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

As mentioned, the video is talking about Deed Restricted Communities not just 55+. In Florida, HOA's really do have a lot of power to take your money for a number of reasons. Because of that, I found it necessary to be on the board and ended up being the President to ensure some financial stability. Everyone in the community hated me and most of the board because we were either not enforcing the rules strictly enough or actually enforcing rules that residents had agreed to follow when they bought their property. We had never ending lawsuits with contractors and residents who were trying to stiff us or were habitual rule breakers. I never dreamed that I would spend so much time talking to lawyers. So, for me, it was not a viable option to live there so we moved.
 
Well that gentleman is talking specifically about over 55 communities, that applies to all HOA‘s everywhere. People love them, people hate them. Thank God we have choices. But I can tell you I know someone who was seriously considering moving into an over 55 community. What stop them was their daughter. Her daughter has children and under the rules of that specific HOA they’re allowed to visit but they aren’t allowed to live there. And at that point her daughter was in a very contentious marriage. And if push came to shove she was gonna have to move back home with her children. They chose to move to a different HOA community that allows children of all ages. Including the adult ones that throw tantrums at the meetings. 🤣
 
I agree completely. Never want to be under the thumb of the kinds of people who want desperately to be on an HOA board. The vast majority are power hungry and just want to tell others how to live their lives.

Another reason I would never move into a 55+ community is that most do not allow you to own the land your home is situated on; rather you are subject to a lease/rent situation. That's mean you are also subject to lease increases that can be onerous.
I don't know where you are talking about with respect to not owning the land under your house in a 55+ community, but the one I was in was not like that. And all the others we looked at were not either.
 

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

No. I am surrounded by nature and my nearest human neighbors are at least 150 yards away.
I prefer the non-human neighbors.
 
My parents moved to an HOA 55+ community in the mid 70's after I moved from home. They mostly liked it, (I would hear occasional complaints). When they moved to FL after a few years, they moved into another HOA community and were happy there. My sister lives in an HOA community, that appears to only have restriction on the color of your house and height of your fence. I wouldn't have know they were in an HOA if they didn't tell me.

We live on Long Island, NY and there are very few HOAs or 55+ communities. Most are new, on a golf course or manmade lake and the houses are large and quite expensive. I would have considered a 55+ community just for the outside maintenance, but my husband is addimently against them. We moved to a neighborhood that was built in the 60's and most of the houses are 4+ bedrooms. I rarely hear kids playing outside which is a bit surprising as most homes have multiple children. I guess they spend more time indoors than I did as a kid.
 
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

All HOA communities have rules. We don’t live in a 55+, but similar, and they have rules here, but are very lenient.

That said- if you don’t pay the fee you will get a lien on your home as you should!
 
$7000 for 3 HOA dues per year?? Incredible. I pay more than twice that for 1. YMMV
We apparently live in the perfect HOA in northern Ohio. Dues are $350 a year, up from $250 a year two years ago due to hiring a management company due to a lack of volunteers. 337 single family homes.

The builder restricted the HOA's jurisdiction to just the common areas, which includes a pool, tennis courts, playground, etc. He probably had a bad HOA experience himself. :)

Newcomers crab that "The HOA should do something!" about stupid stuff. The Board refers them to the governing docs that say they have no jurisdiction over individual homes or non-common area conduct.

When the idiots persist the Board points them to the clause for modifying the governing documents, which takes an 85% affirmative vote. That's why they've been unchanged since 1970. And probably why the dues are so low; no need for attorneys and the related costs. Just maintain the common areas.

There are Restrictive Covenants on the deeds with long-ignored rules but the only enforcement action permitted is for one owner in that subdivision to sue another owner in the same subdivision. The rules also specify that the plaintiff must quantify the value of the impairment of their property, which is about impossible.

The real estate attorney we had reviewing the home purchase said he had never seen an HOA like ours before.
 
No. Because at the meetings I'd be one of these guys. and wondering why am I here?

