55+ Communities (job market, legally, ticket)

[Honeycrisp]

Thx, I thought maybe that was it after I posted

Originally Posted by rdlr

No link, Honeycrisp
Kent County is a small kind of place.

[TomBee]

goin2de, Roesville has both Verison and Comcast? Some communities have only one or the other. It is nice to give residents a choice.

[drnorman]

Glad to see that the regulars are still posting. This is a fantastic tool for potential residents of DE.

We moved into S. Arbor Jan 1, 2010. Our experiences since then have been wonderful. The people - 112 homes so far - are exceptional as new friends. I love the area: 3 golf courses within 20 minutes and they are all good courses.

S. Arbor is now offering smaller homes for those who don't want to spend $275,000 for a house. You can obtain more information by calling the developer, McKee, at Spring Arbor or their office in PA. Currently, there are several homes available and new ones already purchased under construction. A lot of activity this summer. A total of 300+ homes will be built over the next few years. The clubhouse and pool have been in use for about four years.

We love being close to Walmart, Dairy Queen, McDonalds, Burger King, Friendly's, Ruby Tuesdays, Applebees, Walgreens, Rite Aid, four grocery stores that I can think of right now, doctors and dentists scattered about town, and anything else you need on a daily basis is probably here. Christiana Hospital has purchased land near Route one and Route 299 to build a new small ?hospital? We have a small emergency room at the road leading to our development.

We are 20 minutes south of the U. of Delaware in Newark, 45 minutes from the bridge going into NJ, 5 minutes from the MD border and horse farms galore, two hours or so to Washington DC, etc.

A route 301 bypass has been considered in DE for many, many years. I'm willing to bet that they won't break ground for twenty years. They don't have the money. If it were built, it would take truck traffic off route 301 which is heavily traveled as a shortcut to Annapolis, etc instead of using route 95 (I'm not totally sure why some people go this way). We locals know how to get around town using local roads. Not a problem for anybody that I know of who lives here.

One definite drawback of living here is that there are no gourmet restaurants. Forget it. Not happening so far as we know. There are some in Newark and Wilmington and an hour away in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

If anyone has specific questions, send them to me at drnorman123@gmail.com. (I am not a medical doctor.)

[sanddollar]

I know much of the chatter has been involving fee simple 55+ communities, but I wanted to give a little report of our experience so far at Southern Meadow in Magnolia (land lease community).

It's been a few days over a month that we moved in and we couldn't be happier with our house. Today Skyline homes sent over two men to do the repairs and replacements we noted during our pre-sale walk through and that we have found since then. They were quite professional and courteous and we were very satisfied with them. They still need to return to make two more repairs concerning a bulge in the drywall and some trim on the kitchen cabinets.

Although there is an active social group here, we have not really had time to get too involved, other than getting together with the residents for a monthly management meeting, which went very well, by the way. Unlike many of the folks who move here, we have family living close by, and this grandma has been enjoying her grandchildren exceedingly. We hope to gradually get acquainted with more of the residents in time.

All for now. I hope this contributes a smidgen to the information pool.

[inDEmyWholeLife]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, and although I've been in DE my whole life, I am ready to take the 55 + plunge. There is so much information though it's over whelming. Any suggestions you all have on where to start would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

[mtnest130]

Originally Posted by drnorman

Glad to see that the regulars are still posting. This is a fantastic tool for potential residents of DE.

We moved into S. Arbor Jan 1, 2010. Our experiences since then have been wonderful. The people - 112 homes so far - are exceptional as new friends. I love the area: 3 golf courses within 20 minutes and they are all good courses.

S. Arbor is now offering smaller homes for those who don't want to spend $275,000 for a house. You can obtain more information by calling the developer, McKee, at Spring Arbor or their office in PA. Currently, there are several homes available and new ones already purchased under construction. A lot of activity this summer. A total of 300+ homes will be built over the next few years. The clubhouse and pool have been in use for about four years.

