Being proactive in planning for their retirement was important for Port Lincoln couple Jim and Gayle, who moved into their brand new retirement living unit in Angaston, in 2019.
“We spent many months extensively researching our options, and chose Barossa Village after comparing retirement villages across South Australia,” the couple explained.
“The Barossa Village contract was clear and the honesty and openness up front particularly appealed to us.”
As fairly private people, living in a smaller cluster also appealed to Jim and Gayle, over a large village concept. Location was also very important to them and living so close to facilities will help with maintaining their independence over the years to come.
Doing their research of retirement village options, Jim and Gayle compared prices of many retirement living units and found that the Barossa Village units were very affordable, offering a lot for the price.
“We asked a lot of questions and Barossa Village presented themselves very well.”
“Coming from Port Lincoln where we have lived all our lives, we preferred to be by the sea, but some of the prices on the coast and in the hills were ridiculous and the units were nowhere near as good as what Barossa Village is offering.”
Most units they viewed had very small room sizes and garages with designs suited to lifestyles 20 years ago, when people lived differently.
“These days, people have large cars to tow caravans and need decent sized garages. This was an important factor for us.”
Having two bathrooms was also important to Jim and Gayle, with visits from friends and family.
“Many units were more expensive with just one bathroom.”
The architect designed floorplans and spacious layout of the unit cluster factored into their decision to buy.
“The units weren’t restricted by the confines of a large retirement village development, which allowed for wide doorways and hallways, large rooms, plenty of storage and well-proportioned garages, all for a very attractive price.”
Jim and Gayle observed that “(The) concept of neighbourhood clusters gives Barossa Village the ability to adapt their homes to modern retirement lifestyles.”
An important factor considered during their research was the culture of the organisation.
“There’s the flexibility and a generosity of spirit displayed by everyone we have been in contact with at Barossa Village, which is appreciated, because there are lots of other things going on in our lives and they took a lot of stress out of our decision.”
“We even asked their staff what it was like to work for the organisation and were happy with their feedback, because we expect honesty and integrity and we’re very pleased with Barossa Village as an organisation.”
