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WHEW! that was close. was planning to make calls tomorrow to set up appts for end of june. guess i'll contact your DM referral first! THANKS!
As we were visiting 55+ communities in DE, we just "dropped in" without any appointments. We were never turned away, and all accommodated our requests, answered our questions, and were knowledgeable and polite. Registration is merely a formality so they can get you on their email list, etc. The realtor thing was last for us...not until we made the decision on the community we wanted to live in. We felt there was no need to complicate matters by having to visit places at someone else's convenience. We wanted to make our choices, and do our visits on our own schedule.
As we were visiting 55+ communities in DE, we just "dropped in" without any appointments. We were never turned away, and all accommodated our requests, answered our questions, and were knowledgeable and polite. Registration is merely a formality so they can get you on their email list, etc. The realtor thing was last for us...not until we made the decision on the community we wanted to live in. We felt there was no need to complicate matters by having to visit places at someone else's convenience. We wanted to make our choices, and do our visits on our own schedule.
I guess there are two types of registration we're talking about here.
That's not what my post was about. I was speaking of registering to make sure someone's Realtor would receive a commission, if the prospective buyer had been working with one. Not necessary for the Realtor to tag along all the time.
Welcome to the DE forum, dbclancy! I agree with others.. what a small world! I grew up in Va Beach, and for the most part lived there until my early 30's! Depending on how long ago you lived there, we may be close to the same age! I don't mind saying, I recently turned 51... and I too still have family in that area.
As far as researching DE... you have gotten very good advise from those more knowledgeable than I in the 55+ bracket who chose the community route. And the registering with communities of choice is what I would highly recommend as well.
Since we were in our late 40's when we came to DE 4 years ago, we were too "young" for the age restricted route. But when we were looking to buy, my folks had moved to DE and I looked at those communities from their perspective. Now that we are fast approaching the 55 mark, we still would not consider trading in what we bought for the adult only lifestyle... its just not us. We like kids around, since we still have two at home, and enjoy the "freedom" of having pets of out choosing without restriction.
I would recommend, if its possible for you, to find a local agent with contacts in the 55+ communities and who is also well versed in the rest of the state. Most agents are, and I can give you a few referrals as well. Feel free to direct message for some names and numbers. One is the agent we worked with in purchasing our home, who happened to be the listing agent but worked well with us from the buyers side. Definitely a win-win situation for us and the sellers. Another agent is a personal friend, we met through this forum, who became a licensed realtor after moving to DE. And no, I have no ties whatsoever to them professionally, no commission or finders fee involved... just friendly networking in action.
A state to state move is stressful enough... keep posting and the answers will come to you. There are some great people active in the DE forum; you will come to find that out in a short hurry.
Take care, and good luck! Mary
Hi Mary! Great Post!
Gotta tell ya - You are the very first "transplant, transferee, outta-stater, newbie" friend I'm proud to have met! You have a wealth of knowledge to share with others thinking about the move....probably because you have branched out, jumped into so many activities, and have such a lust for experiencing everything!
Are you REALLY sure you weren't born and raised in Delaware???
As we were visiting 55+ communities in DE, we just "dropped in" without any appointments. We were never turned away, and all accommodated our requests, answered our questions, and were knowledgeable and polite...
Visitors can walk in off the street and view the models which are opened for viewing to the public and I agree that they will try to be most accommodating. But to illustrate on the other hand...while I was visiting one community some visitors came in at mid walk-through without an appointment and they proceed to interrupt our walk-through and ask the rep several questions and eventually they were politely informed by the seller’s representative that we had made a prior appointment and that it wouldn’t be fair to us if she stopped to cater to their questions but told them to feel free and walk around and if they had questions to meet her in the office after our walk through. So I would say that if you want to have a “private” one on one walk through session and have all your questions answered and perhaps the availability of viewing already owned homes then I think making an appointment would be a good idea.
In my situation, because I didn’t know and had already visited several communities before meeting with the buyer’s agent, she seemed to be a little miffed when I told her of those prior visits and she then explained the registration situation to me.
Now comes the hard part. Where do we really want to be? What was it that cinched the deal for you?
One of our biggest things was the community feeling, the neighbors. You can have the most beautiful clubhouse and if the people aren’t nice, you will never go there. I think most of the communities will allow you to come to one of their gatherings so you can meet some of the neighbors.
When first we visited the Dover area, I had connected with Can’t Wait to Retire (now Retired & Lovin’ it) via direct message about a few things before we went down. She graciously not only invited us to see her home, but also organized a dinner gathering so we could meet some of our potential neighbors. They usually go out for ½ price burgers on Tuesday, but a few met us on a Thursday evening.
On our second visit which was after we decided on CC. We scheduled it to coincide with not only ½ price burger night, but the monthly Saturday night gathering. I also did the monthly lunch & movie and hubby played golf with one of the guys. He said after our trip, “I had such a great time with everyone that if it wasn’t for our granddaughter not graduating until next year, I’d tell them to start the house now.” That is a big endorsement; Hubby has never lived any place but RI. He is now more excited than I am.
I’m retired Navy so we wanted to be close to a base. We are 3 miles from the base here. We currently overlook the Narragansett Bay; my new water view will be the pond behind our neighbors’ homes. No sailboats, but you can’t have everything.
Sounds like a fenced yard is a big priority for you. I believe Roesville and Southern Meadow allow those. I know you have “met”Goin'2DE she and her husband are very gracious hosts, they let us visit their new home and pick their brains. I’ll bet Goin’2DE could let you know when some of Roseville’s gatherings are too. Roesville has good quality homes at a good price, just too off the beaten path for me.
