Buyers- are u buying for current or future circumstances?

lessonlearned

Trying to future proof your purchase with regard to a potential need for additional space is a great idea if you can afford it.

Another one for the slightly older purchaser to think seriously about is future proofing (as far as possible) for health changes.

A fit 20 year old can make light work of a spiral staircase, to the average 70 year old it can be a potential deathtrap.

If you want your purchase to be your "forever" home, think about access - how many steps to the door, can the staircase take a stairlift, is the bathroom big enough to cope with a bather, a carer and a walking frame or a wheelchair.

I know I know. It is a depressing thought but you would be surprised how many people become prisoners in their own homes because it no longer works for them. A little forethought and planning can save a lot of heartache.

If you are a downsizing retiree then do think about your future needs. Get it right and you will be able to stay in your home for much longer and may be able to manage well enough to avoid the dreaded nursing home.

I once worked on a development where we were selling three storey townhouses - gorgeous......The staircases wound round the central hallway from ground floor to top floor, open to a cathedral ceiling with light flooding in through huge skylights - stunning.....

I watched a middle aged couple, possibly mid sixties, get out of the car and observed the man hobble up the drive to my office.

I showed them around and of course they fell in love with the place and wanted to buy. I gently quizzed them - how long do you plan to live here. They looked at me puzzled. I probed a little further looking at the man, "How are your knees".

Realisation dawned on them. We had a good laugh.

OK I talked myself out of a sale but in all conscience I couldn't do anything else. It would have been very wrong of me not to point out the obvious.

There is no way that staircase could be adapted to take a stairlift, because of all the mezzanine levels along the way.

The point is they were so smitten they hadn't given the future a second thought. After a few months of those stairs the poor man's knees would have been done for.

It definitely pays to forward plan a little.