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Main question: Do you live in a 55+ community or aspire to live in one?
Optional feedback:Please talk about how the numbers work or don’t.
I’ll go first. I don’t live in a 55+ community, and should I need one, it would probably be an Atria/Sunrise type of rental deal as opposed to buying,
My dh worked for a complex where the units literally remain at 2010 prices due to 5k/mo Hoa condo fees that heirs remain responsible for until resale. The HOA has been buying them up and marketing them as a rental after an “entrance fee.” Again, I could get that at an atria and get meals too all without an entrance fee or a toxic property.
I mean, we won’t be around for the end of any new 30 year mortgage. Why make such a commitment with either a loan or cash when rentals are readily available in these communities?

Yes, I live in a 55+ apartment building. It's really nice, and I appreciate the sense of security and community we have here. It has many amenities, including a workout room, an indoor pool, a courtyard, and other activity rooms. It's also very quiet here. To some the rent may seem high, but all of our utilities are paid except electric and phone. It includes cable TV (maybe not the most up-to-date equipment) and internet. There are garages and underground parking. The staff and maintenance people are great here. There is no buy-in fee. I would never go for that.

Downside is it sometimes feels as if one is back in high school, with gossip, romances, and some cliques. However, you don't have to participate in any of it, if you don't want to do that. There are plenty of really nice people here, and we help each other out.
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Thanks Fawnby. At 1960/yr for the base rate, I’d definitely be listening to moving out to a community like this.
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PeggySue, our HOA fee is $1,960 per year. It can be paid in January in a lump sum or monthly with no extra fee for that. It includes yard care for the medium size and smaller homes. Larger homes pay for their own yard care. Membership in a club, such as the quilting club, is $12 per year. An exercise class is $12 for a certain number of lessons. I don't know what golf costs.

Our community is similar to https://rossmoor.com. There's no big buy-in fee up front. I feel that the perks we get (even though I am not at present using them) are well worth what we pay.
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Fawnby, it really depends. The condo units dh managed carried hoa fees starting at 5000/month. You’re not free of the hoa until your property sells. The prices are still in the 199k and up range, just as they were in 2010, while the hoa is four times more.

Your community sounds like this. https://rossmoor.com/ This is where my cousins wished their parents went 15 years ago when they could enjoy the two golf courses and three swimming pools and other amenities there. Do such amenities justify your likely substantial hoa bill?
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I live in a 55+ community for active adults. No nursing home here, but lots of activities, sports, golf courses, restaurants, entertainment, and fun. Well, at least I've heard there is fun. I haven't experienced much of it because my husband got sick shortly after we moved here. We own our home outright and so do most residents. They sell their previous homes where they raised a family elsewhere and then use those funds to buy a home here. Many of those who rent here are trying it out and eventually buy their own home.

Home values keep rising in this community. Buying a home is a good investment. When it's time to move into one of the many assisted living or memory care facilities nearby, homeowners sell this home and buy into their final one. If they'd rented, they'd have no equity to use for The Last Pit Stop.
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Here in the Bay Area, some wealthier municipalities have tried to fulfill their requirements to build low income housing with senior-exclusive housing that excludes families with children or adult children with developmental disabilities. I’m not sure I’d want to live in a public complex with a baby on one side and an autistic 35 yo with two convictions and anger issues on the other side. I would only accept this if thereweenk choice. As you have a house to sell, hopefully you won’t ever need to be subject to living in such a place.

Heirs have turned over condos to the hoa where my dh worked just to get out of hoa fees. Hopefully you aren’t in a situation like this, but if you don’t mind me asking, how do equity and hoa fees compare to non 55 places?
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I don't know what the future will bring. I am planning if DH goes before me, to sell my house and use the proceeds to help offset the cost of a regular apt. We have HUD apts and low income 55 and up here in town. My State is making it mandatory for us to build another complex of low income.

We have a little nestegg that may help us stay in an AL. Which is another option for me if I feel thats the way I need to go.
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