55+ community living?

[Teacher Terry]

Midpack, the 55+ communities here are much more expensive just like you mentioned. It’s not worth it to us either.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Nonsense. A POV different than yours isn’t automatically “disparagement” - I’m not sure how I could have been clearer without reposting this (below) over and over. The dozen or so 55+ communities we looked at have all been considerably more expensive than mixed gen neighborhoods nearby, and they had much higher HOA fees (and services) too. If that’s what you’re looking and you want to live in a community with a much higher median age, great. If not, that’s a reasonable POV as well.

You’ve been pretty clear in this and other threads that you would never want to live in a 55+ community because of their demographics—I am surprised that you have visited the sales centers of a dozen of them. Are you sure you’re not interested in them—that is a lot of visits!

 

[kgtest]

One thing that surprised me...I was thinking 55+ oh there won't be any loud neighbors. Wrong...one year when we stayed in TV there was a neighbor who was JAMMING some Caribbean music. Lots of bongos and such. Did the same thing the next weekend. My guess is someone already yelled at him to keep the bongos to the weekend. And all the yard maintenance, I swear everyone has a different contract that comes on different days. I think that is a product of the environment though...lot less DIYers that can pick the day they mow.

For instance in my world, where it is not 55+ and someone mows the lawn, it seems all of the other guy's wives push us out the door telling us to mow..."Look honey, John AND Dave just cut the grass, ours has to match, go cut!"

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We toured 3 Del Webb communities in Florida last year. All were very similar, very cookie cutter, 5 year old properties were way better value than new builds. CDD costs were high, but older properties were selling with the CDD Bonds paid off.

The real kicker for us was we are 65 and 60 respectively, most if not all of the folks in the quite crowded clubhouses looked like they were VERY much older than us. So we ruled them out. But for those that are in their 70's - 80's it may be a good choice.

After a lot of mulling looking and procrastinating, we decided that a nice well managed private Country Club was best for us. Even though we are not golfers the HOA keeps all the grounds in tip top shape. The private golf course membership is not mandatory and we choose not to join the club. But we still get the benefits of yard maintenance, well manicured grounds and the gates access.

 

[imoldernu]

I agree that "it's not for everyone"... and that goes for non-parks, mobile home parks, manufactured home parks, or stick built parks. To each his/her own.

For us, it was the social part... where the people felt like family. Where the amenities were not organized by an activities director, but by the people who loved doing what they like.

Those were the days... never a do nothing day. We were part of the group that organized most of the parties... hired the band, bought the kegs of beer, and the wine... drove to the market to get the food, did the hall decorations, managed the ticket sales (back then, $5 to $6/person. which included everything).
Plus - Horseshoes, Bocce Ball, Shuffleboard, Pool, Exercise Room, Hot tub, big pool, 53 slip marina, (my own boat), golf carts (and golf cart parades for holidays), convertible trips (for the folks who had them) all over Florida. Group trips to Disney (60 miles away), and an almost once a week trip to Daytona for the 'surfin' group... In house Karaoke, Bus trips to special places, and then a three times a season group troop for Ocean and River Cruises. The club house kitchen was a central point for the Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and President's Day feasts, as well as the center point for the many pot luck dinners.

The card room and the library were always busy, for some of the older folks... JigSaw Puzzles, Whist (no bridge), Dominoes, and High Low Jack...

Pontoon Boat rides... once in a while the three day trip up the river to Jacksonville... Five to ten boat flotillas. Exploring the Harris Chain of Lakes... 212 miles of shoreline in central Florida.

Lots of Canadians, so we flew the Canadian flag along side the American flag at the clubhouse... and all learned to sing the words to "Oh Canada".

And... because that wasn't near enough, We were part of "Thursday's Child"... Six couples who did our own thing with a movable feast from home to home... every Thursday... dinner and a fun party with all the fixins. as well as our own planned trips to events wherever... including The Villages for music and slow or line dancing. We didn't have to belong to enjoy the fun in the village squares.

Our manufactured home was 1150 sf including the sun room, cost us $18,000, and, when we stopped snow birding in 2012, the rent was $400/mo. Tax sticker -under $100.

Some pics of our over55 from recently, and a YouTube search for videos will bring up lots of goin's on today.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Lake+griffin+Harbor&newwindow=1&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE1aru0P_gAhUm2oMKHWmNBOEQ_AUICigB&biw=1136&bih=598&dpr=1

Most of the early pics in the search are of LGH... up to where the pic of the raccoon shows up, but including the gator.

