Re: "senior community" "over 55 community" etc

sunshine45 · ‎03-09-2010

@DiAnne wrote:
@chrystaltree wrote:
@sunshine45 wrote:
my aunt who is 80 was living in a 55+ community in the west palm beach area. no kids were allowed (just as visitors, with a maximum stay of 14 days). when you look around it was definitely mostly adults well over 55+ and you pretty much never see them outside even walking around.

she recently sold her place (at a pretty big loss). she had purchased her home right before the housing crisis. she was glad to sell it though because she decided to stop being a snowbird and wanted to be back in maryland full time to be near her children and grandchildren.

she recently moved into a 55+ community here that has available assisted living/nursing home facilities on the premises. it is brand new construction, a bit out of the way, but a beautiful facility with EVERYTHING. she gets a meal credit every month and they have a couple places to eat and a pub/grill, a beauty salon, indoor pool, exercise rooms, underground parking, all types of activities, a big screen tv, and bus services to local shopping areas.....everything right in the building. she is loving it there so far, but it is EXPENSIVE. she pays about 3500.00 a month in rent for a two bedroom, two bathroom condo.

she said she didnt want to BUY anything else, so she is liking that she is just paying rent and doesnt have to take care of anything. when and if she needs to move out, the facilities are right there for her.

Did she have to pay the $300,000 or $400,000 to buy in. And then pay the $3500 monthy fee? That's how the ones I've seen do it.
@chrystaltree, @sunshine45

I worked in one of these facilities for several years. There was a buy in with the amount depending on the size of the apartment and then a monthy fee. The place was full of retired doctors and lawyers.

@DiAnne

at this less than a year old facility there is absolutely no" buy in"......it is strictly rent. right now there are a lot of vacancies. it is a 55+ community, but so far we have not seen anyone under the age of 65.

now once you move from there to the assisted living section or the nursing home section then your fees will skyrocket.

********************************************
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein

DiAnne · ‎09-22-2010

@sunshine45

That is definitely a different set up. You had a buy in according to how big your apartment was and I think they factored in your age. You paid a monthly fee and the fee stayed the same whether you lived independently, in assisted living, the Alzheimer unit or in the skilled nursing facility. A friend's mother moved there and she paid $250,000 buy in for a two bedroom apartment and then $2,500 a month. She was on the waiting list for 2 years for a 2 bedroom.

Vivian · ‎03-11-2010

My parents moved to an over 55 community in 1981. They loved it. However, one-by-one people started getting sick and dying. My mother is now 94. Almost all her friends are gone. The rest are ill. Mom says she has nothing in common with the "new people." Her osteoarthritis and cardiac issues make going out to do anything a great challenge.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my husband and I looked at active adult communities when we were retiring. We decided against it. We love our home and we're physically fit so we couldn't see the point of moving far away. If our small city had one of those 55+ communities, we'd consider it, but at this point we're staying put. That may change, of course, but for now we're happy in the community where we've lived for decades.

chiclet · ‎03-19-2010

I live in an over 55 community in Florida and most people that choose this is because they have nothing in common with younger people raising children. Been there, done that. In a lot of the communities like mine there are tennis courts, all kind of activities (cards, pool tables, dancing lessons),putting green, pools etc. A lot of people are very active. We lived in a regular neighborhood before moving here and the teenagers next door were constantly running through our front yard chasing basketballs stomping on our plants and their baseballs dented our metal garage door. Dogs pooped in our yard and the younger people had loud parties and music. We lived in a neighborhood that had a community pool and you could not find a time when children were not jumping and splashing and screaming. We requested an adult day at the pool and they said they could not do that so we were paying an association fee for things we could not even enjoy. so that is why most people chose these communities after retirement. They are sure not perfect and you have to be a social person to get all the benefits.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

I am presently having a one level home built in a gated over 55 community - not continued care and no villas/condos in this community. What sold me - they do all snow removal from sidewalk and driveways as part of the HOA fee and you can pay a monthly fee for them to do "total"yard maintenace (mow, weed, aerate, etc). I'm buying bc it will allow me the flexibility to come and go as I want bc I travel a lot.

