Retirement Penthouse and Fire

A penthouse is exclusive property. When you say you bought your penthouse two years ago at $8 million and it’s now it’s $11 million, people keep quiet and have your attention the rest of the evening.

However, a penthouse is not practical if you bought it for your surviving parent as a retirement home. There’s no doubt the views are awesome. She can see the whole city and how the ocean curves in the horizon, but it is a problem during fire drills. Most buildings have fire drills and ignoring them is not advisable. If there’s an actual fire, your parent cannot use the elevator. How will she go down the stairs if her legs are weak?

A retirement home doesn’t have to be a penthouse, but the reality is that there are many buildings in your city that have a lot of older citizens. Most of them decided to live there because they can walk to the shops, drugstore, restaurants and government buildings since they cannot drive anymore. For other seniors, it’s a matter of money. They cannot afford out of town stand-alone retirement homes, with a little backyard.

A retirement home in a high rise building is dangerous in case of fire because seniors that use walkers or walking sticks will do what people of all ages do when the fire alarm goes off. They ignore it. We’ll die in a fire one day. We highlighted some of the benefits of living in the city after retirement, but maybe you should consider floors, if you are buying the unit for a parent or grandparent that cannot trot down the stairs, in case of fire. The ideal would be the first or second floor, but are those units available?

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.