Do You Really Want To Live In A 55+ Community?

[Midpack]

Despite the clickbait banners, I thought this was a good summary of the reasons it might not be a good fit for some. It most certainly is a good choice for some, I am not suggesting otherwise. I already knew most of the cons, but he had a few I hadn't heard before.

FWIW

 

[audreyh1]

Trouble? I haven’t noticed that!

Been here almost 15 years now.

 

[aja8888]

Trouble? I haven’t noticed that!

The ten years DW and I lived in one, we didn't either. As a matter of fact, I know residents that are starting their thrid decade in the community and love it.

 

[Koolau]

Interesting video. Virtually everything covered applies to an HOA. It's important to research all such covenants and how they are enforced before buying such a property.

Our HOA can be just a little bit "picky" about a few things. Nothing ridiculous, but occasionally it can seem like a busybody has too much time on their hands. BUT enforcement has been pretty lenient. Yes, there is provision for a fine, but the resident mgr. w*rks with people to solve issues rather than look for ways to ding people.

There ARE toxic HOAs and they are to be avoided at all cost. Same with a 55 community. It's all in the research IMHO. Clearly YMMV.

 

[aja8888]

Yes, it's generally not the community that is the problem (although residents can be problems), it's the HOA that makes or breaks the experience. And it's not limited to 55+ communities. The video is pretty much clickbait IMHO.

 

[Flyfish1]

Certainly not limited to 55+ as stated by @aja8888. Our shore front community has an HOA that is pretty chill, no one seems to care too much about most things....except the docks...

 

[Lewis Clark]

There ARE toxic HOAs and they are to be avoided at all cost. Same with a 55 community. It's all in the research IMHO. Clearly YMMV.

The level of toxicity can change instantly (for better or worse) when board members change.

If the toxicity perpetuates, it is only because the residents allow it to perpetuate by not electing new board members.

 

[RetMD21]

I worry about buying into a place where the golf course becomes a problem due to rising costs and declining use. You have too be on board with the rules to live in any HOA.

 

[Car-Guy]

I'm not looking forward to moving back to civilization but if/when we do, it will almost certainly be to a 55+ community. I'm going to check out the HOA close and do my best to verify enforcement of the rules. I won't moved into one if I can't (or don't want to) live by their rules and I'll dang sure raise hell if others don't. I may even volunteer to join the HOA board to ensure enforcement.

 

[MC Rider]

No HOA for me ever.

 

[aja8888]

I'm not looking forward to moving back to civilization but if/when we do, it will almost certainly be to a 55+ community. I'm going to check out the HOA close and do my best to verify enforcement of the rules. I won't moved into one if I can't (or don't want to) live by their rules and I'll dang sure raise hell if others don't. I may even volunteer to join the HOA board to ensure enforcement.

If you decide to go into one, speak with several long time residents and get those opinions and history. Most rules are the same in these places, although in my last one, every seven years they repainted all the homes and were responsible for replacing the Cedar fences at each house (where needed). Both of those cost items were done on schedule over the 22 + years the place was occupied. If my wife had not passed, I would still be there.

 

[audreyh1]

He’s talking about HOAs. Sorry, I can’t sit through chatty videos.

 

[Dtail]

We are not in a 55+ community, but do have an HOA. For the most part, they are fine. We do go to events with our friends in a 55+ community, so kind of some of the good stuff without some of the negative stuff.

 

[RetiredHappy]

We pay 3 HOAs, which don't cover anything related to our home and we don't live in an active 55 community. We love living in a HOA environment even though we pay about $7000 a year. It keeps out the riff raff.

 

[mistermike40]

I thought about this a lot when I was in my early 50's (pre-retirement). The concept sounded pretty good to me and my wife. Her health declined and our future plans changed dramatically. Not sure why, but a 55+ community seems to have lost its appeal for me... I doubt I'll ever relocate to one. But not because of an HOA... they're pretty common in most neighborhoods/communities (I have one now, no issues for 30+ years).

 

[MarieIG]

It's not in our plans - but this falls under never say never.

 

[Aerides]

I live in an HOA, and most areas in S.Fla look better if they are vs. the alternative. As far as 55+, the home that backs onto mine had never been an issue, until we had a rental family in there a couple of years ago.

Two kids under 8 - screamers, not cute playful kids, but one hitting the other, then the little one wailing, and a home-all-day Dad who would just come and yell at them a little, or turn down his music (which was also party-loud, every day..) to do so. Two loud dogs kept on the patio. And then he decided to take up wood work, which meant operating his table saw in his backyard for some reason, most afternoons, before the kids came home from school and it started all over again. Their only redeeming quality was they were quiet at night mostly.

But the family we've had since then? Quiet as can be.

Still, my next home will no have no rear neighbors of any age, and I'll be careful about side ones too. But the idea of never having to listen to anything like that again is quite appealing.

 

[TheWizard]

We pay 3 HOAs, which don't cover anything related to our home and we don't live in an active 55 community. We love living in a HOA environment even though we pay about $7000 a year. It keeps out the riff raff.

Riff Raff!
I've been in the same house since 1976 with no HOA fees and no riff Raff.
It must be a lot worse in some parts of the country....

 

[MC Rider]

C'mon. Riff is a good guy.

 

[2HOTinPHX]

I was looking at an Active plus 55 community in Southern California as they seemed to have a good little community from the videos I have been watching. Lots of activities and groups to join. I miss California mild weather compared to Phoenix summers. Sure it's a lot more expensive there but if we downsized to a small condo we might have been able to make it work. Unfortunately the recent LA fires reminded us of the risk facing California. So we decided to stay out for now.

Unfortunately Azuls videos lately seem to be a bit click baitty. I really enjoyed some of his earlier stuff.

We do live in an HOA area right now and haven't had any real issues. They don't seem to be to strict on enforcing the rules.

 

[Midpack]

Unfortunately Azuls videos lately seem to be a bit click baitty. I really enjoyed some of his earlier stuff.

+1. I enjoyed his earlier videos, but he’s trying to do a (monetized) video every day instead of when he has something worth sharing.

We don’t plan to live in a 55+ community ever, very conscious choice after very serious consideration and several tours.

 

[Lewis Clark]

I like this Riff Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

 

[rk911]

We currently live in a single-family home in a non-HOA neighborhood. We chose to avoid HOA's like the plague. I'm a HAM and have a few antennas on the roof and for years we parked our motorhomes in our driveway (not fulltime).

I am dreading the day we have to move into a multi-family reaidence...not ready to share walls or deal with non-sensical rules or self-important 'Karens' (both male and female). A former employee expressed her frustration with her HOA for a warning she received for having non-standard garbage cans.

On our last trip to AZ we took a look at a 55+ development, all single family homes. But the rules and regulation book was very extensive. No thanks!

 

[Walt34]

From what I've read the vast majority of HOAs are run by reasonable people. Of course what is "reasonable" varies widely, but in 22 years of living here we've had no issues and very little contact with the HOA, and what contact there has been was benign. But if someone moves into a HOA community and then wants to paint their house purple with orange stripes to show their individuality, then yeah, they're gonna have issues.

I'd have little sympathy for someone who doesn't bother to read the covenants before buying and then whines about the "HOA-nazis". That's just asking for trouble.

 

[Koolau]

We pay 3 HOAs, which don't cover anything related to our home and we don't live in an active 55 community. We love living in a HOA environment even though we pay about $7000 a year. It keeps out the riff raff.

$7000 for 3 HOA dues per year?? Incredible. I pay more than twice that for 1. YMMV