I never married (LTR for over 30 years) and we always maintained separate residences - made life so much easier! But all the comments about "old" ppl - I find funny bc I've met "old" 30 year olds and I've traveled and met many 65 and older who don't let any grass grow under their feet! Life is what you make it and the way I see it, I'll always have friends (and family) nearby so who or what lives next to me is not important. Ironically, this may be the first community I have something in common with others. The other day the sales office woman told me both neighbors on either side of me will be single women and two streets over is a street with 8 homes, 6 of those are single women. See lots of ppl walking dogs, heading to the pool, etc. You can choose to grow "old" or you can choose to fight it all the way to the grave! I want to be one of those fighting all the way to the grave and I'm just stubborn enough to maybe pull it off!

Trinity11 · ‎11-16-2014

I have no interest nor does my husband in moving to a segregated by age community. Granted it would be nice to have people closer to my age nearby but my neighborhood now is very mixed in age and I love it here so no plans to move to a 55plus community.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

When we moved to Fl. from our neighborhood where we had lived for 28 years we found it to be very similar because our neighbors in Pa were all aging out too. All the kids were gone on to their own lives and all the neighbors were just about the same age we are, though we were the first to move away. I'm sure as younger people with families move into the neighborhood they aren't going to have much in common with the older people who are still there, and it won't be at all like it was when we moved there and we were all young couples.

KathyPet · ‎03-09-2010

I love living in my over 55 active adult community,for the following reasons.

1. One level living. No stairs. We do have a finished basement but I seldom use it.

2. No lawn maintenance. I can garden if I want to but mowing, fertilizing, mulching, weed prevention, shrubbery trimming is all done for me. Now that my husband is deceased I am so grateful for that service. I could not do it myself and would be spending a lot of money paying a outside contractor.

3. All activities including exercise programs at the Fitness Center are geared to my age group. A wide variety of social activities to join or not as you wish.

4. LImited exposure to children. We do have family hours at the indoor and outdoor pool but they are only certain hours on certain days. WHen I go I can swim without screaming children racing around the pool deck and jumping on top of me.

5. A large group of friends and neighbors that I can count on for help. WHen my husband was taken ill and spent 4 months at a hospital 2.5 hours from our home a few of my neighbors set up a schedule to care for my cats. TWice a day, every day for 4 months someone was here feeding the cats, scooping the litter and bringing in my mail. HIs funeral was attended by 150 people almost all friends and neighbors from my community.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@KathyPet wrote:
I love living in my over 55 active adult community,for the following reasons.
1. One level living. No stairs. We do have a finished basement but I seldom use it.
2. No lawn maintenance. I can garden if I want to but mowing, fertilizing, mulching, weed prevention, shrubbery trimming is all done for me. Now that my husband is deceased I am so grateful for that service. I could not do it myself and would be spending a lot of money paying a outside contractor.
3. All activities including exercise programs at the Fitness Center are geared to my age group. A wide variety of social activities to join or not as you wish.
4. LImited exposure to children. We do have family hours at the indoor and outdoor pool but they are only certain hours on certain days. WHen I go I can swim without screaming children racing around the pool deck and jumping on top of me.
5. A large group of friends and neighbors that I can count on for help. WHen my husband was taken ill and spent 4 months at a hospital 2.5 hours from our home a few of my neighbors set up a schedule to care for my cats. TWice a day, every day for 4 months someone was here feeding the cats, scooping the litter and bringing in my mail. HIs funeral was attended by 150 people almost all friends and neighbors from my community.

ITA with you. Another thing I love about my community is the culture is more like when we were younger - we are all always running back and forth from our neighbor's or sharing lunch or dinner , or going shopping or an activity together. Heck we even all share the same housekeeper.And we are all there for each other when needed as well.