Baby boomers continue working while maintaining active lives

You don’t have to be retired to want to downsize and get a less expensive, more maintenance-free, socially enhanced lifestyle.

“Many of our Carillon communities buyers are still working, but when they come home, they enjoy being active in their communities,” explained Chris Naatz, vice president of sales for DR Horton. “They are at a point in their career when they have achieved an excellent work-life balance and they have some free time to fill. So they want to pursue fun when they are not working.”

“The Baby boomers are out to redefine ‘active adult’ with their forever young mentality and their concentration on mind, body and spirit,” he continued. “So, they are choosing to work past the age of 65, as long as they feel good, because they want to stay engaged and productive. That is why they are continuing to work.”

But many are nevertheless choosing to move out of their large homes with the high taxes and expensive energy use and upkeep, moving instead to smaller, ranch homes with fewer fixed costs during this time of economic uncertainty. In many cases, they are also choosing to buy homes in active adult communities so that they can socialize with others their own age and have a constant list of events and activities to keep them busy when they aren’t at work.

“We recently did a survey at Del Webb and found that 70 percent of Baby Boomers plan to work outside the home well past the traditional retirement age,” said Maria Wilhelm, vice president of sales for the Pulte Group’s Illinois division, which owns Del Webb. “As a result, we are making staffing changes at our clubhouses. Having them open during the day is no longer enough. They need to be open very early so that people can work out before they go to the office and they have to be open late for those who want to take a class or work out after work. When we first opened Sun City Huntley 12 years ago, that certainly was not the case.”

“It is unbelievable to see how active and energized our homeowners are. They still want to contribute to society and working is one way to do that,” she continued.

“Grand Dominion definitely has a younger demographic — many coming from a close proximity therefore they maintain close family ties, choosing to remain close to their children and grandchildren. They are moving toward the retirement phase of their lives but are still very diverse in their personal and professional relationships. Their active lifestyles keep them busy and by entering a Del Webb community, their lives get even more fulfilling,” explained Tracy Citrano, lifestyle director at Grand Dominion in Mundelein.

According to Nate Amidon, sales professional at Shodeen Residential, retirement is almost a dying word. “People are not abandoning work, but when they are home, they want access to recreational amenities like those we offer at Mill Creek in Geneva. They also seem to be more interested than ever before in location when choosing a home. Ease of transportation is very important, as is being close to restaurants and shopping.”

They are also looking for one-level living that is not necessarily that much smaller than their previous home, he continued. “I would almost say that they are ‘right sizing’ not downsizing and they are particularly interested in entertainment space and in home offices. Every plan we offer has a den that can also be a third or fourth bedroom when needed.”

Court Airhart, president of Airhart Construction of Wheaton, has even noticed that his empty-nester buyers fall into several general categories of concerns. Working people who are still generating an income are less worried about annual costs like taxes and utilities, he said. But those who have come to the end of their income are very specifically looking at annual costs like utilities, taxes and maintenance. They are budgeting much more carefully, he said. In addition, those with family in the area, he said, aren’t as concerned about secondary bedrooms as they are about office space. While those with out-of-town family who might be coming to stay with them are more concerned about being able to transform a house for two into a house for 11 when the holidays come around, needing extra sleeping space.

“Neither set of buyers wants to let go of the family things that create a home. They still want the big kitchen and the big dining room and great room, but they are willing to give up the living room,” Airhart observed. “They want to get rid of unused spaces in favor of getting more flexible square footage and storage.”

Airhart has even begun offering loft spaces above their ranch homes, creating space for home offices and grandchildren.

“It is inexpensive space up under the roof and we offer a bedroom suite and open space bonus room up there over part of the ranch home. We usually don’t feature overlooks into two-story spaces, however. People have learned that there is a lot of noise transference when you do that and they want to be able to work in a quiet space or put their grandchildren to bed,” he explained.

Naatz has also noticed a preference among working people in the over-50 category for homes with lots of multifunctional, open space.