I know that's not everyone's idea of a fun retirement, but it worked for us. beautiful memories... but that's all, as there's no way we could ever do that again.

 

[aja8888]

That wasn’t the case in any of the Epcon or Del Webb communities we looked at. I suppose you could take care of your own lawn, but the HOA dues would remain at $250-350/mo. Maybe others are more flexible.

I never said there would be a reduction in your HOA fees, I just said you have a choice. Where we live (55+ community), several folks we know do there own front yard work as they enjoy the activity.

 

[Midpack]

You’ve been pretty clear in this and other threads that you would never want to live in a 55+ community because of their demographics—I am surprised that you have visited the sales centers of a dozen of them. Are you sure you’re not interested in them—that is a lot of visits!

I'm repeating myself, but we absolutely want an open concept ranch home, and when we first started looking 7 years ago it seemed 55+ communities were almost the only neighborhoods with nice open ranch homes. So even though 55+ wasn't appealing we thought we had no choice for several years.

Though two stories still seem (understandably) to be 80-90% of the listings everywhere we've been looking, there seems to have been a resurgence in demand for ranch homes, presumably Boomers (like us). So we're finding 10-20% of listings in mixed gen neighborhoods are ranch homes, and we're just waiting to find one that fits our wish-list within reason. And we've ruled out 55+ neighborhoods, too expensive and not what we want.

For those for whom 55+ is appealing, again - that's wonderful./

 

[Midpack]

I never said there would be a reduction in your HOA fees, I just said you have a choice. Where we live (55+ community), several folks we know do there own front yard work as they enjoy the activity.

Fair enough. I assumed you meant we might get an HOA fee reduction as I can't imagine why anyone would pay considerably higher HOA fees without utilizing all the services included. I couldn't do that, but maybe just me.

 

[aja8888]

RE: single level ranch homes that are 1,700 - 2,500 square feet in size.

These are selling like hotcakes in our area. Lots of Boomers and older folks are wanting to get out of two story homes for the typical reasons. This includes neighborhoods other than 55+ ones.

It's the sign of the times. One down the street from us went on the MLS and in days it was sold. Another never made it to the MLS and was sold privately.

I have no clue as to the selling price of these homes since Texas does not allow sold prices of homes as public info. Only licensed brokers can obtain that selling price.

 

[audreyh1]

In our neighborhood the maintenance is done single contract for the neighborhood and passes through our section once a week which is nice as it’s very quiet otherwise, something I value.

Except for a couple of neighbors that don’t like how things are done and have their own person come. Now we have noise on Saturday mornings too which is very annoying.

The few folks who have elected to have someone other that the HOA contractor do it (notice they aren’t doing it themselves) occasionally push for not having to pay for the HOA for lawn maintenance. But that will never fly. Apart from being in the HOA rules, there is I think a justified fear that many folks would drop paying for yard maintenance and then not properly maintain their lawn. It’s really one of those things that you have to decide for the entire neighborhood handled with one contract, or to each his own. Lots of snowbirds here so having year round yard maintenance handled by the HOA was considered essential from the get go.

 

[misshathaway]

I don't disparage the amenities-filled places; I simply despair of finding a community where I want the types of amenities they provide.

For those of us who find ourselves - throughout life - on the thin edge of various bell curves, the word "community" often equates with "bed of Procrustes." We'd have to stretch or truncate ourselves to fit.

Made me google. What would the ideal community for introverts be? I guess they'd have to call it "The Islands".

 

[aja8888]

Fair enough. I assumed you meant we might get an HOA fee reduction as I can't imagine why anyone would pay considerably higher HOA fees without utilizing all the services included. I couldn't do that, but maybe just me.

In my post at #68, I listed what we get for our HOA fees (from what I can remember). No one here (in this community) really uses all the paid for services as a lot of HOA money is spent on "activities" rather than "landscape". So it's kind of like you use what feels good and let it go.

For instance, I fix any home sprinkler system problems rather than calling the service and waiting for them to show up and fix the broken head, etc. I like to trim and shape my own shrubs and do that maybe three times per year. And since DW is handicapped and on O2 100% of the time, she doesn't participate in any clubhouse activities, of which there are many.

While I don't mean to endorse the Del Webb lifestyle of over priced homes, high fees and tons of activities, we like the small 55+ community we are in (437 homes) and the fact that it has no golf course which is a huge money suck in these type of communities.

