It really depends on you and what you want in life right now? But moving into a retirement Village is a lifestyle choice and creates a community of like minded people, just like communities used to be! What it offers you is Security, companionship, less worry with household maintenance and more time to enjoy the fun things in life. These are just some of the many reasons people decide to move to a retirement village.

Retirement villages can offer you all of the above along with a number of services and use of facilities.You can expect to receive 24-hour emergency assistance, which enables you to access assistance in the times of an emergency; day-to-day village administration and management, consisting of staff experienced with the retirement village sector; general village maintenance and gardening.

Many villages also offer residents the use of a number of community facilities such as a community centre or clubhouse, landscaped gardens, library, gymnasium, spa, craft/activities room, bowling greens, putting greens, games room and cinema room. You are able to use the communal facilities as often as you like. Some villages also have user pays services such as beauty salons, specialist consulting rooms (e.g. podiatry) etc.

Again, that’s up to you to decide? It may be the location, it may be the sound of the Bellbirds or it may be the facilities and the look that appeals to you but with only 71 approved homes Cooranbong Gardens is a spacious village offering the best of the best to the fortunate few who choose to live here. We have strived to think of everything to make living here as wonderful experience as possible from the small things such as sensor lights in the hallways for those who like a midnight snack, air conditioning, ducted vacuum systems and larger soft touch light switches and power outlets for easier accessibility to providing the highest level of service as far as lifestyle support and management.

The village is planned to be constructed over two major stages. The first stage of 71 homes is to begin construction July 2017 and is aimed for completion by March 2019 (of course all timelines are subject to weather conditions). There will be five sub stages within the first stage which are outlined below. Our staging is aimed at limiting construction noise and as not to inconvenience residents already residing in the village. Sub Stage 1 – consisting of homes 56-67 a total of 12 homes. This stage is aimed to be completed by February 2018 with the completion of the Lake and partial construction of the Community Centre. This stage will also include two display homes which will be constructed as a priority, completed by October 2017 for display purposes. Sub Stage 2 – consisting of homes 24-37 a total of 14 homes. This stage is aimed to be completed by May 2018 with the final stages of the community centre being completed. Sub Stage 3 – consisting of homes 38-55 a total of 18 homes. This stage is aimed to be completed by August 2018. Sub Stage 4 – consisting of homes 6-23 a total of 18 homes. This stage is aimed to be completed by November 2018. Sub Stage 5 – consisting of homes 1-5 and 68-71 a total of 9 homes. This stage is aimed to be completed by March 2019. This stage will include the Management office/residence. We aim to begin construction of stage 2 once stage 1 has been completed. *Please note all above staging is subject to weather conditions throughout the construction stages.  

You are required to pay an ingoing contribution, which is the amount of money you are required to pay the operator of the village in return for a right to reside, which allows you to reside in the accommodation unit of your choice and enjoy the services and facilities available.

Cooranbong Gardens is resident funded. This means that residents contribute to the costs associated with the day-to-day and ongoing management and maintenance of the village. This is an effective way of ensuring that facilities and services, that would normally be out of reach of most people, are available.

As a resident, you will be required to pay a “recurrent charge” or “maintenance fee”, which covers the running costs of the village e.g. day-to-day village management and administration, general village maintenance, council rates, insurance, security costs and gardening.

The recurrent charge generally also includes a contribution to a sinking fund that is used for major maintenance and repair of the retirement village’s capital items, ensuring that there are always sufficient funds available to cover repair and maintenance works.

Personal services are also available to residents and are usually those services such as laundry, meals and cleaning which are provided to residents, on a user pays basis.

It is your responsibility to pay for electricity, telephone and contents insurance for your home.

The tenure available at Cooranbong Gardens is leasehold tenure. A lease is for 99 years and is registered with the Titles Office with you registered as the ‘lessee’. A lease terminates automatically on the death of the surviving resident or when the unit is on-sold to a new resident.

No, as this is a leasehold tenure Stamp Duty is not applicable.

We recognise that pets can be an important part of your life so we welcome pets under certain provisions to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for all residents.

Generally you are more than welcome to have family and friends stay over. However depending on the length of their stay, you may be required to obtain written approval from the Village Manager.

This is to ensure the safety and security of all residents. You should ask the Sales Consultant or Village Manager for the rules relating to the village of your choice.

