Category: Active adult communities
May 6, 2011 -- What would you do if you were in this situation: Your community's golf course is in terrible shape, even though you and every one else in the community is paying homeowner association fees to maintain it. The developer of the community that owns the golf course is either in foreclosure, or about to be foreclosed on. Would you vote to buy the course?
That particular situation or variations similar to it are unfolding in...
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Published on May 6, 2011
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Category: Active adult communities
What shape do you think the market for active adult communities is in -- is it slowly returning to a healthy state, or is it dead in the water? Topretirements.com is compiling some basic research about the state of the active adult communities market (including 55+ communities), and we would love to know what you think.
Please use the comments section below to answer these questions. If you are a potential buyer, we'd love...
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Published on May 6, 2011
Comments 3
Category: Active adult communities
April 22, 2011 -- Be prepared for the unexpected at Fearrington Village, a unique community just outside of Chapel Hill, NC. So if you are looking for the standard active adult community, you will not find it here. Instead you will see grazing cows, a bookstore, 5 star resort, walking trails, parks, and a wide range of beautiful homes. It's a refreshing development that reflects the eclectic passions and common sense wisdom of its founder, R. B. Fitch.
Full disclosure department: My wife and I were overnight guests at Fearrington Village (which is also a Showcase Advertiser at Topretirements) in mid-April. No one asked us to write this review; we thought you would want to know about this interesting community.
Fearrington Village (pronounced Fairington Village) was founded by R.B. Fitch and his late wife Jenny in 1974. Influenced by their trips to small English villages, they soon purchased the adjacent 640 acre Fearrington Dairy Farm and began developing the property for people of all ages. It still has no age restriction, although the majority...
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Published on April 22, 2011
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Category: Active adult communities
March 31, 2010 -- Assuming you are not a one-size fits all kind of person, why would you want a retirement that anyone could be happy with? The happy answer is that increasingly, there are more and more specialized kinds of retirement communities. This article will cover some of the ones that we know about; members are encouraged to comment about others. Where we know about a sample community for that niche we have provided a link.
Active adult communities. These come in a variety of stripes, such as very large communities like The Villages that have an amazing array of amenities, clubs, and amenities. Or the smallest that might have the barest of amenities, perhaps a small fitness room and an outdoor pool. The common factor is that these are communities for people who want to be active and live around people closer...
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Published on April 1, 2011
Comments 10
Category: Active adult communities
Note: This is an updated version of a 2008 article from our Tips and Picks section.
In our experience most baby boomers have an opinion about active adult or 55+ communities - they are either for 'em or agin 'em - but less frequently neutral. We recommend that you suspend your opinions for a few moments, then form them again after reading this. Just maybe, you might change your mind one way or another. To try to be realistic and objective, we have used actual people’s words from various Retirement community Discussion Forums (See links to other Forums at end of article)....
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Published on March 18, 2011
Comments 9
Category: Active adult communities
Note: Since this article was written we have added "Part 2: On the Lake, Where Living (in Retirement) Is Easy", with 10 more great lake towns for retirement.
February 25, 2011 -- Who wouldn't want to retire beside a lake? Just thinking about the sound of lapping waves or a distant motor boat, or of a cool breeze carrying the scent of the water, is enough to make our mind jump to pleasant scenes from "On Golden Pond". Combine that peaceful idyll with the idea of a low-maintenance community with non-stop activities, and we're ready to go!
Not every lake has active communities near or on it. But there are many that do. This article will give a brief sample of lake towns that have active communities on or near them. We'll also give details on how to find more. There are 65 towns in the Topretirements database that are identified as...
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Published on February 25, 2011
Comments 17
Category: Active adult communities
Updated December 21, 2017, originally published February 11, 2011
This is Part 1 of a 2 Part series. Part 1 covers competitors in the West, while Part 2 discusses alternatives to The Villages in the East.
We frequently get a question just like this one - "We have visited The Villages (TV) and we love it - it is our first choice for retirement. But before we commit, are there any other age-restricted communities that are remotely the same size or offer a similar range of amenities"?
The good news is that, although no other community comes close to the mega-size of The Villages, there are least 16 other active communities with over 10,000 residents. That represents a size sufficiently large to provide a comparable range of amenities and clubs to those enjoyed by the over 100,000 residents of The Villages. In addition, there is another large group of communities with more than 5,000 homes which also have
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Published on February 11, 2011
Comments 51
Category: Active adult communities
January 17, 2011 -- Both buyers and sellers in the 55+ market have been marking time for the past few years, waiting for some positive sign that the worst of the bleeding is over. A new report, using data from the 2009 American Housing Survey and reported on by the Met Life Mature Market Institute and the National Association of Home Builders, contains some findings that might indicate things could finally start to turn around. Not that they, or we, are predicting anything like the crazy times of 2004-2006, when buyers slept on floors to be the first to bid on new homes, sight unseen. But perhaps a steady 55+ market where the long-predicted pent-up demand matches supply, and buyers can sell their existing homes and start...
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Published on January 17, 2011
Comments 1
Category: Active adult communities
December 3, 2010 -- The sentiment expressed in..."I could have had a V-8!" is relevant to your selection of an active adult community or retirement town: Why settle for an average retirement community when you could live in a really good one? So with that goal in mind we have assembled a list of what we think makes for a great active adult community. We welcome comments and additional criteria, as well as all reader suggested nominations.
Active Community Best Practices
1. Great communication.In our opinion the #1 thing any organization can do is communicate - effectively and openly. Whether it is the HOA or the developer, have some good ways to communicate. Websites, newsletters, agendas, meetings are all great. Agendas for meetings should be published
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Published on December 3, 2010
Comments 9
Category: Active adult communities
Home Owner Associations (HOAs), also called Community Associations or Condominium Associations, have a major image problem. Many people have an instantly negative reaction toward these organizations – usually because they hate the idea of rules or any organization telling them what they can and cannot do in their own homes. People who already live in a community with such an association, however, probably tend to have a neutral opinion of their HOA, with some having a very positive opinion of these association.
So, are Home Owner Associations Friend – or Foe? One thing is certain, Home Owner Associations exist by the thousands across the country – in active adult, 55+ communities , condominium buildings, and most planned developments. They provide order to daily life in these developments, and they
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Published on October 21, 2010
Comments 8
