Retirees go virtual for Stockland home purchase 500 kilometres away

John and Rosemary Gooch, retirees in their mid-70s, recently made the decision to move from their three bedroom home in Mudgee, to Stockland Queens Lake Retirement Village in Laurieton – more than 500 kilometres away – despite only having seen it virtually.

While Government restrictions on travel prevented the couple from seeing the village and unit in person, Rosemary said that it had no impact on their confidence in making the move.

“I used to live in the area so we knew we would love the lifestyle of being near the beaches and shops, plus being that bit closer to the Queensland border there’s a lot more options in what we can do,” she said.

“I also used to walk around the lake near the village which is very pretty. I had seen the village on my walks so knew a bit about how nice it was already.”

For Rosemary and John, the move has gone even better than anticipated.

“The unit is even more beautiful than we expected and the village residents have been so welcoming so far,” said Rosemary.

“The first day we were here there was a nice lady who walked us around the village and introduced us to a lot of other residents. A nearby neighbour has even brought us a homemade meal.”

Rosemary and John said the final deciding factor came down to the Stockland sales professional, who according to the couple, went above and beyond in making them feel comfortable about their move.

“Dea was marvelous – she did a video walkthrough for us, kept in close contact with us and answered any and all of our questions, no matter how small. We were fully confident in her.”

Dea Gardner, Sales Professional at Queens Lake Retirement Village, emphasised how important it is to make the customer feel comfortable and confident when making the big decision to move, especially when it comes to downsizing.

“I just kept in regular contact and made sure I had a lot of information to help them understand any concerns or questions they had,” said Dea.

“I made myself available to them entirely, having several conversations on what from their furnishings would or wouldn’t fit, and happily took measurements for them so they knew as much information as possible before moving. I think this relieved a lot of their stresses.”

Rosemary said that there’s no time like the present to downsize into a retirement village.

“It’s honestly the best thing to do at our age. We had some difficult younger neighbours in Mudgee, but there was no worrying here about who we would end up next door to. Everyone is very like-minded and wanting to simply enjoy their retirement here, and we feel very safe.

“We’re most excited to use the pool in the summer, and to socialise with some other residents at the clubhouse mixers and other social clubs.”

To learn more about Queens Lake Retirement Village or other Stockland villages in your area, please visit stockland.com.au/retirement-village.