Sunbound

Hi Guys and Girls,
My retired parents are HOPING to join us on the Gold Coast next year or 2011. They want to buy a 2 or 3 bed low set on a gated community, nothing fancy and wanted to find out the rough day to day (or monthly ;o)) living costs for such a size of house for a couple ?
They're not fixed as to where they want to be as long as its somewhere between say Helensvale and Tweed, inland or coastal.
Can anyone offer any figures or tips on good areas for retired/aged parents?
Thanks ever so , Sunbound

Petals

It really depends on their income and interests. Some people live on little some live on a lot. You could look at realestate.com.au for properties that they an afford. Gated communities have ongoing fees and charges which are reviewed so they would have to be able to pay for those as well as council and water rates.

Wol

... and also bear in mind that gated communities which are still controlled by the developer (ie., haven't yet been handed over to a resident's board) usually have their fees subsidised by the developer. This means that prospective buyers are given an idea of ongoing fees that will be wholly inaccurate when the development is finally handed over and the full costs of maintaining what is, by then ageing, infrastructure have to be met.

Jan4kids

Have a look at 'The Gardens on Lindfield' in Helensvale. I was looking at this for my Mum a couple of years back. It seemed like a really good package at the time with lots of services on offer.

Here's the link: http://www.gardensonlindfield.com.au/

Hope it all works out for them,

Jan