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Why Nobles is a NO without getting into much detail
1. Propane - very expensive
2. Located near train tracks - not a good location
3. Just learning how to stick build - they were modular. It takes years to learn how to stick build. There will be issues with construction.
4. Not all original phases approved...therefore, HOA fees misrepresented
5. Still have not ironed out the details of fee simple vs land lease
6. Activity - there is nothing going on over there. How many years have they been there?
Longacre Village, wetlands do not mean the ground is wet. It means it is protected. You should worry about insects if you are close to the inland bays or areas that are not maintained by the HOA.
Just wondering from the future retirees out there, what are the most important questions on your mind? As I page through this blog, I see irrevelant information that really doesn't help me to make a decision on where to buy.
I really do not mean to offend anyone (specifically people that already purchased), however, I am blunt and ask tough questions. For those that live in Delaware, or have been through the buying process, lets help everyone.
Question of the Day
Do builders pay for 50% of Delaware transfer tax? For those that do not know what the transfer tax is, every property bought and sold in Delaware is subject to a 3% transfer tax. Example: 200,000 x 3% = 6,000 towards your closing costs. Us people that have little cash to put down, need to know what the closing costs are. It is customery that builders pay half, but legally they do not have to. Be sure to check your contract.
Just wondering from the future retirees out there, what are the most important questions on your mind? As I page through this blog, I see irrevelant information that really doesn't help me to make a decision on where to buy.
Just following the saga.......... and thought I would jump in with this little ditty
NH123.....first and foremost.......you have got to know what it is YOU want. Not what someone else wants or thinks.
Know you own hopes and dreams. To me there is enough information here to help people get through the various communities.
We didn't have City Data available when we were looking.........Just did research on the computer and then visited.
Gathered up information then decided what we could afford.
We are in Southern Meadows and very happy with out choice despite the fact we questioned land lease at one point.
Bottom like.......like it or not......it is pretty much all the same at the end.
My opinion and I'm sticking to it.
SM is a wonderful close knit 55+ community........no snobs.....just a hard working community filled with average folks.
I am not good with technical things like taxs and percentages and creepy stuff like that But I do know living in De on a fixed income was a good move.
Been living in our home for 5 years now and can safely say it's a well built job.
When picking a community to live.....some of the responsibilty falls on the perspective buyer to decide for him or herself what to choose by using the tools such as CD, internet explorer, the phone, the mail and last but not least......hop in you car, bus or train and visit.
Good luck to all who are looking and I sincerely hope everyone finds the happiness my hubby and I have found here in Southern Meadow in Magnolia.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 04-23-2012 at 03:42 PM..
We went through the search for the ideal retirement home the past 3 years. The communities in Delaware were very much in the running. We had a general idea of what we wanted and started a web seach to qualify those communites we might be interested in and then visited them.
You first have to find a community that you can be happy in. Everybody has their own idea of what is right and you have to be happy in the community/house that you select. The questions you are posing are part of the sales contract, if the answers are show-stoppers you may want to look at different options.
We could compromise on the slab/crawl space/basement, natural gas/propane/electric/oil, prefab/manufacture/stick built options. Our problem was that we could not find a community in DE that addressed all our life style requests (location, pets, community activities).
Just following the saga.......... and thought I would jump in with this little ditty
NH123.....first and foremost.......you have got to know what it is YOU want. Not what someone else wants or thinks.
Know you own hopes and dreams. To me there is enough information here to help people get through the various communities.
We didn't have City Data available when we were looking.........Just did research on the computer and then visited.
Gathered up information then decided what we could afford.
We are in Southern Meadows and very happy with out choice despite the fact we questioned land lease at one point.
Bottom like.......like it or not......it is pretty much all the same at the end.
My opinion and I'm sticking to it.
SM is a wonderful close knit 55+ community........no snobs.....just a hard working community filled with average folks.
I am not good with technical things like taxs and percentages and creepy stuff like that But I do know living in De on a fixed income was a good move.
Been living in our home for 5 years now and can safely say it's a well built job.
When picking a community to live.....some of the responsibilty falls on the perspective buyer to decide for him or herself what to choose by using the tools such as CD, internet explorer, the phone, the mail and last but not least......hop in you car, bus or train and visit.
Good luck to all who are looking and I sincerely hope everyone finds the happiness my hubby and I have found here in Southern Meadow in Magnolia.
You are so correct - you should be where you are the happiest. You have to consider distance to shopping, medical facilities, but in Delaware nothing is too far, except in the extreme southern part of the state. I want a place with a lively clubhouse with happy people. Live in a toxic condo complex now and don't want that again. Barclay Farms' clubhouse was filled with laughing people enjoying a potluck lunch and cards and bingo when I stopped by and Spring Meadows was the same. After all, when you first move to a place that - and the pool - is where you meet your new neighbors. I am glad you found your piece of heaven; I have no problem with a prefab (factory-built) home - the complex across the street from me were prefab, have been there about 12 or 13 years and seem fine and sell for good prices when they change hands.
We went through the search for the ideal retirement home the past 3 years. The communities in Delaware were very much in the running. We had a general idea of what we wanted and started a web seach to qualify those communites we might be interested in and then visited them.
You first have to find a community that you can be happy in. Everybody has their own idea of what is right and you have to be happy in the community/house that you select. The questions you are posing are part of the sales contract, if the answers are show-stoppers you may want to look at different options.
We could compromise on the slab/crawl space/basement, natural gas/propane/electric/oil, prefab/manufacture/stick built options. Our problem was that we could not find a community in DE that addressed all our life style requests (location, pets, community activities).
