Sun City (San Antonio, Austin, Georgetown: for sale, real estate, lawyer)
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We are looking at the Sun City (Del Webb) near San Antonio. Any thoughts?
Txs
Bill
Sun City (Del Webb) is actually in Georgetown, north of Austin.
Austin Texas Real Estate | Homes for Sale in Austin Texas | Texas Retirement Homes - Georgetown, TX (http://www.delwebb.com/homefinder/Community.aspx?ID=100011 - broken link)
The Del Webb community in San Antonio is called Hill Country Retreat.
San Antonio Texas Real Estate | Texas Homes Near Texas Golf Courses - San Antonio, TX (http://www.delwebb.com/homefinder/Community.aspx?ID=100506 - broken link)
Bill, I don't know anything about the community itself but would you like more info on that part of Texas or are you familliar with the Hill Country and/or San Antonio?
Bill, I am from San Antonio and just moved in june up here to Williamson county which is where Sun City is located. Both locations are nice areas. I would said the location in SA is much more urban just cause its a lot closer into town. Also SA is a great place for miltary retirees, bases for shopping and miltary hospitals. The Sun City up here is located in Georgetown and while very nice Georgetown itself is a smaller location. I drove thru there about a month ago with my mom and it is very well kept and lots of things to do I have heard from some retired friends. Lots of rules I have heard that of the sun city location and I am sure the SA location will have those also. Sun City has a few drs and dds and a few smaller shops actually in the community and I am not sure if the SA location will have that though.
We are looking at the Sun City (Del Webb) near San Antonio. Any thoughts?
Txs
Bill
The Del Webb community in San Antonio just opened up within the last year, so things are newer vs. the one in Georgetown, which I believe has been open at least 10 to 12 years. However, Sun City Georgetown just opened up an entirely new set of model homes and floor plans last weekend. They also plan to open up a second amenity center. I think they have roughly 2000 more homes to build out or something crazy like that!
you might want to post the same question in the SA forum to get more info on Hill Country Retreat.
What is your age? Sun city is an age restricted community. No kids allowed either.
I lived in Sun City Georgetown from '98 to '00. I enjoyed my neighbors, but the taxes were truly outrageous. I lived in a 1,000 sq. ft. Casita, and my taxes were $2800/year plus the Community Association fee of $800+, which is probably a lot more now. I was 52 when I moved to Sun City -- you don't have to be 55 if you build a new home -- they would not allow a person under 55 to buy a spec or a resale -- ridiculous. Also, the sales people up there lied to all of us about the taxes. They told me they would be about $800. Truth is, the school taxes on my house were $1900 and the rest were county, etc. The locals up there did not want Sun City, but they sure were happy to take all those school taxes from the retirees who no longer had school-age kids, and had paid school taxes all their working lives. During the school bond election of November of '99, I wrote a Letter to the Editor of the local paper about the unfairness of retirees having to pay high school taxes. Well, I got "bombed" in the next issue by many readers calling me all kinds of names for my attitude. One woman asked "Who paid for YOUR education?" I never answered her by a follow-up letter, but the truth is, my education was paid for by the Catholic church and my parents, not the citizens of the town we lived in, AND I never had kids of my own. I didn't cry about having to pay taxes when I worked, but after I retired, I felt enough was enough. Now I live elsewhere and have a spacious new home with a 3-car garage (which would cost a mint at Sun City). My taxes are $1111 a year. Georgetown can take a hike. I got out of that bigoted, small-minded town as soon as I could. Oh, and, by the way, I sold that little Casita for exactly what I paid for it, due to the fact that Del Webb was pricing the new specs very low, making it extremely diifficult for residents with resales to sell their homes for a decent appreciated price. So, I lost what I spent on extras, plus had to pay the realtor's commission. A sidelight: I wish I had a job where I could plunk in a few figures on a computer and get paid what realtors get paid. I have sold 8 houses, and all of them went very quickly because I know how to stage a house and am fastidious about how clean they are. They sell themselves; the realtors had nothing to do with it. When will people wise up and sell their own houses instead of giving their equity to these people in the fancy cars and suits? They're okay to use if you're BUYING, but if you're selling, hire a real estate lawyer and do your own selling -- and saving. I've finally wised up.
Now about living in Sun City: watch out for all their petty rules. For example, I decided a pair of decorative shutters would make my house look better -- they would have gone on the garage window looking towards the front yard. The house next door had shutters, and they looked very pretty. My neighbors urged me to put up my own. Well, guess what? The high and mighty Architectural Review Committee said I couldn't have shutters because they were not the original "elevation" of the house. In other words, the exact way the house looked when they built it was the way it had to look forever -- with no improvements. How stupid.....a bunch of busybodies telling homeowners what they can do with their homes.
I have heard the Sun Cities in Arizona are good and much cheaper tax-wise than the one in Georgetown. I don't know anything about the San Antonio one, but if a person wants to move to a Del Webb community, I would go over the contracts and covenants -- and your property tax liabilities -- with a super-fine toothed comb and perhaps even hire an attorney to go over "the Greek" if you're not savvy about those things. Don't listen to the smiling salespeople; they're all actors. According to them, the world is Utopia.
I made lots of good friends there in Sun City. But the items I talked about earlier made calling it my "forever" home impossible. Caveat emptor!
Last edited by FiftyFiftyAboutCO; 08-25-2008 at 10:07 AM..
Whenever denouncing Texas' high real estate taxes, remember: no state income tax. If your wealth is in your house, look elsewhere; if you have a high taxable income, Texas is the southernmost income tax-less state.
Whenever denouncing Texas' high real estate taxes, remember: no state income tax. If your wealth is in your house, look elsewhere; if you have a high taxable income, Texas is the southernmost income tax-less state.
Florida also does not have a state income tax. Not that I'm pushing Florida, but it has been very nice not having state or local income taxes since moving here in 2001. It is one thing I am keeping in mind as I continue to contemplate where my next abode will be.
I lived in Sun City Georgetown from '98 to '00. ..... Georgetown can take a hike. I got out of that bigoted, small-minded town as soon as I could.
Now about living in Sun City: watch out for all their petty rules. For example, I decided a pair of decorative shutters would make my house look better -- they would have gone on the garage window looking towards the front yard. The house next door had shutters, and they looked very pretty. My neighbors urged me to put up my own. Well, guess what? The high and mighty Architectural Review Committee said I couldn't have shutters because they were not the original "elevation" of the house. In other words, the exact way the house looked when they built it was the way it had to look forever -- with no improvements. How stupid.....a bunch of busybodies telling homeowners what they can do with their homes.
To call Georgetown biggoted and small-minded is a huge inaccuracy. It is the home of a progressive college and there are several non-profits in town whose purpose is to make life better for the disadvantaged. You're bitter because, like everyone else in Texas, you had to pay property taxes to support your school district. Older people (I mean anyone past school-age) pay for the public education of the younger people in the district just as the education of most of the older folks was paid for when they were younger.
As for the Architectural Review Committee, that seems pretty petty of them but there's the good and the bad of living in a controled community like Sun City.
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Florida also does not have a state income tax. Not that I'm pushing Florida, but it has been very nice not having state or local income taxes since moving here in 2001. It is one thing I am keeping in mind as I continue to contemplate where my next abode will be.
