What next? Online consumer reviews for senior properties?

It’s happening now in the US so it will be here in Australia too, very soon. We’re all accustomed to the benefits of online consumer reviews influencing our buying decisions on travel and online shopping sites, and while retirement villages and aged care facilities may resist, the reality is that - like other types of social media marketing - they’ll have to embrace it sooner or later.

Online transparency is going to happen one way or another, so senior living operators will need to look for ways to ensure their reviews are mostly positive, as there’s nowhere to hide when they get a negative review.  Like travel operators, they’ll need to fix any problems quickly and publish a response online to avoid damage to their reputation, and also encourage their satisfied customers to publish their reviews too so the rankings are balanced.

Yet another example of the shift the internet has created in favour of the consumer!

Web-based technology is developing so fast that just a few years ago not many operators even had a website. Now they are actively engaging consumers with social media marketing campaigns, using Facebook pages, Twitter and more. The logical next step is consumer-driven activity, like online reviews. It’s already happening on corporate Facebook pages and elsewhere in an ad-hoc and piece-meal way.

So the question becomes how do you centralise this information, standardise rating criteria, verify the reviews and know they are genuine? How do you manage this information or provide a meaningful platform that consumers can access easily and trust?  One young man in the US has been working on these issues since he helped his grandmother find an aged care facility and became frustrated with the lack of transparency and difficulty finding practical information. (Precisely the reason the Seniors Housing Online website was established in Australia.)

The US Silver Living website officially launched in December, but they have been collecting information on communities for months from a variety of sources: the community itself, residents of communities, and mystery shoppers. It currently has agreements with three major senior living chains and report a range of reaction among communities the start-up has approached for partnership.

Tal Ziv the website founder says “we’re coming at it from a totally different perspective than anyone else. This transparency is going to happen, whether we do it or someone else does. Our best partners have been ones whose marketing departments have seen this [sort of model] in other industries,” he says. “They see [this information] is available in other industries and how it’s helpful in terms of conversion rates and getting the word out, and recognize it will also happen in senior care.” (Senior Housing News Jan 2013).

See Senior Housing News article.
Link to Silver Living website.
Link to Seniors Housing Online website.

What do you think?  Comment below:

NEW in-home care and community support services search for older people..

There are now more than 28,000 people each month searching website www.SeniorsHousingOnline.com.au for accommodation and support services, everything from independent living, low care, high care, respite and dementia care, to community support services and in-home care. 

We have just introduced a new type of listing to display community based support services in search results. This includes all types of in-home care and community care services, day programs, respite care and more.   This new feature enables website visitors to easily search for community based care and support by area and suburb, reflecting demand and the shift towards in-home care with the new aged care reforms.

So now you have the option of knowing you can stay in your independent living unit or home, and if your health declines, you will be able to apply for in-home support services to either avoid, or at least defer a move into a higher needs aged care facility later on.

Find out more about this new feature and search for support services available in your area.

Worried an elderly parent may need aged care?

If so it's always best to find out about what aged care services are available in your area before an accident or emergency makes it urgent, and discuss options with other family members.  Many issues need to be considered in advance so everyone is prepared and decisions can be made without delay when required.

For older people who resist moving until there's an emergency and no longer any choice, the move is likely to be even more disruptive and traumatic.  To avoid this, it's worth considering whether they would consider moving to a retirement village unit or low care apartment at an earlier stage while they are still more independent.  This way they can settle in and become accustomed to their new environment and make new friends, with the confidence that more support services are available on site should they be needed and they may even be able to entirely avoid a later move to a high needs facility.