Well said...I agree. I also agree its about lifestyle...there are always compromises. However, its always a good thing to be knowledgeable when purchasing a home.
City Data People, for those who do not post but view this thread here are some other questions that you may ask when buying a home in Delaware. I understand why you do not post, I feel the same way. My topic of the night is HOA fees.
- I am on a fixed income so HOA fees is an important topic for me. Here are the questions you should ask.
- Is the budget based on a 'full occupany budget?' If yes, how many homes and how many lots are approved by the county? If all lots are not approved, how is the budget calculated?
- Is there a reserve fund? Who is subsidizing it? When do they stop subsidizing it?
- Ask if you can review the budget, more importantly the income and balance sheet. FYI, legally, builders need to provide you with this information at the time of contract. (anyone mention this?)
- Stability of the HOA - sometimes the developer is in charge or the HOA and sometimes the Builder hires a management company to run the HOA. Either way, you should investigate both.
- ??
- ??
Charlie, do you have anything to add? I left a few question marks for you. If not, let me know and I will fill in the blanks. I understand you are a budget guy so your insight will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
-
Just following the saga.......... and thought I would jump in with this little ditty
NH123.....first and foremost.......you have got to know what it is YOU want. Not what someone else wants or thinks.
Know you own hopes and dreams. To me there is enough information here to help people get through the various communities.
We didn't have City Data available when we were looking.........Just did research on the computer and then visited.
Gathered up information then decided what we could afford.
We are in Southern Meadows and very happy with out choice despite the fact we questioned land lease at one point.
Bottom like.......like it or not......it is pretty much all the same at the end.
My opinion and I'm sticking to it.
SM is a wonderful close knit 55+ community........no snobs.....just a hard working community filled with average folks.
I am not good with technical things like taxs and percentages and creepy stuff like that But I do know living in De on a fixed income was a good move.
Been living in our home for 5 years now and can safely say it's a well built job.
When picking a community to live.....some of the responsibilty falls on the perspective buyer to decide for him or herself what to choose by using the tools such as CD, internet explorer, the phone, the mail and last but not least......hop in you car, bus or train and visit.
Good luck to all who are looking and I sincerely hope everyone finds the happiness my hubby and I have found here in Southern Meadow in Magnolia.
Hi, thanks for your feedback. I was just trying to repond to Retiree2011 question of: "Why is Nobles Pond a NO!" I answered the question straight up. The only saga around here is when someone new comes on board and everyone gangs up on them. Its unreal. We are all trying to help each other.
Wow! I’ve been ‘offline’ for a few months and have been catching up—a bit here and there--over the past several days. You good folks have been busy! Before I get busy myself, I hope ‘toobusy…’ will allow me the following brief remarks.
Charlie, I want to congratulate you and Marlene. What splendid news that you’ve sold your NY house. (I love how you’re ticking off the days.) I’m SO happy for y’all. From the sound of it, you should be in your beautiful new home at CC around the end of summer/early fall. Yeaaaaa!!!
So many have already thanked you for your most valuable input to this forum and I’d like to add my appreciation as well. Gosh, without you, would I have known the value of a crawl space, or of reading through and having an attorney check out Rules & Regs, etc. for communities I found of high interest? Ummm…… probably not. And there’s so much more. You got the rest of us questioning , double-checking, sharing our knowledge and experiences with everyone too. It’s been a long but ultimately fulfilling journey and some of us are still on it. (More on mine later.) Thank you! I look forward to meeting y’all soon. All the best!
Judy
OK. As promised, it's time for me to get busy, with thanks to "toobusy...' for indulging me in praise of and happiness for Charlie.
As I've been doing my c-d catch-up, I found, as always, much of interest and help, some pleasant news from old c-d friends, some good (kind of) new ideas for things to consider and a bit of info that's way off-target on the truth meter. The latter may simply be a matter of perception or the result of misunderstandings. In any case, I'd like to put to rest (hopefully) some of what I see to be mis-information.
First, water in DE is, indeed, high. If we don't already know that (I didn't, initially), we learn about it here as we read through the posts. Heck, I didn't even budget in water early on because, having enjoyed my well for almost 20 years, I simply forgot that most people pay for it! Once I learned about it though, and once I got to know more and more people who had the good fortune of selling their houses a lot quicker than I had and who had moved into their communities of choice, I started reaching out to them. As 'rdlr' and (I believe it was) 'Retired and LI' stated, their water bills have never reached anywhere near the $600 mentioned in one post. I mean, yikes!
Seriously, I'm aware that water is going to cost me significantly more than it does now (free) and I agree, wholeheartedly, that the ability to have a well for watering would be wonderful. But, then, you'd need to balance the cost of putting one in with the cost of watering your lawn. Maybe over a LOT of years, that would work out. Maybe not. Besides who of us knows the lot of years we have left? I fully expect to live a long time and hope to heaven that I can regret being unable to have a well. In the meantime, though, I'm OK without one because, while I know that I won't like my water bill (who does?) I don't anticipate outrageously high bills, either.
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But I do know living in De on a fixed income was a good move.
its your choice NH123
(I love how you’re ticking off the days.) I’m SO happy for y’all. From the sound of it, you should be in your beautiful new home at CC around the end of summer/early fall. Yeaaaaa!!!
, double-checking, sharing our knowledge and experiences with everyone too. It’s been a long but ultimately fulfilling journey and some of us are still on it. (More on mine later.) Thank you! I look forward to meeting y’all soon. All the best!
