55+ Communities

[cant wait to retire]

McKee is paying half the transfer taxes @ Champions Club and we are not paying any impact fees that I'm aware of. Nothing in the contract about that and we already have a line item estimate of our closing costs and none are shown there either. Hope we don't get an "unpleasant surprise" somewhere down the road but I'll definitely be asking for a clarification of who pays. SusieC is correct - in Maryland the builder "pays" the impact fees (however I'm sure they're built into the price of the home).

[Mary2014]

cant wait to retire,
Congradulations! You are going to have a very busy 6 to 8 months ahead of you. Since you will be moving soon I have a few questions I hope you can answer regarding the selling of your present house and the move to your new home.

Are you planning on using a full service realtor to sell your present home or do you plan on using a "Help you sell" type of realtor?

Are you considering getting a home inspection done on your present home so you will be aware of any possible "condition issues" that will need to be addressed or may need to be considered in deciding on the listing price of your house? Or, will you wait and have a perspective buyer hire a home inspector and the buyer makes the sale contingent on what the home inspection might turn up?

Do you plan to hire a home inspector to go through your new home before you make settlement? (I wish I had done this when I bought my new home 29 yrs ago - because there were several things I missed that a home inspector would have probably caught.)

I am hooked on the cable shows that deal with buying and selling a home and some of their recommendations. The big one for sellers seems to be "declutter" before putting your house up for sale. Have you considered renting a storage unit nearby to store some things while the house is on the market or will you just pack things in boxes and keep them at the house?

Are you considering having someone professionally stage your house?

I am thinking that the timing of your move will not only save you $6500, but, the tax credit extention opens up a larger pool of buyers who will want to buy your present home and take advantage of the $6500 or $8000 tax credit on their end if the sale is under contract by 4/30/10 and they move in by 6/30/10. Are you hoping to have your home under contact by 4/30/10?

Six to eight months sounded like a long time when I started this post...I think when it is my turn I may want to plan a year ahead to get everything done....

Mary

[cant wait to retire]

Hi Mary - I AM a Realtor and Home Stager! So now it's time to "practice what I preach!" We will actually be selling our home For Sale By Owner for at least the first thirty days (and then list it in the Multiple Listing Service if necessary) to try to save some $$$ on the commission. We have lost so much equity in our house in the past two years we need to try to walk away with every penny possible but we may not be able to sell without the help of my Realtor community. We live on a very busy road that leads into a community of several thousand homes. Every yard sale I've had folks comment on our house and say things like "let us know when you want to sell it," etc. But we'll just have to see. We expect our buyer will have a house to sell so that will slow the process down also. That was one of the reasons we decided to settle on the Champions Club house without having to consider the timing of the sale of our current home. We plan to have it on the market March 1 so the $6500 tax credit window to be under contract by April 1, 2010 won't help us much. I do plan to "stage" our house (staging, paint and new carpet) are the MOST profitable areas to focus on in preparing for a home sale. I've been on hundreds of home inspections so I know the items that typically come up so I'm not going to have a pre-list home inspection but I do think they are also $$$$ well spent. We are not going to have a new home inspection at Champion's Club. My husband has built several homes and he can probably identify most possible areas of concern. Wish we lived closer than three hours away though - it's really helpful to walk through the house you're building once a week. We're going to need a 30-60 day rent back from our buyers so I hope that will be possible. I need to leave the house "decorated" in order to sell it and after we get it under contract we'll have the HUGE challenge of getting rid of lots of stuff in a hurry. We had a nightmare in our last home sale seven years ago; two weeks before settlement our buyer "fell out" and we were all packed and boxed up ready to move and had to put the house back on the market immediately. We left everything boxed and thankfully got a fast sale - but that was a different market in 2003. We were able to get a "sated income" mortgage and settled on our new house two weeks before we settled on the old house. Those loans aren't available any more. We're praying hard that everything will go smoothly and in the order we need to get this all done. But I have to say I'm already stressed! Our biggest concern is getting an appraisal on our current home - no comps. Appraisal values are one of the most serious concerns for today's home sales. I would definitely recommend you allow yourself more time to get rid of stuff and be ready than we're giving ourselves! However my husband ONLY works efficiently under EXTREME PRESSURE and that's the way it's going out to be - so perhaps a shorter time frame will be a blessing after all!