 

[aja8888]

Made me google. What would the ideal community for introverts be? I guess they'd have to call it "The Islands".

Made me laugh....not only would they call it that, they may build it on one too!

 

[audreyh1]

In my post at #68, I listed what we get for our HOA fees (from what I can remember). No one here (in this community) really uses all the paid for services as a lot of HOA money is spent on "activities" rather than "landscape". So it's kind of like you use what feels good and let it go.

For instance, I fix any home sprinkler system problems rather than calling the service and waiting for them to show up and fix the broken head, etc. I like to trim and shape my own shrubs and do that maybe three times per year. And since DW is handicapped and on O2 100% of the time, she doesn't participate in any clubhouse activities, of which there are many.

While I don't mean to endorse the Del Webb lifestyle of over priced homes, high fees and tons of activities, we like the small 55+ community we are in (437 homes) and the fact that it has no golf course which is a huge money suck in these type of communities.

Interesting.

Our HOA fee covers common facilities, but does not pay for activities. Activities are funded separately more as a pay as you go system - attendees pay for the various events and activities if there is a cost involved. Many clubs/interest group meetings don't cost anything but just use the common facilities. But parties and other activities involving a cost - those are handled by the participants and usually paid for and signed up for in advance. And those facilities are available for resident only private use if you sign up in advance.

So our HOA fee is mostly for the yard maintenance.

We do our own shrub (flowering plants) pruning as we have a schedule based on butterfly activity. But the HOA takes care of mowing, edging, blowing, mulching, and various and sundry other items that we are quite glad not to do.

I don't mind paying for the facilities. We do occasionally use the pool - once it gets hot and there are fewer crowds. The clubhouse is very beautiful. We love the green spaces and their native trees. We enjoy the native flowing plants in the public areas and along the exterior wall - these are quite famous for butterflies. The landscape environment is very bird and butterfly friendly so we enjoy that aspect very much. The facilities attract the majority of the homeowners so I think that makes resale much easier.

 

[ziggy29]

Do you realize you can cut your own grass and take care of your yard even while living in a 55+ community? Just let the HOA know that and they will take you off the schedule. No problem!

That probably depends on the community. Many of them have a core set of services that everyone pays for, whether they use them or not, and may have other "premium" services (such as golf or spa services) that requires that those who use it, pay for it.

Plus, some of them may require you pay for maintenance on the front yard, but may leave it up to you to maintain the fenced in area (or pay extra to have it done). And additionally, the maintenance that would be included is probably to keep the property up to minimum HOA standards. You want more, you can DIY or pay someone for it.

 

[Midpack]

In my post at #68, I listed what we get for our HOA fees (from what I can remember). No one here (in this community) really uses all the paid for services as a lot of HOA money is spent on "activities" rather than "landscape". So it's kind of like you use what feels good and let it go.

While I don't mean to endorse the Del Webb lifestyle of over priced homes, high fees and tons of activities, we like the small 55+ community we are in (437 homes) and the fact that it has no golf course which is a huge money suck in these type of communities.

Del Webb was outrageous to us, a no go. Epcon was much smaller (25-150 lots) and nicer, but still expensive. Epcon HOA fees range from $295-345/mo versus $50-72/mo for any mixed gen community with clubhouse and pool in the same area. For $3K/year I’m happy to cut my own lawn, Epcon lots are tiny BTW. And their homes are $197/sqft versus $149/sqft for neighborhoods with comparable quality homes all around. Just doesn’t work for us, LBYMwise.

 

[ziggy29]

For $3K/year I’m happy to cut my own lawn...

And even if you don't *want* to cut your own lawn, you can easily find people who will do it for a lot less than that.

 

[statsman]

And even if you don't *want* to cut your own lawn, you can easily find people who will do it for a lot less than that.

That's what I was thinking. We moved to TX last fall, and I have little interest mowing and edging the lawns for the new house which will be ready by the beginning of summer. Shrubs I will deal with, although some of the HOAs here in TX are pretty anal about what you can and can't plant, at least in the front yard.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We pay $140 Per month for Landscaping in our G&CC (Non 55+) community. Well worth it IMHO Here is what it covers:

1) Lawn maintenance 52 weeks a year
2) Shrub trimming and maintenance for all shrubs up to 10 Feet in height.
3) All maintenance for all trees no matter how high in the 20' front and back easement. We have an easement 20' from the road in the front and from the house to the lake at the back.
4) All irrigation, including maintenance of equipment and water. (This is a big one as water is expensive and sprinklers break all the time)
5) Maintenance of all lakes, retention hardware (Pumps, Fountains etc.)
6) Mulch 2 times a year for all flower beds.