Aged Care is a very complex area with many financial and health issues to consider. Frequent questions family members ask about aged care include:

• Will an accommodation bond apply?  
• Will the house have to be sold to pay it?  
• Will renting out the house affect their eligibility for the aged pension or other benefits?
• Will a reverse mortgage help pay for care? 
• What other financial options are there to fund aged care?
• What if there is no house or other assets and the aged person relies solely on the pension?
• Do other family members all agree on an approach?  
• Is there a “living will” in place to express an older person’s preferences if they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves?
• Has power of attorney been granted to enable financial management of their affairs?
• What aged care services are available in your area, and do they have long waiting lists?
• How will you know which facilities offer good quality care?
• Is respite care available and if so is this a good interim step?
• Is moving into an independent living unit or low care apartment a good interim step if higher level care services can be provided there later?
• What other in-home support services may be available to reduce or defer the risk of having to move into an aged care facility?
• How will the Government's new Aged Care reforms impact on any plans to move to an aged care facility?

We've selected a range of helpful website links to help families navigate these complex arrangements on the www.SeniorsHousingOnline.com.au News and Information page, so you can find out more. You can also search the property data base by area, price and level of care to locate suitable retirement communities and aged care facilities.

AGED CARE REFORMS - GOOD NEWS FOR SENIORS.

More in-home care will be available and seniors' homes will be exempt from means testing, under the Australian Government's aged care reforms announced last week. This means more seniors will be able to stay in their own homes, including those in independent living units in retirement villages and other over 50's properties.

Although self-funded retirees will be required to pay more towards aged care services they receive, (according to a sliding scale based on their income) the maximum cost will be capped and prices regulated, giving seniors more certainty when planning their retirement.

Those already in residential care will not have to pay more as they will be protected by transitional arrangements.

The changes will be progressively implemented over a 10 year period, with some being introduced as early as 1st July 2012, to improve services available for an ageing population and to ensure funding arrangements are sustainable.

See the News and Information page for more details on the reforms, responses by consumer and industry groups and helpful links.

Senior Smart Homes - Big Brother or Brave New World?

High tech developments in home automation and health monitoring devices are revolutionising senior living and aged care.

New devices geared to suit older people offer the potential to stay living independently for longer, and defer or even avoid entirely the need to move into a health care facility. They include home sensors, medication and health alerts, GPS locators, remote fall monitors, webcams and even robots. The Australian Government has just announced funding for an e-health pilot scheme under the National Broadband program.

Brave New World or Big Brother? What will this mean for you and your family? 

Read more and find links to more information on these developments in the article on the Seniors Housing Online News and Information page

Virtual Retirement Villages - New Age Care for the 21st Century.

Are "Virtual" Retirement Villages the Next Big Thing?

Interview with Amanda Graham, Director of Australian retirement website www.SeniorsHousingOnline.com.au