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The best part about our gated 55+ community is no kids. They visit some residents sometimes but not enough to even notice the little crotch goblins. It’s perfect for us because we really dislike kids.
 
We seriously looked at a 55+ last year. Even went to their community day to meet residents and get info on all the clubs and activities. The spec'ed out a home but the builder drove up the price with petty items. Then we realized that development was full of old people and we prefer a more diverse community. Happily passed.
 
Lived in a traditional suburban HOA subdivision for 20+ years. Residents are mostly families with kids, but some retirees too. Seen a big change over the years. Used to be everyone chipped in so much time HOA didn't need to hire a management firm. Now most younger folks say they don't have the time to serve, (or even volunteer for HOA projects/events). HOA now hires outside contractors for everything & (predictably) dues have skyrocketed. Interestingly, in recent years few younger folks show interest in governance & most of the HOA board members (all elected) have been 55+.......just like a 55+ community ;)
 
We live in a 55+ community. 275 houses. It's quiet, clean, and a little safer. Ours is gated. Restrictions? of course. But they're reasonable restrictions. I don't want my neighbor painting his house purple. People are more friendly, IMO, cuz we have more things in common. best neighborhood I've ever lived in.
 
Another reason I would never move into a 55+ community is that most do not allow you to own the land your home is situated on; rather you are subject to a lease/rent situation. That's mean you are also subject to lease increases that can be onerous.
I had never heard of such an arrangement. In ours and every other 55+ I know of the house and land are owned outright just like in a regular HOA community.
 
We pay over $600/month in HOA, have some crazy Karen neighbors, have a fair amount of HOA drama and... absolutely love where we live! ymmv
 
We pay over $600/month in HOA, have some crazy Karen neighbors, have a fair amount of HOA drama and... absolutely love where we live! ymmv
Haha. Love where we live too. No Karens and HOA drama, though. We just have too many uber rich folks, like buy over the next 2 lots so that they can build one for guests and another for parking for whenever they have house parties. The same said owner just sold another home for $30M in another community after she had planned to move there. After building that home, she decided to come back and slum in our neighborhood. :) She is super nice though.
 
+1. That’s exactly what we chose 6 years ago, and we’re happy with the choice. We’d rather live in a mixed gen neighborhood, I’d say ours is 2/3rds working families with kids and 1/3rd retirees. For those who don’t want other peoples kids around, in our experience very few kids play outside anymore, we don’t see kids outside much. Kinda sad to me. When we were kids were were outside as much as possible.

TBH even though we loved the floorplans and amenities we chose against a 55+ community, looked at several. The HOA fees were high, and the rules were stricter than most HOAs in our experience. We also didn’t want to end up socializing with people who complain about their health, or narrow minded uninformed politics all day. Yes I know that’s not all seniors but it’s noticeably more common than with the general population. And finally we visited some 20-30 year old 55+ communities where the median age was much higher and properties and amenities don’t look like they did when new. They were “active adult” communities when they were new too. As the video noted, if and when you want to resell your property in an older 55+ community, your resale price won’t be very good - new retirees will buy in the newer 55+ communities just like you once did. YMMV
Do you think the resale concern is unique to 55+? I would think that buying in an amenity-rich multi generational neighborhood would be similar. If you want to sell in 20+ years, there will be newer communities around with updated amenities that will be more appealing to buyers.
 
Never want to be under the thumb of the kinds of people who want desperately to be on an HOA board. The vast majority are power hungry and just want to tell others how to live their lives.
Some board members are like this, for sure, but not all of them. And not even the majority of them. I've met more board members who had to be begged to serve than board members on a power trip.
 
DH and I looked at many non age restricted as well as 55+ communities before finding the home we decided to buy. We moved into a Del Webb community built between 2018-2024. We bought a resale.

