55+ Communities (Dover, Magnolia: best cities, rental, home owners insurance)

[elizamary]

People from PA, NY, Florida, AZ and NJ all moved to our community because of lower taxes.
No sales tax in DE too.

[Charley]

I'm adding Southern Meadows to the itinerary of properties that we'll see in August. It's going to be quite the whirlwind trip. I think we're up to seven communities, plus the areas in which two more will be built. We're really looking forward to it.

Charley

[maggiekate]

Originally Posted by elizamary

People from PA, NY, Florida, AZ and NJ all moved to our community because of lower taxes.
No sales tax in DE too.

in your community are there mostly married people who live there?
also are pets allowed, and how hard is it to get home insurance, where I am it is really difficult.

[MPBsr]

Originally Posted by dbt803

What is the age restriction of children staying/visiting at Southern Meadow or other communities? My husband is retired and I have 4 years before I can retire but we are starting to explore cities and states. We live in New York and want to move south. I am also concrned about taxation on pensions. Delaware keeps coming up as a place to retire to. Any info would be helpful.
I like the idea of not having to maintain the outside!

Children under 19 are not allowed to live there. Otherwise, in most 55+ they can visit and stay up to 30 days.

[elizamary]

Charlie,

Those are the reasons most people are moving to DE...........Cheaper living for Seniors. ..................

Next The people have to decide which house to choose and which community or no community.

We already knew exactly what we wanted and there were a few communities we liked and that would suit our needs.
The problem was deciding which one to choose.

We narrowed it down to 3 and spent countless hours trying to decide between the 3.
Finnally we went with Southern Meadows. For us, it felt right.

[Charley]

You're quite correct. That's exactly the process we are going through as well. We do have the luxury of time, as my wife is not ready to retire yet. When she is, we'll be very ready based on the work we're doing now.

I hope that other 55+ folks will join the conversation and share their experiences as well.

Charley

[elizamary]

Maggie we have single women too.............3 out of 15 homes so far.

We had NO problem getting insurance whatsoever. When you own a manufactured home on lease ground, you traditional homeowners will not insure your home.
I forget the name of the people we got but allstate recommended them.
The policy is a good policy

[elizamary]

No one under 21 is allowed to live here and grand children can visit. Not sure about the amount of days but I think 30 is about right.
Pets are allowed. Must make sure you pick up the **** and have your animal on a lease. I suppose to that you don't have a dog that barks all day and all night
We have 2 cats and they are indoor cats.

Most communities we checked out do allow pets but there was one very nice one in Jim Thorpe Pa that did not allow pets.

[elizamary]

We started looking for a 55+ community about a year and a half before I retired.
My date of retirement was not a sure thing but if I had to commute or stay with a friend, then I would have for a while.
We were both anxious to unload our big home with all the stress and all the work and move on to a much simplier/stress free life.
We have a garage and small yard for puttering but we are not responsible for the lawn.

WE would drive down on a long weekend and scout around. Did that about 3 times before we finally decided.

Susses West in Lewes DE was sick of seeing us. They were annoyed cuz we couldn't commit to a property.
And as it turned out, we didn't buy there anyway. Too crowded in the summer off of rt 1. Nice to be that close to the beach but I knew I would not be able to live with that all summer.
As it stands now, we are only 35 min from the beach with less traffic except NASCAR weekend which just pasted.

[maggiekate]

how much does your home insurance cost there, and do they allow dogs?
is there shopping near by also. I might join you.