“The Baby Boom and the Suburban Boom went hand in hand” per History.com. As the Baby Boomer generation is entering retirement age, the desire for freedom to travel and invest their growing amount of free time into hobbies, visiting family members, and volunteering is on the horizon. The “Lock and Go” or “Lock and Leave” lifestyle in quickly growing in popularity in this maturing generation as well as certain people of all generations who are seeking adventure without sinking down roots in one area of the country full time. There are two directions one could choose in pursuing this way of life.
Downsizing from a family home and purchasing a condo or townhome is an excellent option. By choosing a condo or townhome, the owner has the pride in ownership of their property and has the benefit of no yard maintenance. Want to be a snow bird during Minnesota’s winter season? Or would you enjoy being able to fill up your days and weekends with visiting family and friends and exotic destinations? Just lock your condo or townhome and take off; no need for raking, shoveling, lawn mowing, or drive way maintenance!
However, transitioning into a condo or townhome is not your only option. With the amazing growth in technology in recent years, there is the incredible opportunity to use new innovations to handle much of those day to day chores! For the tech-savvy Baby Boomer all the way down to the technologically wired brain of the millennial generation, purchasing a single-family home is still a wonderful option even if you are out and about often. There are apps, remote devises, and robot appliances that can control your thermostat, lighting, home security system, vacuuming, lawn sprinklers, and lawn mowers. Such technology would take a bit of a time investment on the front end of its use to get everything programmed correctly, and can also give the homeowner peace of mind knowing they can edit and vary the controls with just a click on their smart phone or remote. Using this technology is not able to completely remove all responsibility from the homeowner, as living in a condo or townhome, would in that there is still clearing the snow and garden maintenance that would need to be hired out.
In this era of busyness and ability to dream big, the “Lock and Go” lifestyle leaves you with opportunities galore!