You Can Negotiate The Cost Of Retirement Living
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - We Tri-Staters love a good deal and we hate getting ripped off.
You haggle when you buy your car. You haggle and drive a hard bargain when you buy a new house.
Why wouldn't you haggle when you're buying retirement housing for yourself or your parents?
WCBS 880's Pat Farnack asked Irvin Schorsch of Pennsylvania Capital Management about it.
LISTEN: Farnack with Schorsch (The Full Interview)
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"It's amazing. People don't know. They go to a retirement community, they look at a few of them, they pull out their checkbook, and write a check for a quarter of a million dollars without ever asking 'Can we do better?'" Schorsch told Farnack.
"Yeah, but Irvin, wouldn't they be shocked, the people in the front office, if I tried to haggle with them at the, I don't know, the home for old newscasters? Wouldn't they say 'What are you talking about?' asked Farnack.
"Actually, it's a lot simpler than that," Schorsch said. "If you look at it, the demographics of our aging Baby Boomers are inspiring more and more of these retirement communities to be built, and what happens is, when you go into a community that is overbuilt, they're scrapping to get every retiree they can because what they live for is that monthly nud that they get from you when you go in. And they're absolutely willing to be competitive in every area just to make sure that they get you to come in and sign on the dotted line."
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"Well, what areas are we talking about and how much can you really save?" asked Farnack.
"Almost all of them are negotiable. Discount on move-in fees, free rent for so many months. We've seen one year of no interest," he said. "We've even negotiated a golf cart for life, including maintenance for the rest of their life."
"You say discounts for house cleaning. I'd like that. Is this a good time, Irvin, to be shopping around for retirement housing?" asked Farnack.
"It's a wonderful time to be shopping. They're all looking for new retirees," Schorsch said.
"This all sounds well and good but I would be horrible at negotiating anything. So, who is the best person to do this kind of negotiating?" asked Farnack.
"You need a great financial professional that has experience," Schorsch said.
Have you ever haggled for something out of the ordinary? Share your tips below.
