By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

There is a lot to consider when searching for a new home for your retirement. But the process doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you base your decision on your personal priorities and individual lifestyle.

Choose a place that feels like home
Cathy Gray, a retirement counselor at Monarch Landing, says people should take certain steps when choosing an apartment home that fits their lifestyle. She helps people identify what they enjoy most about their current house then suggests an  apartment home with similar amenities. Whether you want a spare bedroom for visitors, extra sunlight, a second bathroom, a formal dining room, or a patio—Gray says you should take all of that into consideration when deciding where to spend your retirement.

“Monarch Landing has apartment home styles that have just about any feature a person could want. When you have the opportunity to choose what you want, it feels more like home,” Gray says, “and that’s something very important to consider.” In fact, she says many models are so popular they are close to selling out. She encourages prospective residents who have their eyes on a particular model to reserve one now—before they are all gone.

Find the right size for you
Gray says people don’t have to compromise on space when they move to a retirement community. At Monarch Landing, she says many residents are actually looking for smaller homes so they don’t have to clean and decorate a bunch of unused rooms. For many people, moving to Monarch Landing means spending less time cleaning and performing other cumbersome household chores, like shoveling snow or mowing the lawn.

And since the monthly service package includes one meal a day at one of the  community’s restaurants, people don’t have to spend a lot of time grocery shopping and preparing meals. “A lot of women don’t want to cook at all anymore,” Gray says. “Living here is like being on a vacation.”