55+ Communities (Wilmington, Seaford, Middletown: lease, employment, health)

[JoycieM]

Hi all. I didn't have much to say the last few days and kinda felt a " withdrawl." So hello from PA.
Eliza,
I just called Debbie and she gave me the scoop on the taxes. I still can't believe they are only $200-$400 as I sit here staring at PART of my tax bill due the end of October.
We do want to come back down maybe at the end of October or the beginning of November. Of course, after I pay my taxes, we may not be able to afford the trip!! We hope to meet you then and say " hello" in person!

Joyce and Ron

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by JoycieM

Hi all. I didn't have much to say the last few days and kinda felt a " withdrawl." So hello from PA.
Eliza,
I just called Debbie and she gave me the scoop on the taxes. I still can't believe they are only $200-$400 as I sit here staring at PART of my tax bill due the end of October.
We do want to come back down maybe at the end of October or the beginning of November. Of course, after I pay my taxes, we may not be able to afford the trip!! We hope to meet you then and say " hello" in person!

Joyce and Ron

Well hello to you too Joyce and Ron.

Yep, the taxes are amazing. That is because you only pay taxes on the house and not the land.
The land own verses rent is an issue people are milling over. Some say they do not want to pay a lot rent so they would rather buy the land.
But with us and renting the land with a lot rent, our taxes are much cheaper.
Also,
we have use of the clubhouse, gym and pool.
If
we were to join a place, I'm sure we would be paying a good bit for the use of the equipment.
Then
to, some can be reimbursed by their health care provider for these places.

We are confident we made the right choice and know we were in the right place at the right time.
Neither my Hub or myself ever heard of SM and sort of stumbled upon this.
No doubt in my mind this was meant to be.

Would love to meet you when you come to visit. Hope we are at home when you visit

[terry parson]

Does anyone no if they are any new Manufacturer communites going up in Southern Delaware. I've been to Souther Meadows and like it very much and a few others.

[CMTAD]

Has anyone else been spammed in their private messages by "retiretodelaware", a realtor who is pushing Independence? (That was the sales office that was closed for an office party on the day I tried to visit that never had the decency to return my message or my follow-up email.)

Charley

[JoycieM]

Heck, I didn't even know we had a private message section! I am out of the loop!

Joycie

[CMTAD]

I just sent you one so you'd know where to find it. (You'll get an email alerting you to the fact that you have it and the email will direct you to it.)

Charley

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by CMTAD

Has anyone else been spammed in their private messages by "retiretodelaware", a realtor who is pushing Independence? (That was the sales office that was closed for an office party on the day I tried to visit that never had the decency to return my message or my follow-up email.)

Charley

Oh, the ones that were at the party? LOL

What about the person that keeps asking about retirment communities then I answer and they ignore my answer and just keep posting the same post which is "are there any retirement communities in DE?".
What is going on with that? Or haven't you noticed?

[CMTAD]

Hi Eliza,

Yes, the one's from the party.

I hadn't noticed the one repeating the same question. Is that in this thread?

Charley

[disney4me]

I’ve only posted a few times but I do read the boards everyday. Thanks to everyone for their input.
My husband and I hope to retire to Delaware by early 2009. We've started to look at different communities, we are open to both 55+ community and new homes that are not in 55+ community. We made our 3rd visit in September. We’ve only looked in Kent and Sussex County.
Two notes that I have not seen posted. The 1st is that closing costs are high in Delaware, as much as $10,000. The 2nd it seem that a lot of communities have more than one builder.
After looking at so many places you get to know what you want and don’t want. For us it’s no crawlspace, no well and septic. We do want and need storage other than in the garage, so we are hoping to find a place with a basement.
Also Charley and Elizamary are right, take your time and make sure you look around. This is a life-changing move and you don’t want to have to make a move again.
We spent a lot of time just driving around and found communities this way too, we also looked at new homes just been built, they looked like flips and in most cases we were not impressed.
Do yourself a favor and buy the county maps. We found them at Happy Harry’s and a bookstore, they are $12.00 each but well worth it.

