The elms summerville & Cane bay 55+ communities (Charleston: sales, HOA fees)

[jlg3344]

Plan to move to one of these 55+ communities in Charleston are. Anyone have feedback on these places??

[OleTomCat]

Cane bay is all an all new developement with nice ammenities but is quite a distance out off of hwy 176...

The Elms is also new, I think, but is much closer to N. Charleston....

[jlg3344]

Thanx, do you know anyone that lives there?

[OleTomCat]

Not in the 55+ section, but there are a few people here that live in Cane Bay...

[joyeaux]

I have friends in Del Webb the 55+ section. They were somewhat early in.
Yes, they have a few regrets but for the money, they enjoy their space. They had feared a continual rise in the HOA fees, but with sales picking up, they believe that it will not be extreme.

[Kathy29483]

I live in the Pines at Gahagan an over 55 community and it is in the heart of Summerville. We can walk to Azelea Park and the Sawmill Branch hiking biking trail. Homes are similar to Del Webb, with lawn care, pressure washing, cable, and termite bond included in the monthly fee...which is about $30 less than Del Webb.

Del Webb is a great place and I know many people who are very happy living there. It just wasn't the right fit for us, we wanted a smaller subdivision and wanted to be closer to town.

This community will have just over 100 homes at build out, presently I believe there are 18 homes purchased and several under construction. We've been here a year and love it...

[Rather B Cruisin]

We moved to the Del Webb community about 7 months ago and really like it here. If you run a "search" on this forum you'll find a couple of lengthy threads about "Del Webb" going back several years. There are a number of organized groups, and there's always something going on if you enjoy that sort of thing -- I do. We're pleased with our house and our neighbors and particularly enjoy having someone else do the yard work.

Most of the people I've talked to are happy they moved here, but it's not for everybody. If you don't like HOA rules stay away. Having had negative experiences living in areas with no rules I'm grateful for them so far. As others have said it's a little far from everything, but that is likely to change soon with all the development planned and already underway at Cane Bay and Carnes Crossing.

I'm not that familiar with the other developments you mentioned so won't comment on them.

Don

[accufitgolf]

Many neighberhoods in this area are controlled by Home Owners Association (HOA) Covenants. During build out the builder/developer will control the HOA, usually turning the HOA over to the owners once most (in some cases all) the homes are sold.

The homeowners then have an election to elect the HOA, Board Of Directors (BOD) who will administer the covenants, do budgets, keep the books, etc. Most will hire a Property Management Company to do the "leg" work.

My experience says a tightly run HOA will add to the neighberhood values while a poorly run, weak HOA can harm values.

That said, some people have issues with HOA's especially those that did not read (or maybe not bright enough to understand) the covenants before they bought.

Nothing like a parade of vets hanging around your front yard "aiding" you because the HOA asked you to take down the flag pole in your front yard which the covenants (that you signed and agreed to) specifically say you can not erect. Talk about a lose/lose situation.

Also in an age restricted situation there will more then likely be rules about the "ages" of those that can live there. Like no one under 18 for longer then say 20 days.

Read and understand before you venture in.