We love being close to Walmart, Dairy Queen, McDonalds, Burger King, Friendly's, Ruby Tuesdays, Applebees, Walgreens, Rite Aid, four grocery stores that I can think of right now, doctors and dentists scattered about town, and anything else you need on a daily basis is probably here. Christiana Hospital has purchased land near Route one and Route 299 to build a new small ?hospital? We have a small emergency room at the road leading to our development.

We are 20 minutes south of the U. of Delaware in Newark, 45 minutes from the bridge going into NJ, 5 minutes from the MD border and horse farms galore, two hours or so to Washington DC, etc.

A route 301 bypass has been considered in DE for many, many years. I'm willing to bet that they won't break ground for twenty years. They don't have the money. If it were built, it would take truck traffic off route 301 which is heavily traveled as a shortcut to Annapolis, etc instead of using route 95 (I'm not totally sure why some people go this way). We locals know how to get around town using local roads. Not a problem for anybody that I know of who lives here.

One definite drawback of living here is that there are no gourmet restaurants. Forget it. Not happening so far as we know. There are some in Newark and Wilmington and an hour away in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

If anyone has specific questions, send them to me at drnorman123@gmail.com. (I am not a medical doctor.)

Don't forget Lowe's and Home Depot . They are near Spring Arbor . We make settlement in Dec and my husband can't wait to be so close to both of them. I really like the fact that we are close to stores --esp. Kohl's
Pat

[little eggplant]

Originally Posted by inDEmyWholeLife

Hello! I'm new to the forum, and although I've been in DE my whole life, I am ready to take the 55 + plunge. There is so much information though it's over whelming. Any suggestions you all have on where to start would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

This has been mentioned before to other newbies: sit down in a comfy chair with a big mug of coffee and start this 55+ thread from the beginning and take notes as you go along. To say there is a wealth of information and opinions is an understatement. You have the enviable advantage of being able to tour and inspect at the drop of a hat because you are already there! Send for brochures, read the postings, take day trips to investigate your favorites. Pinning down your wants and releasing your want-nots will give you a better handle on all that is out there. Good luck and happy travels.

[Thank goodness]

Hi there. I was wondering if you had had any luck selling your home. We have lowered the price of our home in Ct about 60,000 and still only one lowball offer. Our contract ends in about one month and we will probably be taking the house off the market then. Hope your news is better than ours. It sounds like those who made the choice to go to Delaware are very happy. Have a great day, Thank goodness

[sanddollar]

To Thank Goodness:

We finally sold our house in Michigan this past summer after trying for 4 years. Each year we dropped the price more and more. Finally being fed up with the whole thing and wanted to move to Delaware, we got a Realtor who gave us a rock bottom asking price if we wanted to sell within a month. After gasping, and a sleepless night, we bit the bullet and offered our home for way less than what we paid for 12 years ago. Sure enough, we had lots of showings, and a cash offer for our selling price three weeks after putting it on the market. The buyer needed no help with closing, nor asked any concessions. She knew she was getting a bargain.

So we chose to undergo the pain so we could make the move. I will say that we were disappointed that we would not have as much equity to invest in a new home that we had hoped for, but we are happy with what we have found here at Southern Meadow.

I guess what I am saying is if you really want to make the move, go ahead and lower your price enough to sell quickly. Otherwise, your life will be on hold and you may be captive to (further?) falling house prices.

[Gone-2-Beach]

I'll be putting my house on the market in a little over a year. I already know that the cost of my new Delaware home will be more than what I'll get for my current home. Our property values have continued to drop. I had hoped for stabilization by now, but it has not yet happened. It's a tough market and although I don't know our exact statistics, I can tell just by looking around that our "time on market" is longer than it's been in many years.

Our home will be in great shape when the time comes and I do plan to price very competitively so that we'll be more attractive to potential buyers. I just hope that I can coordinate the timing of our sale with the construction of our new home.