Key factors in our decision to buy in a 55+ were:
- Amenities and activities tend to be much more extensive in a 55+. More pickleball courts and an active pickleball program, for example. More clubs and interest groups than we could ever find time for. And many 55+ communities include an on-site restaurant and bar, while many non age restricted communities don’t unless they are a golf/country club.
- We aren’t golfers so we decided we’d prefer lower HOA dues by not choosing a golf community.
- Being new to SW FL, we felt it would be easier to meet people we have things in common with by moving into a 55+ community. We are 64 and 65.

As Midpack said, be wary of older 55+ communities if you’re a young retiree. If you buy in a 55+ that has been around for 25 years, you will have a very high median age so if you’re 55-75, you’ll likely feel like you’re around too many old people.

We don’t know if the DW we live in will be our forever home or not, but so far we like it a lot. One benefit I see of a 55+ is the support system geared towards seniors. While we don’t need it now, there is a volunteer group that helps residents access medical equipment or rides to doctor appointments for short term rehab situations. There are also many widows and widowers so if one does lose a spouse, there are many who have been through that nearby.

Downsides for us so far:
- “Maintenance free” is only true if you aren’t too particular about the appearance of your landscaping. If you are, you have to either DIY or hire a supplemental landscaper.
- There is some cliquish behavior, although most people have been friendly and welcoming. We just steer clear of gossipers and complainers.
 
I don't think I'll ever live in another place that has an HOA. I once lived in a townhome for 8 years, and had a deck put on the back. I couldn't enjoy the deck because of the sun and the mosquitos. So I bought a SunSetter Awning, assuming it would be ok with the HOA, since I also had a very narrow, swamp like creek almost adjacent to my backyard, which helped bring in even more mosquitos. Anyway, once the awning arrived, I was so excited that I nearly decided to put it up, and ask the HOA for permission afterwards. But I did the right thing, and wrote them a "Letter of Request", to attach it. It took them somewhere between 6 and 12 months before I was finally allowed to attach it. I must have bought it during the winter, otherwise, I would have rushed them a little more for an answer.

I remember finally bumping into the HOA president one day, and asked him if they ever got my request to attach my SunSunsetter. I believe this was right before the spring. Anyway, he responded by asking me, "What's your rationale?"...lol. I believe he was a school teacher. I can laugh at that crazy response now, but I sure couldn't laugh when he asked. So I told him why I needed my SunSetter. So he said they'd give me an answer real soon. Then I bumped into him again about half way through the Summer, and he told me to go ahead and put it up. Then he moved away two weeks later. Sounds like he was the one holding everything up. Btw, this awning came with the screen room attachment. Anyway, I had nothing but fun in that SunSetter with all my family and friends. I believe the HOA also had trouble with the sunroom having a screen room attachment. However that was the main thing that was gonna keep all those mosquitoes off of us. Go figure.

The second major issue I had with that HOA, was when I bought a second car, because my old one was too small for a man my size, and the car was getting old. So after I bought my new car, I started leaving my old car parked in the guest space next to my permanent parking space, which was right in front of my house, so I could keep an eye on both of them. After awhile, I guess somebody again thought I was showing off. So I got this letter from the HOA that was addressed to everybody. In it, it asked that if you were single, which I was, and had two cars, which I did, and had no family with small children, which I didn't, then to please let couples with newborns, have guest spaces closer to the houses. I guess this was meant to save people carrying their newborns from a little longer walk...and I mean little. I immediately ignored this request because first, it sounded way too personal, and second, all the additional guest spaces were only about ten yards aways, in the center of the two adjacent rows of townhouses, right in front of the mailboxes. That's like asking a person that just because they're single, and not carrying a baby, they should abandon the guest space right beside their permanent space while it's available, and park their other car, that they also paid for, it a little further away by the mail boxes, where you can't keep an eye on it along with your other car parked in your permanent space...not to mention the area was crime ridden. I could see if the couples with babies, had to walk much longer, and not just 10 or 12 yards longer. That's not worth asking somebody to park their car further where they couldn't see it too well, when they could have parked it right in front of their house beside their other car, where they could keep a much better eye on both cars. Then when I think back, I actually had my older car park in one of the guest parking spaces by the mailboxes half the time anyway. That was because I would still drive it to work sometimes, and when I got back, the guest parking space next to my permanent space would be already taken half the time...I guess by a neighbor with small children, or with a baby. That's would made that letter feel more personal than it already did.

