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There’s no doubt that living in a retirement community has a number of benefits, but how do you decide which one is right for you?

As with any property purchase, location is one of the most important considerations. Ideally, you’ll want to be close to most of the places you regularly frequent—like shopping centres, golf clubs, cafés, medical, hairdresser and entertainment venues—which in most cases will mean it’s probably not too far from where you live now. Of course, you’ll also want to be close to friends and family—not just so you can visit them, but also so that it’s easy for them to visit you as well.

It’s good to think about the type of lifestyle you want to lead and whether the facilities and activities available will suit it. Sure, that swimming pool might look impressive, but are you really ever going to use it? Maybe a landscaped barbecue area or a cosy lounge, bar or cinema are more appealing—or perhaps having health and beauty services on site is more important to you?

Some retirement communities offer meals cooked on-site and delivered to your door, cleaning, personal care or a concierge who can arrange services like dry cleaning., car cleaning or plant watering. A car sharing service can be an attractive addition if you only want to keep one car but might need another to drive occasionally.

Make a list of the facilities and services that are ‘must haves’, as well as a list of those that would be nice to have. You’ll probably never be able to have everything you want, but finding the closest fit will make a big difference to how much you enjoy this new stage of your life.

On a more practical level, make sure the retirement community operator has a good reputation. Finally, try and get to know the management team, ask lots of questions and, if you can, speak to some of the residents to get a feel for how happy they are.