1.      What are Virtual Retirement Villages? “New technology is providing a platform for thousands of seniors to develop "virtual retirement villages" - online local networks supporting people to live independently in their own homes with access to local services.  Membership helps provide staff, systems and infrastructure, supported by a centralised online network, putting a whole new high tech spin on "ageing in place" policies.” 2.      These virtual villages are springing up quickly in the U.S. but will they catch on here in Australia?   “We think they will appeal to independent minded baby boomers - who are already tech savvy.  We also think they provide new opportunities for service providers to connect with people in their local area, and provide a new approach to community based and in-home aged care in Australia.” 3.      Senior enclaves are nothing new – so what’s changed? “They have been described as a new type of "naturally occurring retirement communities" (NORCs) which have evolved from senior enclaves developing in local areas offering a senior friendly living environment.  Clusters of older residents in places with senior - orientated services and lifestyle is nothing new, but what’s changed is that there’s now an online "Village to Village Network" with tools and systems to replicate the model faster, provide basic functions and learn from shared experiences.  These online tools are accelerating the trend and enabling people to remain more independent, but even more importantly they are potentially a game changer as they shift the balance of power and put people in control of their own care. It’s another example of how the web is really democratising information and making it more accessible to everyone – and in the process, shaking up the old structures, giving more power to consumers and often cutting out the middleman in connecting people together.” 4.      Will this development threaten the business model of established retirement villages and aged care providers? “It will definitely influence the way these current businesses develop in the future, and this is just one way they will need to adapt to the higher expectations of the baby boomers, whose attitudes to aged care are very different to that of their parents’ generation. But demand for retirement villages and aged care will continue to grow strongly as we still need a range of types of service provision to cater for the increase in the older population, including high level care for those who need it. In-home care is already a popular and growing option to cater for independent seniors who may only need low level support, so virtual villages are just one way of taking this further. Many existing Australian aged care service providers are currently expanding their community based and in-home services too, so I expect they’ll be very interested in this as another way to connect with seniors in their local catchment area. It also really highlights the potential to better utilise technology to deliver services to older people.” 5.      How does it actually work in the U.S? “The U.S. based Village to Village Network - established in 2010 - already actively supports 50 village communities, and has contact with a further 3,000 as more attend workshops and join the network. It is organised by a non-profit organisation in Washington called NCB Capital Impact and Beacon Hill Village in Boston which was established 10 years ago. The network  provides a range of practical tools to speed the process of developing a virtual senior community, including sample business plans, job descriptions, online learning forums, events calendars, online membership registration, and senior oriented local service providers and businesses.  It offers a step by step checklist and do's and don'ts for independent seniors wanting to set up their own "Virtual Village" to support seniors in their local area. It also allows for consumer feedback on senior services, helping people to select the best and most reputable services available. A customised website module has been developed for the Network to manage common village activities and is available to registered members. This has been funded partly via grants and partly via modest membership fees for participating villages.” 6.      What benefits are there for seniors in getting involved? “For many older people this virtual village option offers the opportunity to link up with like-minded others, taking responsibility for themselves and remaining in their own homes for as long as possible as they age, finding and even saving money on support services - as well as better managing demand for over stretched government funded in-home support services. It will also speed up the ability to find trusted local support services and access information, including peer reviews from other consumers. For Australian senior living and aged care providers it potentially offers a way to rapidly expand their community based outreach services and connect with local seniors, so it will be interesting to see if or how the US model translates into local service provision.  Perhaps the development of effective new online tools will generate innovative partnerships between independent seniors, care providers and government for the 21st century?” More information and relevant links can be found on the Seniors Housing Online News and Information page: http://www.seniorshousingonline.com.au//templates/seniors2010_news.aspx?pageID=335

Are "Virtual Retirement Villages" the New Big Thing?

Technology is now providing a platform for thousands of seniors in the US to develop "virtual retirement villages" - online local networks supporting people to live independently in their own homes with access to local services.  A membership fee helps provide paid staff, volunteers and infrastructure, supported by a centralised online network, putting a whole new spin on "ageing in place" policies.

These virtual villages are an example of what is called "naturally occurring retirement communities" which have evolved from senior enclaves developing in local areas offering a senior friendly living environment. While these clusters of older residents have always developed organically over the years as independent older people gravitated to senior - orientated services and lifestyle, online innovations have facilitated a new "Village to Village Network" with tools to replicate the model faster, provide basic functions and learn from shared experiences.

The U.S. based Village to Village Network already actively supports 50 such communities, and has contact with a further 3,000 as more attend workshops and join the network. It is organised by a non-profit organisation in Washington called NCB Capital Impact and Beacon Hill Village in Boston which was established 10 years ago. The network, launched in 2010, provides a range of practical tools to speed the process of developing a virtual senior community, including sample business plans, job descriptions, online learning forums, events calendars, online membership registration, and senior oriented local service providers and businesses.  It offers a step by step checklist and do's and don'ts for independent seniors wanting to set up their own "Virtual Village" to support seniors in their local area.

A customised website module has been developed for the Network to manage common village activities and is available to registered members. This has been funded partly via grants and partly via modest membership fees for participating villages.

For many older people this option offers the opportunity to link up with like minded others, taking responsibility for themselves and remaining in their own homes for as long as possible as they age, saving money on support services - as well as reducing demand for over stretched government funded in-home support services. 

For Australian senior living and aged care providers it potentially offers a way to rapidly expand their community based outreach services and connect with local seniors, so it will be interesting to see if or how the US model translates into local service provision.  Perhaps the development of effective new online tools will generate innovative partnerships between independent seniors, care providers and government?

