50+ Lifestyles

10,000 new retirees a day are creating pressure on the senior housing market. What it means to our senior homes buyers in the Quad Cities.

By Dan Dolan
Dan Dolan Homes

In a recent article I cited statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau that 10,000 retirees are joining the senior citizen ranks every day. In my mind, that creates an image of a huge never-ending parade of thousands of seniors coming down the street. With many of them wanting new senior housing, I see a huge opportunity for Dan Dolan Homes to fill their needs in our community. But for one reader who called me about the article, she wasn’t sure what it meant for her and her senior friends. She sounded worried.  “Mr. Dolan,” she asked, “why should I care about all those retirees? What’s it got to do with me?” I hesitated a bit, then climbed the several steps to my ‘pulpit.’ “Well,” I said, “I’ve got some good news and some less good news. Let’s start with the good news.”

In my view, the fast-rising population of retirees has some highly desirable benefits. For instance, look at the advertisements in these pages for a wide range of in-home services. Many of these were not even available a year or two ago. We’re seeing services to help retirees manage their homes, their health, their fitness, their recreation, etc. The growing market for higher quality hearing aids, sit-down bath tubs, in-home safety devices are all helping to improve senior quality of life. You may have noticed the many manufacturers who are offering products to meet senior needs for healthier foods, lower calorie foods, better snack foods and cereals, and higher protein and energy foods. The growing senior population has stimulated this activity.

At Dan Dolan Homes, we sensed this population trend early on, and it resulted in our efforts to make senior housing more comfortable and safer. Today, our senior housing features stepless entry, walk-in showers, all-on-one-floor living, wider doorways, a “silent wall,” lawn maintenance, snow removal service and a host of options to meet the lifestyle preferences of retirees. And, we continue to look for ways that will keep Dan Dolan Homes as the leader in senior housing in our communities.

But here’s the “catch.” The market forces being created by these 10,000 retirees a day – nearly 4 million a year—is putting pressure on resources and, sorry to say, costs and prices. For instance, all the housing experts and bankers that I talk to expect ongoing interest rates and housing prices to rise above current levels. In fact, even government programs are tightening up, making it more expensive to buy new homes. And the end is not in sight.

What to do? If the cost of your planned senior housing is important to you (and it should be), I’m encouraging all the seniors that I meet at our weekly open houses to commit to their senior housing program soon. Today! That will let them take advantage of the lifestyle benefits of senior housing now, and it will save them thousands of dollars in acquisition costs later. That cash can better be spent on furniture or travel or saved for that “rainy day.” Urgently, in Davenport, there’s a further incentive to act now in the form of the “Davenport Now” tax rebate program for the purchase of a new home. For instance, at Stone Gate East, that can mean a bonus of some six, eight, ten thousand dollars or more depending on the home’s purchase price. Taking action now can mean really dramatic savings.

We’re approaching our “sold out” situation, but we’re still selling and building at Stone Gate East in Davenport. We have some great attached and freestanding home sites remaining, as well as sites with northern and southern exposures. But, the end is near. If you would like to live in one of the area’s most convenient and highly desirable senior housing estates in the Quad Cities, I would urge you to visit with us soon to reserve your preferred site. We’re open Saturdays and Sundays and during lunch hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Visit with our Realtor hosts soon, to determine which option will best fit your needs.