Thursday, January 29, 2009

Get Ready for Cell Phone Savvy Residents

Older consumers in their 60s and 70s use electronic gadgets nearly as much as 18 to 34-year-olds, according to a study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). And while younger people are still more likely to play video games, use portable MP3 players, and visit social networking sites, older people use cell phones at a competitive rate.

More than 3,100 U.S. adults were surveyed for the CEA study, which found that in week prior to taking the survey, 80 percent of 60-somethings used cell phones—nearly equal the usage rates of 18 to 34-year-olds.

Preparing for an influx of baby boomers who will demand technology access, many senior living companies have partnered with other organizations to meet those needs. Brookdale Senior Living recently partnered with AT&T to offer a series of one-on-one sessions with seniors to help them with the features of their cell phones, such as sending text messages, controlling volume, and checking voice mail.

Editor's Note:
We're going to start a series of posts on senior's and their current use of technology in 2009. Keep an eye out for some eye-opening statistics that will have you re-thinking your service offerings and activity calendars. BBrunk

Monday, January 5, 2009

What Boomers Want -- New study reveals leading-edge baby boomers' retirement home dreams

To crack the code on what the generation known as the baby boomers will want next in a home, you'll have to talk to the 77 million people born between 1946 and 1964. Since that's not likely, the next best thing might be to talk with a select few whose tastes, values, preferences, and influence over others will lend real insight into what the rest of the market-making cohort may desire in their retirement homes.

So earlier this year, Hanley Wood, BIG BUILDER'S parent company, and research firm DYG surveyed 2,000 homeowning boomers—aged 50 to 60 with household incomes averaging $100,000 or more—to find out what these soon-to-retire consumers want in their homes and communities as they move into the next stage of their lives. DYG then held eight follow-up focus groups of eight participants each in June in Chicago and Fairfax, Va. Results of the “Every 8 Seconds: American Housing as Boomers Turn 60” study were compared with a 2005 survey by DYG of “average” baby boomers.

This select sampling of trendsetting boomers, who may serve as bellwethers of their age-group's wider behaviors and attitudes toward imminent home decisions, are called “Boomfluentials” in the study. Some survey results are both surprising and controversial, but each statistic offers builders insight into what this unique generation dreams about for its retirement years. This information can be translated into a truly vast array of opportunities, as two things emerged conclusively about baby boomers. They can't be lumped together—they fill a lot of niches—and they not only want what they want, but they can afford it, too.

BOOMER BASICS: A birdseye view of the first floor of the 2,900 square-foot home Ed Binkley designed with boomers' desires in mind, features of their preferences—the ability to live on one floor, as well as a second master suite.

It was impossible to cover even a fraction of “Every 8 Seconds: American Housing as Boomers Turn 60” in this article, so we've summarized the major findings. We shared the study's results with 10 builders and four consultants and then spoke to them about what they thought the study meant for builders. What we've chosen to report on here were the study findings, and the opportunities they revealed, that drew the strongest, most intense responses from the builders and consultants with whom we spoke. They focused on features of the home, types of housing, and communities.

WHAT'S THE STORY?
Conventional wisdom says that retirees want one-story, small homes, and the Hanley Wood research supports this, with 38 percent of the survey respondents interested in remodeling or moving so they can live on one floor and 58 percent willing to move to a smaller home. The flip side of these statistics represents those boomers who would be happy with two floors and a larger home. Both options represent opportunities for builders to create new housing products.

Kushner Cos. built two golf course communities on rolling, landscaped terrain on Long Island, with eight different house models. “The original design was for six of the eight models to have master suites on the first floor,” says Sam Gershwin, president of the Westminster Communities division of the company. “The other two models put all bedrooms on the second floor. In response to customers, we now have two new [one-floor] ‘ranch' models.”

As for larger homes, Slenker Land Corp, which acts as the master planner for communities in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, has seen the number of single women buying homes in 55-plus communities increase dramatically in the past five years. “In our region, a mother and daughter or two sisters are selling their homes and then moving together into a 55-plus home,” says Bob Slenker, the company founder. “Especially in the last year in the Washington, D.C., area, there have been a lot of sales of those types. So we've started designing homes for a boomer to [live] with an aging parent who is not ill. These are homes with two master suites, where the boomers are upstairs, and mom, who is 84 and healthy, is downstairs.”