Southern Meadow is the community that does sleep-overs. We never did that, but I think it sounds like a great idea. I believe they are also now allowing people to own their land rather than lease. Sanddollar lives there and can probably give you more info.
Spring Meadow in Smyrna, north of Dover is a community that was mentioned to us during our visit, but we had already pretty decided on CC at that point. I don’t remember anyone on this forum mentioning living there. So don’t know if they allow fences.
flagpole – we really wanted a flagpole too. We have a beautiful lighted one in our front yard in RI. But I guess we will have to deal with having one mounted on the wall at the front of the garage.
I believe most people on this forum just want to be helpful. What we like about our communities, might not be what it is you are looking for. But I’m sure you will find it. Good luck.
...Sounds like a fenced yard is a big priority for you. I believe Roesville and Southern Meadow allow those. I know you have “met”Goin'2DE she and her husband are very gracious hosts, they let us visit their new home and pick their brains. I’ll bet Goin’2DE could let you know when some of Roseville’s gatherings are too. Roesville has good quality homes at a good price, just too off the beaten path for me...
...I believe most people on this forum just want to be helpful. What we like about our communities, might not be what it is you are looking for. But I’m sure you will find it. Good luck.
Fenced yards are indeed permitted at Roesville. We have already fenced in a portion of our yard for an approved vegetable garden. The dogs have access to it, too.
There is also more news about Roesville. More than a dozen new lots will become available next weekend (the 11th). So if you're in Delaware next Saturday, come on out and see them.
Far from the beaten path? YES...we lived on that "beaten path" for many years and are now soooooo glad to find a nice quiet place. We're close enough to all the usual ammenitites without the traffic and the noise. Life is good
Since I am now retired, I can really be considering places now. I like that Noble's Pond is now land ownership. I expect to (hopefully) live wherever I go for a long time and think land ownership will cost less in the long run, plus don't have to worry about lease costs going up over time. I am in a condo now, almost 20 years, and the common fee has just about doubled since I moved in and property taxes doubled from one year to the next. I read where someone said that Barclay Farms changed management or ownership recently. Did not hear about that and wonder if someone knows more about it. I really liked the feel of Barclay Farms, and Southern Meadows, but was hesitant due to the land lease angle at both. If Barclay Farms went toward land ownership, I would definitely be interested, as I love the convenient location. Noble's Pond is a little far from most conveniences, but I guess when you are retired you have more time to drive 10 or so miles to shop.
Good luck to all of you on this forum and I hope you all find your piece of paradise, in whatever state it is.
Everyone is so kind and helpful, I appreciate all the thoughts and comments. We do need to spend more time visiting the communities but at the moment it's just not possible. I work midnights, my hubby afternoon/evening and we don't have the same days off. And like most couples, we would like to sell before we buy.
I pray that things will work out for us and with all your advice and good wishes I know they will when the time is right. I hope to meet some of you in my travels and will keep everyone up to date and add my 2 cents now and then.
hello everyone! i'm kinda new at this kind of thing. have asked a question or two, that's about it, but i finally read thru this entire thread. my oh my, this thread is a wealth of information and everyone has been so forthcoming with information, so now i'm gonna jump right on in.
next year we are hoping to sell our home in southern california and retire in DE! we have done lots of internet searching, have collected many brochures and have spent a lot of time reading various posts and blogs. so here are our questions/wish list, etc.
we would like a 3 bedroom/2 bath home w/family/great room, single story ranch style, max 350K, stick built, no modular/manufactured, fee simple, 2 car garage. would like to be close to beach-love to fish! don't have health issues now but would like to be close to good medical. close to shopping. public water/sewer. prefer newer, more energy efficient home.
we have 2 deal breakers: must be pet friendly and must allow back yard fence.
we are planning our first ever trip to DE at the end of june, so i guess we should experience the traffic in sussex first hand! we are planning to visit as many communities as physically possible and would appreciate any and all feedback about the following communities/builders/areas, etc. we would consider 55+ as well as a non-55+, so here's what's on our list, in no specific order:
heritage creek in milton - schell
villages at herring creek in lewes-schell
retreat at love creek in lewes - schell - did they pull out?
independence
millville by the sea in millville - christopher companies
longacre village in dover - khovanian
roesville in felton? - jshovanian -clubhouse yet? this one is a maybe
villages at red mill pond in lewes - nv homes
bay forest in bethany - nv homes
bayside in/on fenwick - nv homes
plantation lakes in millsboro - lennar (did they take it over or is this new?)
is it really lower, slower DE!?
appreciate any/all comments/criticisms/suggestions! be brutally honest, i can take it. i'm originally from Jersey! (middlesex county)
thank you all in advance, and sorry for such a LONG post, but some have asked for specifics, so there ya have it! look forward to your feedback. THANK YOU ALL!!!
Although I think we're more confused now than before, we still want more information and not less. Top of our list for our next trip is Roesville followed by Longacre Village and Champions Club of course. At least being in Pennsylvania, we can make more trips focusing on 2 or 3 communities on each. The last time we went to Delaware to look around we basically drove around to get the feel of the area, staying at Dover Downs for the night and visited Nobles Pond. Although that clubhouse was absolutely amazing, we felt pretty overwhelmed. I thought we'd have a chance to tour the model homes and community so that we discuss everything privately. We really weren't prepared to deal with such a hardsell.
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Seriously looking at relocation places now!
thanks again!
