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How to live in a double-storey home with two fake knees

<p>After working tirelessly to build her risk management company over the past 30 years, Norine had a very clear vision of the “forever home” she wanted to find to begin her retirement.</p> <p>“For a long time, I lived in high-rise apartment in the Melbourne CBD without a garden of my own,” says the self-confessed green thumb. “And so, in retirement, I wanted to have a small garden, live close to public transport and my family, with a spare room for guests and an office – because, if I’m honest, I couldn’t imagine not doing some work at least for a few years.</p> <p>“Prior to my first knee replacement, the orthopaedic surgeon indicated that replacement knee joints would last 16 to 20 years or longer, depending on how I used them. He said that stairs, particularly going downstairs, wears the knee joint due to the impact of weight on each step and the risk of falling.</p> <p>“I soon found out that to get everything I wanted in my forever home, I would have to buy a double storey home. So, I needed a solution.”</p> <p><img class="alignnone wp-image-21353 size-full" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/07/NEW_O6O_Norine-Lift-from-Front.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Norine’s extensive background in risk management and workplace safety meant that she had the tools to undertake a risk assessment approach to living in retirement. “I basically went about researching ‘How to live in a double-storey home with two fake knees’,” she explains. What she discovered immediately seemed to make sense to her professional point of view.</p> <p>“Firstly, it was a no brainer,” says Norine. “I needed a lift functionality on a day-to-day basis. I wanted a lift that was compact, unobtrusive and simple to operate, while transporting anything from a cup of coffee to a heavy plant upstairs.</p> <p>“I also investigated the downside of lifts, particularly doors malfunctioning. That rang true to me since there were so many times in my CBD apartment when the lift doors were out of order. I didn’t want the expense nor inconvenience associated with lift door malfunctions.”</p> <p>In her research, Norine discovered a doorless lift, which meant it was simple and quick to use. “I did a risk assessment on the doorless lift design,” she says. “For me, it was a far safer option – it’s more likely I could be caught out with a non-functioning door than fall from a lift with a safety grip.</p> <p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-21270" src="http://www.wyza.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WYZA_Norine-Lift-with-Stairs-132259.jpg" alt="" width="880" height="500" /></p> <p>“<a href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=O60&amp;utm_medium=website_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RESiLIFT</a> is the only residential lift on the market that is doorless, and it ticked my other safety boxes too,” says Norine. “The lift has a manual override, which means I can lower the lift myself in the unlikely event of a power outage.</p> <p>“The mechanism to operate the lift means you hold down a button to move in any direction. As soon as you remove your finger off the button the lift stops. This makes it pretty foolproof, and I still have one hand free for my coffee cup!”</p> <p>Norine then set about obtaining the dimensions of the various models on offer and used these to determine the practicality of lift installation at every “open for inspection” home she visited.</p> <p>“Once I found the home I hoped to buy, a <a href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=O60&amp;utm_medium=website_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RESiLIFT</a> representative came with a template to confirm it was suitable,” Norine recalls. “All of this happened prior to me making an offer on a home.”</p> <p>What happened next only helped confirm to Norine that she was on a winner, in both a practical and stylistic sense. “When I bought the house, I positioned my lift in the corner of the dining room,” she says. “Recently, I had eight friends for dinner, and the next day a friend emailed me to say that she’d forgotten to check out the lift – where was it? I explained that it had been about two feet way from where she had been sitting.</p> <p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-21272" src="http://www.wyza.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WYZA_Norine-in-Lift-with-Coffee-120159_body.jpg" alt="" width="880" height="500" /></p> <p>“The lift is now quite a point of entertainment with friends given it’s practically invisible yet extremely effective.</p> <p>“I have the <a href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=O60&amp;utm_medium=website_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RESiLIFT</a> Miracle, which is large enough for a walker should I need one in the future. The specs say that it is for two people, but you need to be friends!”</p> <p>It’s been almost a year since Norine moved in – and in all that time she has only used the stairs three times in total, “Which is exactly what I wanted,” she says.</p> <p>“I now have my forever home with garden, and everything is set up for perfect and safe retirement living. It wouldn’t be possible without a <a href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=O60&amp;utm_medium=website_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RESiLIFT</a>.</p> <p><strong><em>This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with </em></strong><a href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=O60&amp;utm_medium=website_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><em>RESiLIFT</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p>

