Pepperfield Lifestyle Resort Bowral

If you are looking at entering an over 55 Retirement Village, do your homework first. It's critical – My wife and I initially entered an agreement of" Intention to Purchase" at Pepperfield Lifestyle Resort Bowral in February 2019 and paid the mandatory$1000Holding Deposit to secure it. We were initially swept away by the facilities swimming pool, gym, library, common room, snooker room etc, proximity and the villas available, and the no pressure of purchasing. Villas are ok for one person, but two? Bit cramped. Pepperfield allowed us to sell our own place house first , before paying the balance and moving in to Pepperfields, which was great news. Then in mid July 2019 we decided to view other over 55 Retirement Villages in the area. Then it became obvious that there are significant charges being levied when leaving Retirement Village in say 20 years time or whenever. All The NSW Retirement Villages are governed by the NSWRetirementVillages Act of 1999. No doubt other states have similar legislation. In the case of Pepperfield Lifestyle Resort Bowral, they are the most aggressive for fees charged on leaving the facility in the Southern Highlands. They will take 50% of any capital gain, they will not share any capital loss, and take 30% of the selling price as well. The Capital Gains penalty of 50% and the 30% on the selling price are the killers.

Gibraltar Park Bowral is by far the better option as they do not charge on Capital Gains .

We have been now been waiting 14 weeks since we gave notice in mid July 2019, to obtain our refund. The act requires deposits to be returned within 2 weeks of them being notified. Their first excuse was that we missed the cheque run of July. Since then it has been silence. This says a lot for their business. Are they so hard up they won't return our deposit? I have lodged a complaint with Fair Trading, and there are penalties for not refunding monies. They may pay more than they bargained for. Finally received refund from their trust account on 27 September 2019.

A great over 55 Retirement Village calculator is:

https://rvcalculator.mq.edu.au/#/

This will help you through the maize and many options available.

Not impressed at all with Pepperfield Lifestyle Resort Bowral