Another opportunity identified by “Every 8 Seconds” is the second home—44 percent of the participants show an interest in that option whether they would build, buy, or rent. Ed Binkley, partner-in-charge of the Orlando office of Bloodgood Sharp Buster Architects and Planners, calls this trend “home-splitting,” in which people live in more than one city. He's designed a small home based on both Hanley Wood's research and this trend. “Maybe [people] don't buy a great big home in one place,” says Binkley. “They split the square footage between the two houses. Big builders can sell houses to these people in both markets.”

Such homes would fill different functions for their owners. “We are re-introducing the seasonal home,” says Steve Soriano, president of Robson Communities. These are lower-end, lower-price products, but Soriano stresses that “lower” doesn't refer to the buyer's income. “The buyer may be just as well off financially, but only plans to spend a few months there,” he says. “It's impractical for them to buy a big house.”

Consultant Bill Becker, founder of the William E. Becker Organization, foresees big builders that operate in multiple markets selling boomers both primary and vacation homes. “Boomers are bored with what they have and where they live,” he says. “They're looking at what they're going to do with their leisure time. So builders can take advantage of this by selling two houses rather than one.”

Of all the findings in “Every 8 Seconds,” the most controversial was these leading-edge boomers' reported lack of interest in family and friends, especially grandchildren, compared with average boomers. Only 59 percent identified spending time with the grandkids as a priority after age 60, compared with 80 percent of average boomers.

Yet this finding has a concrete effect on house design, too. “We struggle with how in tune [new retirees] are with their grandchildren,” says Michael Skea, vice president of marketing and sales for the northeast region of K. Hovnanian. “We do customer surveys, and on the grandchildren, we get conflicting information. If they want to see their grandchildren a lot, then we need more bedrooms and community attractions.”

If retiring boomers are really less interested in having adult children and grandchildren stay with them, then builders can build smaller houses with fewer bedrooms. But if these boomers want family to stay with them, houses must be larger, with more guest space. Either way, it's a product opportunity for the builder that accurately assesses the trend.

ATTACHMENT ISSUES
The idea of retirement homes was conceived in the United States, and the basic paradigm has been the single-family, detached home in suburbia. The home might be in a golf course or other gated community, but it was never multifamily, attached, or high-density housing.

A ROOM OF THEIR OWN: Although many boomers say they want one-story living, others say they wouldn't mind having a second floor. A separate, second-floor suite for children and grandchildren is an appealing feature to 21 percent of boomers.
“Every 8 Seconds” opens new doors for builders of active adult or retirement housing. While about 89 percent of boomers currently live in the traditional single-family, detached home, only about 72 percent want to live in such a home in the future. As long as they can own their residence, multifamily buildings, such as co-ops and condos, appeal to 11 percent of boomers. Only 4 percent of this generation currently lives in such housing, so this market could grow as boomers retire. Townhomes, duplexes, and row houses are attractive to 15 percent of this group as well, and because only 6 percent of boomers currently live in this type of dwelling, again, opportunity awaits the builder that reads the local market correctly.

“We'll see a higher proportion of development in multifamily housing,” says Margaret Wylde, president of the consulting company Promatura Group. “One reason is land scarcity. A second reason is acceptance by customers of multifamily living, as long as they own. Sharing of walls is not as abhorrent to boomers as to their parents' generation.”

Toll Brothers builds single-family, multifamily, high-rise, and small, medium, and large attached and detached homes in cities and in beach communities. “[The survey] tells me that Toll Brothers' diverse approach is right,” says Kira McCarron, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of Toll Brothers. “There are many ways to serve the market.”

Or take Kushner Cos.' four-story, elevator-access, Waterford residential building in East Brunswick, N.J., or K. Hovnanian's Vista Pointe at Imperial Walk, a six-story condo tower in West New York, N.J. Both high-end, lavishly appointed projects owe their existence, at least in part, to New Jersey's extreme land shortage. “Land constraints in New Jersey led K. Hovnanian to develop products with density to build in semi-urban areas,” says Skea. “There is a market demand by people who want to stay in North New Jersey and have this type of highly amenitized, resort-at-home atmosphere.”