See more with useful links on the Seniors Housing Online News and Information page.

Monitoring Australian Aged Care Facilities.

High level aged care services with more intensive medical and personal care services are provided in an accredited residential care facility.  (Unlike retirement villages which provide mainly independent living units for residents able to care for themselves, with some additional support services if required).  Residents must first be assessed as needing higher level care by an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) before they can be placed in a residential care facility.

If you have a family member requiring intensive support and personal care who is already in an aged care facility, or if you are currently looking for a permanent or respite place, you need to know that Australian residential care homes are monitored and accredited by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency.

You can search for the most recent government audit of any residential care home by using the search by state, suburb or name of the residential care home using the Agency’s online search tool.

You can also find out more about government regulation of aged care facilities or lodge a complaint using the website.

Regulation of Australian aged care services will change under reforms released in August 2011, as discussed in previous Seniors Housing Online news articles. The Productivity Commission report “Caring for Older Australians” recommends staged introduction of the reforms over a 5 year period and protection of those currently receiving aged care services during a transition period.

Aged Care Reforms - impact on current recipients of services.

For those who are currently receiving Australian aged care services or who are awaiting the provision of services, there is anxiety about the impact of proposed reforms – whether their arrangements will change and if so how soon that will happen.

The Productivity Commission report “Caring for Older Australians” recommends introduction of the reforms over a 5 year period and a transition period for protection of those currently receiving aged care services.

You can read more and see links to relevant sections of the Productivity Commission report "Caring for Older Australians" on the News and Information page at www.seniorshousingonline.com.au

Australian aged care reforms - how will they affect your retirement plans?

The Australian Productivity Commission recommendations on reforms to aged care services has been released. The most contentious proposals concern older people making a larger contribution towards the cost of their own care, and new government-backed schemes to enable the sale or release of equity in the family home to fund that care. How will this affect your retirement plans and the care available for family members? Read more on the News and Information page on the Seniors Housing Online website.

Retirement village and aged care reforms are imminent.

A final report on "Caring for Older Australians" by the Australian Productivity Commission is due this month, focussing on the regulation and public funding of retirement villages and aged care services. Some important reforms are expected to be recommended to the Federal Government which may affect your retirement plans or the support services available for older family members.

Proposals under consideration include the introduction of a compulsory insurance scheme to help broaden the aged care funding base. The Federal Government is investigating how best to improve the supply of affordable housing and aged care for older Australians as greater longevity and the retirement of the babyboomer generation is set to increase the cost to Government.

The draft proposals released to date include:
- remove restrictions on community care packages and aged care bed licences
- restrictions on accommodation bonds and uncap accommodation charges
- means testing of co-contributions for community and residential care
- maximum lifetime cap on co-contributions to prevent excessive care costs
- new Australian Pensioners Bond scheme - exempt from assets and income deeming tests
- new Government backed equity release scheme to fund care and also retain home ownership
- a proportion of accommodation to be available for the financially disadvantaged
- scheduled price regulation and indexation
- new flexible care system to replace care packages
- providers to receive case mix payments for delivering palliative and end of life care
- changes to Government block funding of care and support programs
- expanded use of health in-reach services to residential aged care and visiting multi-disciplinary health care teams
- availability of interpreter services and culturally appropriate assessment of care needs
- new national approach to home modification and maintenance services
- new building design standards for residential housing for older people
- new national policy framework for provision of cost effective housing to cater for an ageing population
- retirement village regulation to be nationally consistent and separate from aged care
- new Carer Support Centres to improve access to services and respite care
- improved employment conditions and training for aged care workers
- new regulatory agency "Australian Aged Care Regulation Commission" (AACRC) for accreditation and complaints, and with more effective penalties
- transitional arrangements to allow the sector time to adjust and minimise disruption

The Productivity Commission published a discussion paper earlier this year, and invited public submissions before the release of the final report to Government, which is now imminent.