Home Hints & Tips

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“What have I done?!” New homeowner’s instant regret

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After moving to their new two-storey home by the bay in Victoria, Ros Morton was in tears.  Despite the amazing views of Port Phillip Bay, stunning sunsets and finally living close to her grandchildren, there was one major problem…</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’d had a full hip replacement and was having difficulty rehabilitating,” says Ros. “I was in this fabulous house and thinking: </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">What have we done!? How am I ever going to navigate the stairs?</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I could barely drag myself up from ground level, let alone carry shopping or washing from one floor to the other. We were seriously considering another move.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Morton’s main living area is on the top floor of their peninsula home – ideal for drinks on the deck and sighting ships in the distance, but not so great if you are physically challenged. “I had to rely on my husband Stuart to do all the lifting, which was difficult because he was going through his own medical treatment at the time,” explains Ros. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We were in trouble and I felt trapped.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ros had always been active and involved in community life, but now she says she “had no chance of connecting with anyone because I couldn’t get in and out of the house easily. And the thought of moving again was more than either of us could bear!”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The solution?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“</span><a rel="noopener" href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=website_article" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">RESiLIFT</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">!” answers Ros. “A friend found a brochure at The Home Show. I was considering installing a stairlift, but it was unsightly and too big for our stairwell. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We viewed a RESiLIFT at someone’s home, and as soon as I saw it, I realised my life was about to change. Thankfully, another expensive re-location was off the agenda and our lift was installed extremely quickly.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843576/rosmorton_resilift_sept2021_rd02.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/71f5257f78fb4ef3bebe3bd4a472a0a0" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As soon as Ros saw a RESiLIFT, she realised her life was about to change.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“As it’s a free-standing lift with no shaft, the building modifications were minimal, and it simply plugs into a standard domestic outlet! All of these factors combined to make it an easy choice,” says Ros.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tax Agent George Dimitropoulos, who recently observed his parents install a RESiLIFT into their home, says that “installing a lift is an undoubtedly justified financial decision. The full cost of installing a RESiLIFT in my parents’ home, including building works, was $35,000 all up. If they were to have downsized, aside from the potential impact this can have on people’s pensions, the stamp duty alone is astronomical. For a $700,000 value home you are looking at $37,000, and for a million-dollar property the stamp duty is $55,000.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The costs all stack up. As well as the stamp duty, you need to add selling cost (advertising and agent fees will be approximately $25,000), relocating costs, possible ongoing storage fees or disposal fees.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Luckily for Ros, she discovered RESiLIFT before the stress and expense of moving again.  As is often the case, “Visitors can’t even see the lift at first glance”, laughs Ros. “It looks as if it was built with the house. It has also enabled our friends with physical limitations to visit us easily.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The RESiLIFT has given me the freedom to come and go as I please,” she continues. In her retired life, Ros is active within the community and supporting her family with babysitting.  “I feel useful again and can do all the domestic duties I used to,” she says proudly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My independence and confidence have been completely restored. Thanks to RESiLIFT.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So if you’re in a quandary about whether you need to move home, before you decide, arrange a complimentary home consultation today.</span></p> <p><strong>This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with <em><a rel="noopener" href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=website_article" target="_blank">RESiLIFT</a></em>.</strong></p>

Real Estate

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It works like magic!

