Real estate profit trends in development or redevelopment.

A key factor in the development of wealth in real estate is in spotting the trends that will prove profitable in the future. Here’s one that deserves your attention and will secure your investment.

As you know, 10,000 people per day turn 60 years old in the United States. This fact brings with it huge implications in the future of real estate development or redevelopment. Consider the fact that this age range is healthier than their parents, more active than their parents, but still have some of the natural physical evolution of their parents. Like it or not, they need reading glasses (lasik or not) they need superior lighting to make up for the natural dimming of eyesight and they need different physical structures to make their housing comfortable and convenient. The intelligent real estate investor or developer will look carefully for real estate opportunities that conform to the changing needs of this massive block of humanity.

Here are a few elements that should become part and parcel of new or re-development properties geared at this demographic. The more of these elements incorporated in a property the better because they will prove to be high-demand items over the next two to three decades. The best thing is that they do not affect the desirability of the property to people outside the focus demographic, so any property incorporating them will automatically have an edge in long-term marketability.

The following elements are items proven to make a property more “senior friendly” without the stigma of turning a property into a quazi-nursing home. As you read through these items consider how they benefit the parties involved and why they will in fact make a property more desirable:

1. Hand-help shower heads
2. Non-slip flooring in bathrooms
3. Grab bars near tubs or showers
4. Widened doorways to 36 inches
5. Reduced water temperature to a maximum of 120 degrees
6. Anti-scald shower handles
7. Toggle type light switches
8. Leaver door handles (not round ball type)
9. Under-cabinet lighting
10. Upper cabinets lowered 2 to 6 inches
11. Brighter lighting everywhere
12. Side by side Refrigerator Freezers
13. Hanging pan holders
14. Built in corner appliance garages
15. Stair treads of a minimum of 12 inches
16. Stair risers 4 to 7 inches
17. Stair carpeting or coverings with color changes between treads and risers
18. Hand railings 34 inches off floor
19. Hand railing no larger than 1.5 inches in diameter
20. Railings with a minimum clearance from walls of 1.5 inches
21. Color changes between flooring and bath or kitchen fixtures
22. Countertop microwaves instead of handing higher ovens

There you have it; the wish list for aging America and the design elements of the visionary developer. If you want your real estate investment to be secure, your property to be profitable and the demand for your property to be guaranteed for decades to come for either rental or resale, have the wisdom to implement these elements.