Suburbia is home to 73 percent of the “me” generation surveyed by DYG, but only 67 percent of them want to live in the 'burbs when they retire. County life calls 14 percent of the respondents, though 8 percent live there now. The big city beckons 16 percent of the boomers, while 18 percent are currently city dwellers. All of this suggests that there will be fewer boomers in the suburbs, more in the country, and about the same number in the cities.

McCarron is skeptical about these statistics. “I doubt the rural statements,” she says. “Cities are getting better. We are seeing sizable interest in city offerings from people in this category. The idea that people want to be pastoral—they aren't being realistic.”

At Shea Homes' active adult, age-restricted Trilogy Communities, the feeling is urban, but on a small scale. “We know there won't be a big movement to cities,” says Rick Andreen, president of Trilogy Communities. “We find [that there] is a desire for urban convenience but not the drawbacks.” Each master planned Trilogy Community has a “modern” urban core that is walkable, secure, and safe, complete with retail stores and large pedestrian walkways and trails. “We're seeing multiple small urban centers in the future,” says Andreen. “People live in suburban areas, but they have these small urban centers nearby with all the retail and entertainment. They are more than a village, but less than a city center.”

Living Luxury
Toll Brothers entered the active adult market in 1999. “We knew we were following boomers into their next phase of life,” says Kira McCarron, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of the company. “We knew their retirement paradigm was not the same as their parents'. But we were hit between the eyes by how much luxury that they did want.” McCarron says Toll Brothers did anticipate a certain amount of extras, but not a quantity that would increase the price of a $400,000 house by another $200,000—just as an example. “It wasn't any one thing,” McCarron says. “It was just the entire volume.”

Although only one third of boomers surveyed by Hanley Wood and DYG. selected “luxurious” as a characteristic of their dream home, it's obvious that opulence and lavishness represent a huge opportunity for builders who cater to high-end boomers. Finding a way to put some luxury into mid-range or even lower-end housing products is a way for any builder to differentiate itself.

Boomers want functional and efficient spaces, but they also want homes that are open, airy, user-friendly and that seamlessly mix indoor and outdoor spaces. They want big master suites, spa-like master bathrooms, big state-of-the-art kitchens, casual gathering spaces. And they want green, energy-efficient, high-tech, environmentally-friendly homes. Add a dash of luxury, and there's an opportunity there for every builder.

Top 10 Dream Home Characteristics
SOURCE: “EVERY 8 SECONDS: AMERICAN HOUSING AS BOOMERS TURN 60,” SPONSORED BY HANLEY WOOD AND CONDUCTED BY DYG
AGE-INCLUSIVE
When it comes to the housing situation or type of communities the surveyed respondents were most interested in, their answers represent many new ideas for builders. Take the notion of age-restricted communities. Only 13 percent liked the idea, while 56 percent were far more interested in living in multicultural, richly diverse neighborhoods. Just 28 percent want to live in a golf resort, while 65 percent of the surveyed respondents want to live in an outdoors living community. Though it's a small group, 12 percent said they want to live in a foreign country. Taken together, the findings show that baby boomers want to live in very different communities than their parents and grandparents.

The lack of interest in age-restricted registered dissent, most notably at Pulte Homes, the nation's leader in active adult communities through its age-restricted Del Webb brand. David Schreiner, vice president of Pulte's active adult business in Phoenix, says, “We do see people wanting to live in communities with people their own age, so I disagree with that finding.”

On the other hand, the lack of interest in age restriction endorsed the strategies of Civix Holdings, which is moving into the active adult market with a new community in central Florida. Still in the planning stages, the community will include a mix of housing types with lots of outdoor activities and no age restrictions. “Hanley Wood's study solidifies our decisions in favor of a mix of condos, single-family homes, and no age restrictions,” says senior vice president Howard Cohen. “We're doing the right thing.”

Shea Homes' Trilogy Communities still represent a third version of the diversity issue. In its master planned developments, Trilogy is just one piece of the whole. The rest of the developments include mixed types of family housing and the small urban centers. “Boomers don't want to live in a traditional active adult community,” says Andreen. “They want diversity, but they also want to be around people who are a similar life stage. They can live in Trilogy, but the grandchildren may be in the family village just a quarter mile away.”