We'll be watching these developments closely and we'll keep you posted. You can view more articles on the News and Information page on the Seniors Housing Online website, and sign up to receive regular newsletters at http://www.seniorshousingonline.com.au/

Interview with Kat Parr-Mackintosh of nestoria.com.au

Seniors Housing Online joined us as a partner soon after Nestoria launched but never got a formal introduction on the blog. While rectifying that it seemed like a good opportunity to talk to co-founder, Amanda Graham about the specifics of working in real estate in their target market, and the changes Australia's ageing population might have on the industry at large.  I asked Amanda to begin by giving us an understanding of her own background and the background of the company. Here's what she had to say to us.

I trained as a lawyer initially and at first I worked with juvenile offenders in the children’s court then moved to work in government on law reform and developing social policy, and completed a Master of Business Administration. This took me to working in politics, for a state Premier, several Government Ministers and Sydney’s Lord Mayor as a policy adviser and Chief of Staff. This work included responsibility for Ageing services, so I was well aware of the challenges for government in caring for an ageing population, especially around accommodation needs.

Can you also talk us though where the idea for Seniors Housing Online came from and how the business has developed?

The practical side really hit home when I had to search for accommodation for my own father, and I became extremely frustrated at the absence of a website to help with this process. It seemed such an obvious area to apply the benefits of an internet search! to Like many people assisting older family members, my (co-founder) sister in law Catherine and myself were busy working full time, had children of our own, and lived over an hours’ drive away from dad – making it all very difficult. We looked at the real estate websites and asked ourselves “why isn’t retirement property on there, or why hasn’t someone set up one of these for aged care?”

It turned out that the aged care and retirement property industry was incredibly fragmented, and as it was not marketed through real estate agents, it was not being captured by the real estate websites. In addition, at that time the developers/ managers of these properties relied mainly on local newspaper advertisements and most did not have any online presence at all. But as consumers we found it almost impossible to locate suitable retirement property, especially when we didn’t live in the search area – I was reduced to using the yellow pages, ringing dozens of places during business hours only to be told they were the wrong type of place, they had no vacancies, they were the wrong price range or even (incredible but true!) “could I please ring back on a Thursday morning between 9.30 and 12 noon when the relevant staff member would be there..” Needless to say there were no photographs available either and I had to waste numerous weekends setting up appointments and driving for hours to inspect totally unsuitable properties before I could even get together a shortlist to show dad. It’s a sensitive time for an elderly parent and there was no way I was going to upset him by taking him to inspect unsuitable places, sight unseen.

Catherine and I knew that many other people must be sharing our experience, and it really didn’t need to be this difficult. The funny thing was that initially the retirement property and aged care operators all shook their heads and said that the sector was not ready for internet marketing, and anyway old people didn’t use computers so there was no point! They didn’t seem to think about the people like us who were typically helping their elderly parents, which is who we had in mind when we first set up the website. And the consumers very quickly proved us right – they loved our site immediately so the biggest challenge early on was persuading the property managers to list with us so we had the content.

Interestingly, when the site was first established the majority of visitors were family and friends of older people needing retirement accommodation – but now older people searching online for themselves massively outnumber them and we’ve adapted the business accordingly. Older people have definitely adopted the internet very quickly, with many in their 70’s and 80’s relying on email and joining Facebook, often so they can view their grandchildrens' photos etc. But there’s still a lingering stereotype about older people not using the internet, which really underestimates the huge online potential in targeting this demographic.

As you've mentioned above, Seniors Housing is a property portal with a specific market. Can you talk a bit about how you've developed your site so that it best suits your demographic?

As more older people use the website for themselves, the focus of the business has shifted from higher needs “aged care” accommodation for those in their 60’s and beyond to younger retirees and downsizers in their 50’s looking for larger, more modern “resort style” independent living properties offering a holiday lifestyle near beaches and golf courses. Aged care is now a much smaller part of our market, and the biggest market is the “baby boomer” generation, who have very different expectations and lifestyles to that of their parents. As they hit retirement age, they are now transforming the retirement property market as well as the whole concept of retirement and this is reflected in the range of properties featured on the site and the search functionality.