Here are our lakes front and back to give you an idea. The front is harder to see but there is a lake with a fountain between us and the homes on the other side.

 

[bUU]

A POV different than yours isn’t automatically “disparagement”

Not automatically.

I’m not sure how I could have been clearer without reposting this (below) over and over.

My comment stands regardless of your comments. You may think that doggedly insisting that a perspective contrary to yours is "nonsense" isn't "disparagement" but it is, and baseless disparagement at that.

You’ve been pretty clear in this and other threads that you would never want to live in a 55+ community because of their demographics—I am surprised that you have visited the sales centers of a dozen of them. Are you sure you’re not interested in them—that is a lot of visits!

 

[Dtail]

I'm repeating myself, but we absolutely want an open concept ranch home, and when we first started looking 7 years ago it seemed 55+ communities were almost the only neighborhoods with nice open ranch homes. So even though 55+ wasn't appealing we thought we had no choice for several years.

Though two stories still seem (understandably) to be 80-90% of the listings everywhere we've been looking, there seems to have been a resurgence in demand for ranch homes, presumably Boomers (like us). So we're finding 10-20% of listings in mixed gen neighborhoods are ranch homes, and we're just waiting to find one that fits our wish-list within reason. And we've ruled out 55+ neighborhoods, too expensive and not what we want.

For those for whom 55+ is appealing, again - that's wonderful./

In our mixed gen hood, it is about 50/50 1 story/2 story.

 

[statsman]

In our mixed gen hood, it is about 50/50 1 story/2 story.

We're seeing that in the newer housing tracts in the suburbs of Austin, TX. Normally, I would say many older folks would prefer the 1 story houses, particularly if they have any physical limitations. I thought the same for my wife and I, but the newer houses being built here have some interesting design differences with the house we owned in CA and like most built there.

Seems the TX home designers like to place any water heater along with a furnace (or two) in the attic space above the garage. In many cases, the ceilings in the garage are at least 10' high. In some cases, especially where there is some sloping to the lot, even higher. Makes for a very tall pull-down ladder for attic access. Yikes. I was so used to having our water heater either in the garage or a first floor closet in a utility room in CA. For an older couple, it's a nightmare thinking about climbing those ladders just to change the filters on the furnace or to check on any leaking from the water heater.

 

[RunningBum]

We're seeing that in the newer housing tracts in the suburbs of Austin, TX. Normally, I would say many older folks would prefer the 1 story houses, particularly if they have any physical limitations. I thought the same for my wife and I, but the newer houses being built here have some interesting design differences with the house we owned in CA and like most built there.

Seems the TX home designers like to place any water heater along with a furnace (or two) in the attic space above the garage. In many cases, the ceilings in the garage are at least 10' high. In some cases, especially where there is some sloping to the lot, even higher. Makes for a very tall pull-down ladder for attic access. Yikes. I was so used to having our water heater either in the garage or a first floor closet in a utility room in CA. For an older couple, it's a nightmare thinking about climbing those ladders just to change the filters on the furnace or to check on any leaking from the water heater.

I have a furnace in my attic. The filters are in the cold air return--no climbing in the attic just to replace a filter.

Have not had a water heater in the attic. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen with the eventual leak. My house in Austin had it in the garage.

 

[statsman]

I have a furnace in my attic. The filters are in the cold air return--no climbing in the attic just to replace a filter.

Have not had a water heater in the attic. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen with the eventual leak. My house in Austin had it in the garage.

That was the way it was designed with our house in CA for the furnace in the attic. We have not seen that with any of the newer houses in the Austin area and surrounding areas (Taylor Morrison, Gehan Homes, Toll Brothers, Pulte Homes, M/I Homes). Some of people we have met since moving to TX have indicated the builders are doing this to save space in the garage.

Like you said, this has disaster written all over it. Now, they do install a drain pan underneath the water heaters, but they are only effective for slow leaks and if you've made sure the drain for the pan is not plugged up with debris. The latter requires checking the water heater from time to time, and again, this means a climb up a fold out ladder in most 1-story and 2-story builds.