The initial facilities on the scope of works will be The Community/multi purpose Centre, indoor pool, spa and sauna, Mens shed, Gymnasium and outdoor BBQ areas. But there are also provisions to expand on facilities based on wants and needs of residents.

Once the village is occupied by enough residents we will encourage the formation of a Residents Committee. The Residents’ Committee works with the village manager to ensure that the needs and requirements of the residents are being met. and enhance the retirement community lifestyle.

Committee members are nominated and elected by residents annually.

The Village Manager is responsible for the day to day operation of the village and is the point of contact for all residents; they will be able to help with any queries or concerns you may have.

There are many reasons why you might want to move from your accommodation home. They include changing health, family and financial circumstances. You must provide the operator of the village with a written notice of your intention to vacate your home. Most villages have a pro-forma document that you complete and return. If not, you can write a simple letter advising of your decision. You and the operator of the village must agree on the resale price of your accommodation home. If there is no mutual agreement, the operator must obtain an independent valuation from a suitably qualified valuer. You must also agree on any reinstatement work that may be required to return your accommodation home to the condition it was in when you moved in. This may include work such as painting, for example. Reinstatement work also works to ensure that the resale process is undertaken as expeditiously as possible and that the best possible resale price is obtained. Naturally, the age of your accommodation home and the village itself must be taken into consideration when working out what work is required. Depending on the nature of the contract that you entered into when you first moved to the village, we will have the first right, for a period of 6 months, to re-sell your home. We must on-sell the accommodation unit to a suitable person and one who meets the criteria of a resident – e.g. must be 55 years of age or older. This ensures that the integrity of the village is upheld. You have the opportunity to introduce to us people whom you think may be suitable for residency during this period. If we have not sold your unit within 6 months, you may appoint an independent real estate agent to sell your unit for you. Obviously, the person found by the real estate agent must also meet the criteria of a resident. We must provide you with an estimate of Exit Entitlement, noting proceeds that may be expected upon the sale of your home and detailing any deductions, such as the Exit Fee or Departure Fee.

The “Exit Fee” or” Departure Fee” (sometimes referred to as a ‘Deferred Management Fee’ or DMF) is the return to us for our initial investment in the village infrastructure and is intended to reimburse for the provision of all the up front infrastructure and community facility costs which go into creating the village. These costs include things such as underground power, sewer, town water and NBN to your home site, building the community centre, roads drainage, car parks, BBQ areas, mens shed etc the fee is It is capped at a percentage at 35% based on the resale price of the premises calculated at the following rates;

• Year 1 – 8%
• Year 2 – 8%
• Year 3 – 8%
• Year 4 – 4%
• Year 5 – 4%
• Year 6 – 2%
• Year 7 – 1%

Once your accommodation home is resold, you must receive your Exit entitlement within 10-14 days.    

The developer takes responsibility of any growth or loss of capital upon sale of the residence depending on the market at the time of sale. Any profit from capital growth is shared 50% to the seller and 50% to the operator going toward any necessary refurbishment of a home once it is vacated.

Effectively you purchase a guaranteed right to occupy the home for as long as you need. It means that there are no individual titles for individual homes. A deposit is required to secure your choice. The Sales Consultant or the Village Manager will discuss with you, the details of the deposit, how it is appropriately held and how it is refunded. Most villages generally allow up to three months for you to sell you own property. This should be sufficient time to market your property and they will keep in communication with you during this time to discuss any matters as they might arise.

The legislation recognises that this may happen and allows a period of 90 days, called the Settling-In Period, for you to change your mind. You do need to be aware that some charges may apply. While this does not happen often, the village will understand that circumstances do change and endeavour to work with you to fully explore other options. This way you have the chance to make an informed decision in the first place.

You can make alterations to the interior or exterior of your home, within reason. Obviously there are policies in place to protect the safety and comfort of all residents and to safeguard the aesthetic qualities and integrity of the retirement village. These must be complied with. Alterations involving electricity, gas, plumbing or building structure and external appearance must be approved by management before any work is carried out and all work must be carried out by qualified, registered tradespeople. You can, of course, redecorate the interior of your home more or less as you choose although the village manager must be kept informed.

The only insurance you will need to worry about will be for your personal contents. The building and property insurance is shared by all residents and paid through your monthly fee.

There is Boat and caravan storage available on site but this does attract a monthly fee.