<p>For Romina and Les, all the stress of deciding whether to downsize or stay in their beloved two-storey home was resolved with one simple text from a friend.</p> <p>“Every time I put my foot in the lift, I am so thankful,” says Romina, who installed a RESiLIFT six months ago.</p> <p>Romina and Les have joined thousands of people around Australia who are celebrating the convenience and joy of staying in the home they love, like Beth and Lyndsay (pictured above) who were one of the first customers to install a lift 15 years ago!</p> <p>Romina and Les (pictured below) lived on a large property in Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, for more than 30 years. As the property became too big to maintain, they decided to subdivide the land.</p> <p>Les, a builder by trade, built a beautiful double-storey Georgian Style house at the front of the property which they moved into 12 years ago. Little did they realise what a problem having a double-storey home would be ten years later.</p> <p>In recent years, Romina developed Neuropathy, a condition where she has numbness in her feet and toes, therefore losing control of her feet. The stairs in their home are now an “accident waiting to happen”.</p> <p>The pair’s adult children were so concerned for their safety they encouraged them to sell and move to a single-level home. But the very idea was heartbreaking for Romina and Les.</p> <p>Over several decades they had accumulated so many memories associated with their property, not to mention they didn’t want to uproot and leave their local community and networks.</p> <p>In the midst of their conundrum, Romina received a simple text from a friend. It was a photo of a lady in a <a rel="noopener" href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=Readers%20Digest&amp;utm_medium=enews&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_content=Magic" target="_blank">RESiLIFT</a>. From that moment, Romina and Les realised that they did have an alternative to moving home! This newfound insight gave them sheer joy.</p> <p>Within weeks Romina and Les installed a RESiLIFT.</p> <p>“It works like magic!” says Romina, “The whole house is under my feet!”</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7841358/resilift-hero-6.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/005e88c7b4f54aec8e58ff321b2cb123" /></p> <p>With just the simple press of the button, Romina and Les can travel freely between the two floors of their home.</p> <p>Occupational Therapist Louisa King, for Community OT, says, “Whether you are going to stay in your family home as you age or move to something smaller, is a difficult but important decision. There are many factors which will determine the right choice for an individual, but the key is making their decision before it is too late.”</p> <p>Fortunately for Romina and Les, their lift installation was just in the nick of time as Les had an unexpected health issue.</p> <p>“There is only a limited window for people to make this decision.” Louisa says. “Ideally in their 60s or early 70s, people weigh up their options and implement their decision before the task becomes too big and decisions are made for them. Louisa has worked alongside many people in this situation.</p> <p>“The lovely thing about installing a RESiLIFT is that it allows people to remain in their family home, which is often part of their identity.”</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7841357/trl_view-02_a05.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/dae5d99d909046dd979dff75f2aef0a1" /></p> <div id="primary" class="contentAreaLeft"> <div class="Maincontent"> <p>With the bedroom upstairs and the living area downstairs, Romina had to minimise going to her room during the day, for a number of years, prior to having the lift installed. Each morning she would bring everything she needed for the day with her to the lower level to avoid unnecessary trekking up and down the stairs.</p> <p>For Les and Romina, installing a home lift was a game-changer. Not only could they now stay in the home they love, they knew their home was now safe. Despite still being in a two-storey home, their new day-to-day experience is like living in a single-level home.</p> <p>As is often the case, the initial reason to consider a lift became more urgent when Les unexpectedly became unwell and required a walker.</p> <p>While Les was in hospital, Romina organised a RESiLIFT to be installed as a surprise to Les. When he came home, he initially didn’t notice the lift because it blends in so nicely with the surrounds. However, once he realised, he couldn’t believe it!</p> <p>Romina and Les have come out the other end of many years of worrying about what to do. “What the lift has meant for us is more than just a lift! It’s removed the stress and worry about the danger of the stairs and the urgency of downsizing to a single-level home. All the stress was resolved with one simple decision, to install a RESiLIFT.</p> <p>“We are thrilled that we can now stay in our home forever!” says Romina.</p> <p><strong><em>This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with<span> </span></em></strong><a rel="noopener" href="https://resilift.com.au/?utm_source=Readers%20Digest&amp;utm_medium=enews&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_content=Magic" target="_blank"><strong><em>RESiLIFT</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p> </div> </div>

Body

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The only way is up!