2nd and 3rd visited communities.
Longacre Village is right on Rt.13 north and is an adult community with 4 builders. Some of the houses can get real close to Rt. 13. They cut the lawn but not shovel the snow. Our first visit was nice when we looked at the home close to 13. The 2nd visit we saw the homes towards the back
I think they are a little pricy for adult communities. Also the sales person on our 2nd visit wanted us to sign this paper that was not the normal paper work that we’ve been filling out at all the other places we’ve been to. We walked out and will not be back.

Heritage Shores in Bridgeville, this one also has two builders. I thought it was over priced for what you get and the taxes are a little high for Delaware.
2nd visit it looks like they are breaking ground for a shopping center

Heritage Creek, Schell Brothers, in Milton. I felt like Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street when we drove up. Until my husband pointed out the land has not been cleared, no utilities have been run and the two models where running off a generator. The plans call for a pool and a clubhouse. The sales person said it was not an adult community but they hope to attract older people. Our 2nd visit and still on change, 3 months later.

Country Life Homes in Milford. My husband liked this one more than I do; it's just too big for me, I fell like I have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find my way around. I do like the floor plans. They will be breaking ground for a shopping center across the street in the Spring.
This one is not an adult community but it has a pool and a clubhouse.
They do not cut the lawn or shovel the snow.
2nd visit my husband thought the floor plans are not well laid out.

Satterfield, Fort Maier, in Felton. I like this one more than my husband. The Claymont model is my favorite. I also think you get the most BANG for your BUCK here.
Right now they are offering $10,000 toward closing and 1/2 off options up to $50,000.
It’s just more house than what we need.
I told him we could always hire someone to cut the lawn.
This is not an adult community.
3rd visit they have added a new model, 1510 sq ft starting at $190,000.

Laureltowne,in Magnolia. This community has two builders, Century Homes and Stover Homes. The day we were there no one was there from Stover Homes. I liked the McKinley model that Century Homes offered.
2nd visit still no one from Stover Homes around.

We have NOT been back to the ones listed below.

Champions Club, at Jonathan's Landing in Magnolia. This is and adult community and we felted it was high priced for what you get.

Independence, Schell Brothers, in Longneck is really nice but a little pricy and to many upgrades which makes it way out for my price range. Here we only saw floor plans at a sales office. Maintenance was almost $300.00 a month. We keep getting email and junk mail from them. The models are now open.

Spring Meadow in Smyrna, We like them but we like the lower slower Delaware better.

Jonathan's Landing, LaCross Homes, aka Laxhomes in Magnolia.
LaCross has several communities in Delaware with the same models; check their web site for a community in a town that you might like. I found that they have to many options to get the home to what you might want.

Blair’s Pond in Milford. They do have a lot of model but the day we where there we didn't like the sales person. They also have Coursey's Point which I think is in Felton.

P.F. Summers I think this was in Felton too, sorry I can't remember. I didn't like the floor plans and they were to close to the railroad tracks

Pinehurst, Ashburn Homes, this was in Felton too on Irish Hill Road and we liked the Wellington model.

There is just so much to choose from and they are all want you to buy, so take your time and let them come to you with bigger and better incentives.

We’ve also looked in PA and my home state of New Jersey.
The only place that may make us stay in New Jersey is a Del Webb community called River Pointe in Manchester. The only down side with this community is that it is near
Lakehurst Navel Base.

Sorry this post is so long.

Thanks again to everyone for their input.

[CMTAD]

Hi Disney,

No need to apologize for the length. You provided good information that is helpful to those still looking at Delaware communities. You are right about getting the county maps. That was one of the first things I did a few years ago. With all the new construction, I might need to buy updates.

You mentioned the high closing costs. I would imagine that is a function of the transfer tax, which I believe is 3% of the sale price, with 1.5% being paid by the buyer and 1.5% by the seller. (If someone who has bought property could confirm that for us, that would be helpful.)

Thanks for providing good detailed information.

Charley