Aging

A View To Die For

Perhaps we can stay in denial about the whole thing.

Posted September 14, 2010

I was talking real estate with a friend the other day. Of course the old "location, location, location" phrase came up. She told me that what was important to her and her retired husband was having a gorgeous view, and being close enough to family and friends so they would come and visit.

We weren't talking a scaled-down house, or even a townhome. We were talking about the kind of real estate you buy and keep for later. Hopefully much later. We were talking cemetery plots. She said they had bought bunk beds in Simi Valley. I asked her what bunk bed plots in Simi Valley were going for these days. When she told me I commented that at least they were still dirt-cheap. She laughed, and said not really. Besides, she wouldn't want to be the first to go because she hated being on the bottom. They were actually thinking of selling that real estate and moving somewhere closer to their kids and grandchildren.

I'd never realized there was a market for this type of final-resting place real estate - people buying and selling cemetery plots like timeshares in Palm Springs, until this conversation. I had never really thought about cemetery plots at all. I mean, what if you decide to get cremated? Do your kids inherit your plot like a condo in Boca Raton? My parents' generation bought final real estate with views "So the kids wouldn't be burdened." But something tells me they just wanted to be sure of where they were going to wind up and not leave it to us to decide. I mean, nowadays, Culver City and Venice Beach are really coming up.

I suppose my husband and I should have that talk one of these days. Do we drop the bucks on some dirt near the folks if there's still any left? And by the way, my Mom hasn't taken up residence in hers yet, thank goodness. Or perhaps we can stay in denial about the whole thing - maybe it won't ever come up! Of course that means that by the time it does come up, bunk beds in Simi Valley will be a fortune and the kids will have to use any money we leave them to pay for it. For anyone pondering similar issues, I have only one piece of advice: location, location, location.