We’ve recently redesigned the site and people can now search for waterfront retirement properties, golf retirement properties, beach-side retirement properties, pet-friendly retirement properties, retirement villages and many more lifestyle preferences like this. The regional search options recognise that people are often prepared to move to a new area to attain the sort of holiday lifestyle they want in retirement, and to release extra cash from the sale of their family home. They can also filter search results by the level of care available (if needed), price and number of bedrooms.

What sort of design and functionality choices have you made that you think are specific to your market?

Our market is a niche property market, so we’ve adapted the best real estate website functionality and enabled people to search various types of retirement property categories, including independent living, low care and high level aged care, as well as buy(or entry cost) and rent (or weekly cost). There is a wider range of legal occupancy arrangements commonly used in the Australian retirement property sector than in the general residential real estate market, and aged care services are often provided under a complex formula based on means testing, so we’ve had to incorporate all this into the search functionality in a way which makes sense to consumers and keeps it simple. And we’ve enabled search filtering for a wide range of lifestyle choices including golf retirement properties etc. as described earlier as well as specific property features like lift access or no steps. As people in this market are often searching for retirement property outside their local area, the photographs, plans and google maps location for each property are especially important features too.

The site is really unique in the capacity it offers for consumers to tailor their own search to meet their specific needs and personal preferences.

Do you think people still feel there's a stigma about retirement living? Do you think the retirement lifestyle has changed over the past few decades? And do you think that people are fully aware of the changing nature of this sort of a lifestyle?

There’s a big difference between retirement living and aged care services, and I think people still confuse the two. One is about lifestyle and the other is about healthcare services. Retirement lifestyles in Australia have changed enormously in recent years, reflecting the demands and expectations of the baby boomer generation. People are now looking for luxury, a holiday lifestyle and quality of life when they finish work, or as they gradually exit from the workforce - the whole concept of “retirement” is more transitional and not so clear cut as it once was.

Now there’s an acceptance that it’s just a different stage of life, that people live much longer with better health so there’s plenty of time to enjoy life more without the responsibilities of working to pay off the mortgage and support young children. Just as 40 is the new 30, 50 is the new 40 - Australians aged over 50 now commonly work part time; undertake courses to learn or study; travel more regularly both nationally and internationally; take up sports and focus on keeping fit and healthy. This generation has more accumulated wealth and disposable income than younger consumers, they are accustomed to the finer things in life and have no intention of downsizing their quality of life in their later years. They certainly don’t consider themselves to be “old”!

In Australia, there is a higher level of home ownership than in many other comparable developed countries and in the past twenty years the residential property market has boomed, delivering high (tax free) capital gains. So selling the family home is a common way to help fund that lifestyle. It’s become very popular to downsize to a villa or apartment in early retirement and release cash as well as reduce the burden of home and garden maintenance. Many younger retirees look for a “lock up and go” property so they can travel regularly, or want space to park their boat or caravan. And there are many new retirement property developments which cater specifically to this “over 50’s” market and their lifestyle focus. As people get older, if their health declines they may have the option of buying in-home support services or moving to accommodation offering a higher level of aged care support.

Finding a home is always stressful, but it must be an even more stressful decision for older house hunters. Do you think there are adequate accommodation provisions for Australia's ageing population or do you think the situation will become more competitive?

Yes it can be very stressful particularly for the older generation of retirees, who tend to want to stay in their long term family home for as long as possible. For many it means they struggle with maintaining the home for years and then eventually they are forced to move after a fall, declining health or the death of a partner. This scenario is very traumatic for all concerned and it is usually the adult children who step in and assist with these decisions. By this stage high level aged care is more likely to be needed and it may be difficult to find a place.

In recent years, increasing demand for aged care services due to an ageing population has seen governments fund more in-home aged care, to enable people to “age in place” and receive more support services in their own home as they become more frail. This is a more cost effective use of limited public resources and frees up facilities with high level aged care places for those most in need. It also means younger retirees downsizing to lifestyle properties can access more support if needed without having to move house later on.

