park.) I have tried one Government run village but they have a minimum 8 year waiting list. I dont know how to find anymore. I have spent hours on the net searching. Went to Government housing commission the lady was very rude telling mum “I’m not even going to put your name down because their is a 10 year waiting list”. Mums reply “I might be dead then” The lady kindly replied “thats why I wont put your name down”.DD, I know what you mean about loosing your mum near mothers day. We lost Dad 5 days before Christmas and I’m not sure if it makes it harder or we just miss him heaps.[cry]
Beck.
“You have to leave your mouth open for a very long time before a roast chicken flys into it.” Early Proveb.I sympathise with your predicament, but I feel it is going to be very difficult/impossible to afford to upsize, as opposed to downside.
Is it possible to slightly change the layout of your house to suit you both. ie the house I lived in previously was 4bed, 2 bath, 2 story, dual entry. By blocking the stairs off, upstairs would be 3 bed,1bath, and a seperate granny flat downstairs. Even if it means building a wall/kitchenette, this would be less than the stamp duty and agents fees.
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