Last week I was a speaker at the American Association of Retirement Communities and presented "On The Road, Lessons from Best and Worst Practices" geared to residential real estate commuities.
AARC is an association geared to people in economic development, chambers of commerce, and residential real estate and offers sessions for education about bringing retirement to a city/community and is focused on the south.
I met some interesting people representing small town southern America that may not be in your bucket list but offer some interesting alternatives for retirement options. From Picayune and Stark, MS to Hot Springs, Arkansas to Kingsport, TN; these are places worth considering if you want to maximize your retirement dollars and find nice people and plenty to do.
We generally think big cities with well known brand names when we think about relocation options but meeting these city representatives was worthwhile.
In a session "Affecting Consumer Change in the Recovery Economy", Berkeley Young spoke about the amount of boomers still traveling today despite the ecomomy. This echos my thinking too.
It's alot easier to take a trip than sell your house. This may not be reassuring to developers but the small towns feel if they can offer a great vacation experience; when the house is sold; they may be on the bucket list for relocation. There's alot to this.
I mentioned that developer's sales teams rarely market their hometown and this is a missed opportunity to merchandise the town as well as the real estate. I encourage sales personnel to get involved. They should be able to talk about the local festivals...the farmer's market...and all that their town offers. It's a win-win. Let customers know in advance what's going up during an upcoming season. Use these local events in the discovery package.
Today's vacationer may be your next resident.
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