<p>Transitioning into the next phase of retirement, there’s a crucial decision that must come first: to stay in your beloved home or start looking for other options.</p> <p>Thankfully RESiLIFT has given people a good reason to stay after creating the perfect solution to steep stairs and ageing joints. Whether it be carrying the laundry, suitcases or awkward objects, moving safely between floors is now possible.</p> <p>Architect, Jegi Jager, from CPS Project Management says “it just makes sense to incorporate a RESiLIFT into your house, whether you are renovating or designing a new home”.</p> <p>“Australians have to move away from this idea of single-level dwellings” he explains. “Some people associate lifts with ageing, but in 2020 that is not the case. There are many reasons you might need to use a lift, irrespective of your age. All two-level homes in the future need to provide a safe and convenient way to travel between floors.”</p> <p>“Land is expensive, but we need green space around our homes. It is important for our wellbeing to be able to get outside and enjoy some light and green, so the only solution is to go up.”</p> <p>“This is the future. I would never build or plan a two-storey home without a lift,” he adds.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7838504/resilift-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/ffa89a55f16749a78850b0a5429a363f" /></p> <p>RESiLIFT, manufactured by the proudly Australian-owned Residential Lift Company, is a specially designed residential lift that can be retrofitted into your existing homes or installed into new builds for an affordable price.</p> <p>The company was founded by Peter and Rosemary van Emmerik in Tasmania and their product – a “through-floor” residential elevator – was invented by Peter in just 2003.</p> <p>Jegi Jager adds that it is difficult to find genuinely Australian made and manufactured products, however RESiLIFT, from its inception, has been a labour of love for Peter and Rosemary.</p> <p>“There are lots of lifts coming in from overseas, but their parts are really out of China,” says Jager. “It is good to use a genuine Australian product.”  More than ever people are realising the benefit of buying Australian made.</p> <p>Mr Van Emmerik was in his second year of retirement, after more than 40 years as an Engineer, when he thought of a way for people to be able to stay in their home as they age.</p> <p>Through Peter’s bold vision and innovative design, he was able to create a lift that was not only highly sought after, but incredibly affordable.</p> <p>The inventor has been able to fit over 1,500 lifts into homes across Australia since 2004. And, since its inception, the lift’s design has evolved into what we know now as the most stylish and reliable residential lift on the market.</p> <p>Together Peter and Rosemary are still actively involved in the business and have even gone on to involve their family members and have grown to 11 distributors nationally.</p> <p>With three different lift sizes available – from the Mirage lift that has a smaller footprint than a standard shower, to the Miracle Max lift that comfortably fits a wheelchair – you’ll be amazed at how well the streamlined RESiLIFT blends into your home décor.  </p> <p>Contact your local distributor to find out more about RESiLIFT and to see which option would best suit your lifestyle, visit <a href="http://www.resilift.com.au/">www.resilift.com.au</a></p> <p><em>This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with </em><a href="http://www.resilift.com.au/"><em>RESiLIFT</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

Retirement Life

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Future proof your home so you never have to move