“Ten years ago everyone wanted a living room and dining room. Today, they still want a generous-sized dining room for entertaining, but they want a large great room now and are willing to sacrifice the formal living room,” he said. “I am also finding fewer of them wanted true offices. They know that a laptop or iPad can follow them around the house so they generally want a second viewing area for television that may also feature a desk if they want to use it. And lots of storage is also very important.”

Wilhelm agreed. “We are now revamping our Del Webb models to show new technology involving very mobile laptops and iPads.”

“In addition, our buyers realize that they might have 40 years ahead of them so they want a downsized home with an open floor plan that works well as entertaining space. They also realize that they don’t need a full basement. Instead, they are asking us for attic access in the garage or a storage extension of the garage,” she said.

After living in a 2,800-square-foot ranch home in Woodstock for many years, Dale Benoy, decided it was time to give up his sprawling home and its yearly maintenance costs and downsize a little bit. He searched for only a short time before purchasing a 1,650-square-foot ranch at The Maples at the Sonatas in Woodstock, a maintenance-free community.

“I was looking for a ranch home with a very open floor plan that was set in a maintenance-free environment. I didn’t want to worry about the landscaping, cutting the grass or shoveling snow in the winter,” Benoy explained.

He loved the open floor plan with its cathedral ceilings, spacious two-car garage and beautiful sunroom that is filled with natural light due to the huge windows on three walls.

A well-appointed clubhouse with fireplace, pool table and community room, plus a heated in-ground swimming pool provide the ideal settings for socializing with his new neighbors. Similarly, David and Dorothy Berry, formerly of Arlington Heights, recently downsized to a ranch home at Creekside of Inverness Ridge, a Meritus Homes community in Inverness. Both are still working.

“Five years ago this was not even in our minds, but the change in the economy has shaped what we now want,” David explained. “We did the math on the fixed costs associated with our 4,000-square-foot house on a half-acre lot in Arlington Heights and decided that we didn’t want to be shackled to those utilities and taxes when we don’t know what the future holds. We felt that we had better uses for that money like traveling and going on a mission trip with our church.”

“In addition, we have older children now and there is no reason for us to be living in such a large property anymore,” he continued. “So we looked around and it was at Creekside that we found a 2,600-square-foot ranch with a large basement that had a large kitchen, dining room, great room and the open, airy feeling we wanted.”

“We have a large extended family and we still wanted to be able to entertain so this was perfect for us and besides, Creekside has a good cross section of ages living there. We weren’t looking for a retirement community,” David emphasized.

“The Berrys were also excited because they were able to put their own thumbprint on their home because it is new construction,” added Brian Brunhofer, president of Meritus Homes. “They wanted a flexible floor plan with great open spaces which facilitate movement between rooms; a wonderful kitchen for both daily use and entertaining; and bedrooms that can accommodate visitors when necessary, even for multigenerational living.”

For empty-nesters, Meritus offers two ranch plans and one two-story plan with a first-floor master suite in its four communities — Creekside at Inverness Ridge, Ravenna of Long Grove, Reserve of St. Charles and Tamarack South in Naperville. All offer full basements and generous garages.

Not all working empty-nesters, however, choose a single family home or townhouse. Some prefer to live in a condominium community, which was the case with Paul and Laurine Clark. They left Arlington Heights for Chicago four years ago and just last summer moved into Belle Plaine Commons in the Irving Park neighborhood.

“When the kids left we wanted to simplify our lives and get a fresh start, so we bought a place in Albany Park,” Laurine recalled. “It was too small, however. So last summer we looked at Belle Plaine Commons and liked the units and the fact that it was a larger, more diverse community where we can lead our own lives in peace and quiet, but can also participate in activities when we want to.”

Paul is still self-employed and Laurine teaches yoga as a second career after spending 35 years with the Xerox Corporation.

“We only need one car now because we can walk or take the bus or el almost everywhere we want to go,” she explained. “It has really become home. We feel that we could be comfortable here the rest of our lives.”