Retirement villages have been popular in Australia for many years – these are purpose built communities with common facilities, comprising mainly of independent living villas and apartments, but often offering higher levels of care on the same site. However many of these are older building stock which do not meet the expectations of younger retirees, prompting the recent development of many new villages with larger more luxurious villas and resort style facilities such as swimming pools, bowling greens, gyms and restaurants.

There is a mix of not for profit and commercial developments and in the past few years it’s moved from being an extremely fragmented industry following considerable market consolidation, as larger groups buy up independently owned and managed villages. With consolidation, marketing activity has become more professional and centralised as the larger groups recognise the importance of advertising online and gearing up to cater for the imminent retirement of the baby boomer generation.

While there’s adequate housing stock available to cater for the younger retirees looking for lifestyle property, the real challenge lies in funding sufficient high level aged care as demand increases for limited places with an ageing demographic.

Do you think the Australian Government should be more pro-active in this sector? Or do you think that this is the changing nature of the Australian housing market, and it will become less common for people to leave whole properties to their kids, having instead used the equity in them to help fund their retirement?

There’s a major policy debate going on in Australia at present about what provision is made by government to fund aged care services for an ageing population, and how much should be paid for by individuals as a private cost, and how this can be managed equitably. We’ve currently got a system of accommodation bonds in place, which is often based upon the value of the family home, and there are also complex asset tests around the aged pension and government benefit eligibility. There’s broad acknowledgment that demand for aged care services has outstripped the capacity of the existing arrangements to fund the services required but no clear consensus on the best way forward. With a minority government in power only with the support of independent and greens MPs after recent elections, there’s unlikely to be the political will to make the sort of hard decisions needed but which are likely to alienate a significant proportion of the electorate.

Australia has had compulsory superannuation in place for some years too, although at present these retirement savings are insufficient to privately fund the level of aged care services needed. Meanwhile more retirees are selling the family home to release capital to fund their retirement, or else using reverse mortgages or shared home equity products to subsidise their retirement lifestyle. So yes, it’s becoming much less common for people to leave whole properties to their kids, and when the baby boomer generation has spent their home equity they’ll still be dependent on government services to support their final years, so the national government needs to take a responsible long term view about how to manage these costs and build consensus around this issue.

Not all of your target market have a reputation for being web or techno. savvy, can you think of any technology - be it a website, an app. or a product - that has, or could make this process a lot easier for them?

Most people start to need reading glasses in their 40’s, so two things which immediately spring to mind are larger fonts to make things easy to read as eyesight declines, and voice technology to avoid reliance on visuals and keyboards. Things like small keypads on mobile phones are a particular problem for an older demographic. Also for frailer older people, emergency call pendants and similar technology has been really important in enabling longer term independence, so updating and integrating these benefits into other products and making them cheaper and more accessible would be fantastic. Even some of the electronic diary applications would be great to manage medications and appointments and probably could be tailored for this market.

And if you could invent some kind of site or technology or app. etc. for property, and there were no limitations on its powers, what would you think would be the ultimate property tool/ product?

Real estate websites combined with google earth have revolutionised the real estate industry and really empowered consumers. Anything which enables the consumer to more accurately research and assess a property online is great – eg. if google maps could show a 360 degree view of the property including the surrounding landscape from any angle and bring up the most recent sales prices of neighbouring properties, and of course the ultimate online democracy is to cut out the middle man (or woman) by directly connecting buyers and sellers with full access to relevant information. Also when buying and selling property the whole legal process of searches and transferring title is very cumbersome and expensive so there must be a technologically better way to do all this online!

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts with us Amanda. There are certainly some appealing properties on SHO. And if there was a way to make the transference of property titles cheaper and easier then you'd be helping out the whole market – so that's a fantastic suggestion... Any one out there have any suggestions on how it could be achieved?

Kat Parr-Mackintosh from Nestoria.com.au