<p> Retirement is an ideal time to prepare for the next fulfilling season of our lives – and one of the most important decisions to make is whether to stay in the home you’ve grown to love, or move on. Don’t make that call until you’ve considered all the options.</p> <p><strong>By Over60, in partnership with RESiLIFT</strong></p> <p>Retirement is an ideal time to prepare for the next fulfilling season of our lives – and one of the most important decisions to make is whether to stay in the home you’ve grown to love, or move on. Don’t make that call until you’ve considered all the options.</p> <p>There are many factors that play into such a major life decision – proximity to the grandchildren, how connected you are to the local community, or even how physically challenging navigating a large house can become after a while.</p> <p>But one thing is for sure: you no longer have to leave your two-storey home just because of the stairs.</p> <p>That’s right; what may have been an insurmountable barrier for many of us a decade ago is no longer, thanks to <a href="http://www.resilift.com.au/">RESiLIFT</a>.</p> <p>RESiLIFT is a residential lift that can be easily installed into existing or new homes. The clever Australian design was the first of its type in the world, pioneering shaftless lifts. It allows people to live in the homes they love without breaking the bank or making a massive impact on their building structures.</p> <p>Louisa King, who works as an occupational therapist, says a person’s home is “often part of their identity” and making the right decision for their home is key.</p> <p>“Making a move is not an easy task,” she says. “Especially if you are downsizing or worse, moving when you are not well. There is only a limited window for people to make this decision.</p> <p>“Ideally in their 60s or early 70s, people weigh up their options and implement their decision before the task becomes too big and decisions are made for them.”</p> <p>As life goes on, it’s important for seniors to be adequately prepared for the future. Thankfully, taking precautions in your home and preparing for the future doesn’t mean you have to move to a smaller, one-storey property as staying in the home you love is now possible for an affordable price. Thanks to RESiLIFT, seniors are able to provide themselves with the best provisions for their future.</p> <p>Lyn from Gisborne, Victoria, could not have been more pleased with the timing of her RESiLIFT installation. “I broke my leg just before Christmas,” she says. “Having the lift was a God-send. On the other hand, my girlfriend broke her ankle very badly and had to have an ankle fusion. Their home has very steep stairs and no bathroom downstairs. Without a lift, it was a nightmare.”</p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7838019/resilift-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/6407b5b375e849d596086eb0f8895544" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Created by Peter van Emmerik – when he himself was retired and in his mid-60s – RESiLIFT was conceived to be the first “through-floor” residential lift, and it allows people to live in the homes they love without breaking the bank or making a massive impact on their building structures.</p> <p>As many of us who are in retirement know full well, life does not slow down in the slightest – and Peter understood the importance of wanting to stay in your beloved residence without having to sacrifice comfort and safety, or cause a huge dent in life savings.</p> <p>Peter’s award-winning product means people are able to have a residential lift that carries them to where they need to go – whether that be from their lounge room to their front door or from their bedroom to the garage.</p> <p>Thanks to his incredible efforts, homeowners are able to have endless options.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7838018/resilift-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e8dc0bfaf8c64175b48a779a52779961" /></p> <p>Tax agent George Dimitropoulos says he had a RESiLIFT installed in his parent’s home and was “pleasantly surprised by the price and the ease of getting the work done.”</p> <p>“Installing a lift is a justified financial decision,” he says.</p> <p>“The full cost of installing a RESiLIFT in my parents’ home, including building works, was $35,000 all up. If they were to have downsized, aside from the potential impact this can have on people’s pensions, the stamp duty alone is astronomical.</p> <p>“For a $700,000 value home you are looking at $37,000 in stamp duty – and for a million-dollar property the stamp duty is $55,000.”</p> <p>Quite apart from the financial benefits, installing a RESiLIFT is quick and easy, “with no loss of lifestyle,” adds George. “My parents did not have to move from the family home and experience the trauma associated with that process.”</p> <p>Peter says that designing RESiLIFT for retirees means they do not have to leave or sacrifice their house for safety and security.</p> <p>“I designed this lift so people could stay safely in the home they love,” he says. “It saves time, effort and money that would otherwise be wasted moving home. It also removes the emotional anguish of being uprooted from your family home.”</p> <p>RESiLIFT is a smart and affordable solution that doesn’t require seniors to make the jump from their beloved home to a smaller, one-floor property just because they are not as agile as they used to be.</p> <p>Jegi Jager, an architect for CPS Project Management, says retrofitting a lift into your home “really makes sense. This is the future. I would never build or plan a two-storey home without a lift.”</p> <p>RESiLIFT rolls affordability, safety and quality all into one, explains Jegi, adding that he was further encouraged to use RESiLIFT as it is a “genuine Australian product”.</p> <p>An investment into a RESiLIFT not only offers the comfort of moving about effortlessly within your own home, but allows for a future free of worry. It also gives the same peace of mind to anyone else who might take on your home one day, making it an affordable, Australian-designed and built asset that can only add to the value of your property.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7838017/resilift-3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e0d9e5b6dbde48cb945970696f7fb20d" /></p> <p>“It’s such a relief!” says Margot Ling (pictured above) of her own RESiLIFT, which she had installed in her own house two years ago. “Now I know we can stay in our home! We love it!”</p> <p>To find out more about future-proofing your home with a RESiLIFT, visit <a href="http://www.resilift.com.au/">www.resilift.com.au</a></p> <p><em>This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with <a href="http://www.resilift.com.au/">RESiLIFT</a>.</em></p> <p> </p>

Downsizing

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