The Right Choice

How to select a Retirement Village

If you want to protect your investment and establish peace of mind in your retirement, you should investigate your options meticulously, says Mr. Heiner Meyer, the owner of Oostvallei Retirement Village. Under the Housing Development Scheme for Retired Persons Act (Act. No. 65 as amended in 1988) the property of a Retirement Village should be endorsed in the deeds office to ensure that this forms the quintessence of the occupation agreements. This in short means that the residents own more rights and enjoy more protection than any other institution or person equal to the amount of their investment.

Always make sure that no bond is registered on the property and that it is in fact registered in the deeds office as a registered Retirement Village.

Oostvallei is marketed on the occupational right or life-right principle. If the deal is handled in the Oostvallei manner it is as safe as a title. Another way is sectional title, which is however not appropriate for a retirement village. The developer of a sectional title scheme will sell the units at the highest possible profit and is then no longer involved. In their old age the residents are then responsible for the upkeep of the village.

Apart from the financial security, personal safety, healthcare, communal facilities and a happy co-existence with other residents is important. It is after all the last choice of home a person makes and you then expect to have a peaceful and untroubled life.

Oostvallei is not an old age home, but a Retirement Village. Many residents are 50 years of age and are still in employment. Often visitors to Oostvallei insist that it rather feels more like a holiday resort. Senior citizens who are on the lookout for comfort, convenience and financial security will find it here. This is a private village with no ties to financial institutions that want to enrich themselves at the cost of retired persons. It is not a sectional title scheme and the residents therefore have full authority.

In a class of it's own!