The last straw, was when they towed my old car that I would park in the guest parking space next to my permanent parking space...only when I got there first. There reason was, my guest parking pass was improperly displayed, as it hung on my rear view mirror, and it was behind my work place badged...the place it always hung. They never had an issue with this, as long as they could at least see the corners of my guest parking pass, which was yellow. Before you tow away a resident like me, who lived there for 8 years, who never been late on their HOA dues, you should at least give them a warning. That was too personal. I fought this, but they decided not to refund my tow fee. By coincidence, I saw an opportunity to move away later that month, and I was outta there. But it got even crazier the day I moved. They actually tried to tow away my U-haul, while it was parked in my parking space, right in front of my house...and it had some of my furniture in it. My brother, and two of my helpers caught that tow truck driver right after he hooked up my U-haul. Luckily, they were bold enough to stand right in front of that tow truck, until that driver got out, and unhook my U-haul. I assume the HOA was behind this. I guess they were gonna say that since I was living in the right-end unit, my U-haul was blocking the parking space of the neighbor living on the right side. But this was at noon time, and their parking space was empty, like almost everybody else's during that time of day. Like how much hate can they have towards somebody who never did anything to them. Maybe they really didn't wanna see me go...or maybe a little bit of both. I was always a very friendly person. By the way I had to dress for my IT job everyday, and being the only one carrying a briefcase (at least in that part of the subdivision), it was obvious I had a good paying job, not to mention I could afford that new townhouse all by myself, along with the SunSetter. I already know that stirred up some envy...so what else is new.

I know this thread was suppose to be about 55+ communities, but it seemed more like it was about HOAs. With that said, I'll probably stay away from 55+ communities, since most of them have HOAs that can come up with some crazy rules outta nowhere, and make things miserable for you if they want to...and it's hard to fight them. I have even more reasons I probably wouldn't want to move in one of those communities, other than their HOAs. I hear that a lot of times, if you move their close to 55, your in the minority, when it comes to age. Plus I've heard some of these places have cliques, and it can make you feel like you're starting high school all over again. I already experienced some of that when I use to eat at some of these senior cafeterias near me after I turned 55. But the biggest fear I have, is the possibility of getting close to people in their golden years, and their suddenly not there anymore.
 
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To each their own. But for me, now way IN HELL I will ever live in an HOA property, 55+ or otherwise. I will decide what to do with my house, what cars are there, who visits, what pets, what color I paint it, etc. And I will admit that it is just good fortune that where I live right now at 63 years old, there are just no neighbor issues of any kind.

And perhaps the fact that across the street is conservation land and beyond that a State Park and the lot to one side of us is wet/unbuildable. 312' of waterfront doesn't hurt either.

That being said, I will also say that it seems that these HOA communities work very well for some people and if they are happy there, that is all that matters.
 
I live in one, don’t see these issues myself, and enjoy the large number of activities available and great attitude of the residents. I think the attitude comes with mature people all comfortable financially just looking to enjoy themselves. I also agree with other comments that mentioned problems are with any HOA community not just 55+
 
I live in one, don’t see these issues myself, and enjoy the large number of activities available and great attitude of the residents. I think the attitude comes with mature people all comfortable financially just looking to enjoy themselves. I also agree with other comments that mentioned problems are with any HOA community not just 55+
Yeah, read the documents before you buy. If they list onerous clauses, don't buy.

As mentioned, our HOA is led by long term owners and they attempt to "govern" as little as possible but they do enforce the rules we signed on to.
 
We're on our 3rd 55+ community (AZ, SC, FL) and have enjoyed each of them, even with the restrictions the HOA can enforce. But.... we knew about that before moving in. I wouldn't really consider the HOA a con though they can be a bit of a pain when making improvements to your property. The pros far outweigh the cons for us.
 
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