Designing Your New England Active Adult Community in Today's Economy

  One of the most noticeable shortfalls I see at Active Adult and Independent Living Communities throughout New England is the lack of attention that is given to the designing or staging of the community. Ironically this is one of the easiest components to remedy when promoting your 55+ community. When tastefully done proper staging can really push the sale over the top.
  When deciding on changing the look of a model at your community a budget should be constructed and serious consideration should be taken to hire a professional interior designer.  The next step is to see what your competition has done.  This is invaluable as you may see designs you want to avoid and those that are truly captivating.  Two communities I recommend you to tour are Chatfield Farms in Beacon Falls, CT and Red Mill Village in Norton, MA. Both of these communities have painstakingly paid attention to every detail when staging and designing their models.  The walk-in closets are staged with a bathrobe and slippers and the second bedrooms even have baseball mitts and child pictures to help the prospect envision living at that community with a bedroom ready for their grandchildren. 
  I do realize that during these economic times operating budgets are severely constrained. However, this is a chance to make some minor adjustments in your models that can pay big dividends with your prospects. Take the bathrooms for example. Here a a few inexpensive tips to inject some life into your models.
1) Hang a large mirror instead of tile - a mirror will add depth to your bathroom design and help to spread light around. Consider covering the wall with a larger mirror which would be a less expensive alternative to tile.
2) Visit consignment shops for used light fixtures - often you'll find high quality used fixtures priced much lower than new standard fixtures.  A lot of these fixtures will add charm to a room as well as create a cozy, warm feeling as we head into the winter months.
    Take a look at the models at your community. Ask yourself if you would want to move into your model. If nothing else, take a few hours and walk through your models with a pen and paper. Jot down rooms you think would use an update. As communities are taking longer to sell out it is imperative that you revisit the  staging and interior design of your models. A stale model has difficulty selling. Lastly, staging and interior design says a lot about the builder and developers.  When I ask a buyer about the community they just visited invariably their first response is how lovely the model is......provided time and effort was put into the staging and design of that model.