Golf's low popularity ranking was a disappointment but not a surprise for Steve Soriano. “We knew, but weren't willing to accept, the decline of golf as a reason to move into a community,” he says. Golf is more than a recreation. The course is integral to surface water management, especially in the desert. Soriano says Robson Communities will keep building golf communities until it can find something to replace the course's role in water management.

Still, outdoor activities ranked far more highly than golf, and Becker thinks big builders should heed the findings. “The number one thing boomers want is to be way more active,” he says. “They want to see a trail with stations along the way where they can do exercises. Builders should put in more outdoor [amenities].”

Although just 12 percent of “Every 8 Seconds” respondents said they'd like to live in a foreign country, this, too, could have significance for builders. There's skepticism, of course, “I think very few people will actually move to another country,” says E. Thomas Wetzel, president of the Retirement Living Center. “Medicare is not applicable in a foreign country. You have to buy health insurance locally.”

Nevertheless, says Wylde, “Builders should ask what it is about the foreign communities that people like. It's often that they're walkable, have a common central square, and have a sense of community of spending time lingering on lunch, of savoring, and enjoying life more.”

Andreen agrees. “I think moving to another country is a fantasy,” he says. “But it's a yearning that we as builders should think about.”

Bridget Mintz Testa is a freelance writer based in Houston.

Eight on “8” Hanley Wood, BIG BUILDER's parent company, recently sponsored an online survey of 2,000 baby boomers who own their own homes, are 50 to 60 years old, and have average household incomes of $100,000 and up. This survey, “Every 8 Seconds: American Housing As Boomers Turn 60,” conducted by research company DYG was followed up in June by discussions with a total of eight focus groups made up of eight individuals each in Chicago and Fairfax, Va. Responses were tabulated and compared with responses from “average” baby boomers. Here's a short summary of the major research findings.

Setting boundaries: In general, these leading-edge baby boomers are focused on themselves in their retirement, which 66 percent of them expect to enjoy, compared to just 52 percent of average boomers. They are not as interested in family, grandchildren, volunteer work, faith, or religion as average boomers.

Move down: Only 21 percent of high-income boomers wish to stay in their current home as it is today, although an additional 15 percent are willing to remodel their current home to match their desires. Thirty-five percent are interested in buying another home, 17 percent want to design or build a new home, and 44 percent want to build, buy, or rent a second home. The majority, 58 percent, wants to move into a smaller home, while 12 percent want to move into a larger one.

Give 'em space : A single-family, detached home is still housing type for 72 percent, but 11 percent would like to live in a multifamily building in a unit they own and 15 percent would like to live in a semi-detached home, such as a townhouse, duplex, or row house.

Location, location, location: Most, 67 percent, want to live in the suburbs in the future, while about 14 percent want to move to rural areas. Only 16 percent are interested in living in urban areas, which is less than the 18 percent of boomers who live in cities now. This suggests little, if any, movement to cities.

Warm and sunny: Boomfluentials say they don't want to live a traditional retirement lifestyle, but they do prefer traditional retirement regions. Nearly a third say they'd like to live in a South-Atlantic state, especially those considering buying a second home. And the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions should experience an exodus of boomers. The Mountain states appeal to 14 percent.

Amenities, please: Top unmet boomer housing needs include low upkeep and maintenance, energy efficiency, state-of-the-art technology, environmental friendliness, and “universal” or “barrier-free” design features for accessibility (including a single-floor homes).

Great outdoors: Just under two-thirds of the high-income boomers, 65 percent, want to live in a community designed for outdoor activities; 61 percent want to live in a community with a laid-back, relaxed, casual lifestyle. More than half of these boomers are interested in communities that are environmentally-friendly, multi-cultural, intellectually stimulating, and focused on health.

From the home office: About 25 percent of this high-end boomer community has already retired from at least one job. Among those who are still working, six in 10 plan to retire within the next five to 10 years. Despite these plans, 55 percent want to have a room in their retirement home from which they can work.


TO PURCHASE A COPY OF HANLEY WOOD'S REPORT, “EVERY 8 SECONDS: AMERICAN HOUSING AS BOOMERS TURN 60,” VISIT WWW.AMERICANHOUSINGCONF.COM.
Source: BIG BUILDER Magazine

Happy New Year Everyone: We expect to bring you new, interesting, and thought-provoking concepts in 2009 to enhance your resident experience and operational goals. Enjoy! BB