Retirement Cottage?

I have been considering the purchase of a cottage. I am a few years from retirement and would like to be able to retire and live at the lake. My plan is to find a cottage, pay it off and get it ready for use as a full time residence.


Somehow I thought this would be a fairly easy endeavor but it really is going to be far from that.

There are so many things to consider when thinking of a retirement home, whether its a condo, house, farm or cottage. I thought it would come down to price and location only but there is so much more to deal with.

First off is age. My husband and I are in our early 50's and not afraid of a little TLC work for our cottage but we must consider that we aren't retirement age yet and we already have some physical issues. Neither of us are in the construction field or are we carpenters. If we find a place that needs work we have to decide if it is something we can capably handle and physically do?

We need to calculate the amount of space we will need. We have two sons and by the time we retire they will most likely be married with children or close to it. Does that mean we would need to have a bedroom for each of them to share with their spouse and children? Do we just make sure the cottage covers the needs of my husband and I and tell the boys to build their own bunkies? (Bunkies are usually small one room out buildings that have sleeping quarters)

Once you figure out the size and the amount you are willing to pay for a place, you have to start looking for the where? This is when it gets really tricky. When your younger with young kids your priorities are different. If we are going to be seniors we are going to need:

• hospital
• fire services
• ambulance
• doctors
• gas station and garage
• pharmacy (that delivers)
• bank
• grocery store
• general store
• post office
• hardware store
• serviced roads
• garbage pick up
• neighbors 

These will also have to be available all year round and not just during the traditional cottage season. This will narrow down your options because there are not a lot of places that have all of the necessities I have listed. With such a long list and major needs we are going to have to be close to a small town.

You may find it strange that I put neighbors on this list but being elderly you would want to know that there are people near enough should something happen and you need someone A.S.A.P. lets face it everyone needs help sometimes.

This is going to be a difficult process and a scary adventure, looking for our retirement home. I will be keeping you updated on our progress as we go through the steps along the way. I am sure I will have lots to write about. If you have gone through this process drop me a line I would love to hear from you.

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