[tazzt]

Originally Posted by peeweeaz

Hey Nicknet,
You're awesome to have taken the time to list all those web sites. You're a woman after my own heart. I was a research analyst with the Depart. of Defense for 34 plus years and I'm obsessive-compulsive when it comes to details. I take 20 mins to tell a five minute story. Most people start rolling their eyes (especially my wife) when I open my mouth. Anyway, thanks for all that info. I hope you have roamed around this forum and have seen some of my research finds on apartments. I believe they're in Dover Neighborhoods and 55 + Communities threads. Although you didn't specifically say so, your message implied you're taking a hard look at Delaware? A lot of helpful people are on this forum who have a lot of info - residents, folks who have been there and stayed for lengthy visits. So, take advantage of the forum. We can all share in our research efforts and help one another.

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If you're looking for a fully ready, operational 55+ community that allows pets, allows people to have guests as long as they want of any age so long as one owner is 55 and contains people from all over but principally NY, NJ and MD then check out Heritage Shores 30 miles south of Dover. I bought in 05 and moved in March of this year. All amenties operational now going on three years. Check out www.heritageshores.com two home builders Provident and Ryan. Houses available in low 200's if you want to downsize, but majority larger. Golf course community, tennis, indoor/outdoor pool, a million clubs of active participants. People make a community and this is a great one. We checked out a lot of similar places but are extremely happy here because of (1) the people; (2) the facilities (3) less than an hour to the Beach (4) taxe situation (5) rural atmosphere (6) for military retirees Dover AFB has all the basics less than an hours drive including major Space A travel to everywhere but especially Europe/Africa and Middle East. I lived in MD for 20+ years, liked the weather and wanted the beach and military amenities at Dover with VA closeby in Wilmington, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. I did a workup matrix of the total tax burden for the states surrounding DE i.e. DC, MD, VA, PA, NJ and nothing could touch DE. As for the future, when the 401Ks settle down and building resumes so that people can sell, watch the NJ'ers abandon their tax load and head to DE, same with the NYers. We have over 200 homes occupied of the eventual 2,000 in a town of 1,700 (Bridgeville). Great locals, good weather, nice homes. Check us out. If you want to chat email me tazzt@aol.com and I'll be happy to answer any questions I can or get whatever info you need to help you. I am totally retired ex-military so this is done as a gesture of community and for no other reason. PS if you happen to be Italian-Am we have a great Sons of Italy club in Dover. If you're a gourmet Seaford (5 miles away) has a terrific Fench restaurant. again check out www.heritageshores.com and as they say, Come on Down. Tazz

[drnorman]

"Are you considering getting a home inspection done on your present home so you will be aware of any possible "condition issues" that will need to be addressed or may need to be considered in deciding on the listing price of your house? Or, will you wait and have a perspective buyer hire a home inspector and the buyer makes the sale contingent on what the home inspection might turn up?

Do you plan to hire a home inspector to go through your new home before you make settlement? (I wish I had done this when I bought my new home 29 yrs ago - because there were several things I missed that a home inspector would have probably caught.)

I am hooked on the cable shows that deal with buying and selling a home and some of their recommendations. The big one for sellers seems to be "declutter" before putting your house up for sale. Have you considered renting a storage unit nearby to store some things while the house is on the market or will you just pack things in boxes and keep them at the house?

Are you considering having someone professionally stage your house?"

My comments about these matters: Hiring a DE based inspector is something that everyone should do. Why? Because if your expert is not familiar with the electrical codes, etc. in effect for a specific area, he/she may not notice something amiss. One city's/county's standards do not apply everywhere. If you buy in a plus 55 community, they need to know things about setbacks, etc. which are unique to these communities. As to selling a house to move to DE, (and I realize that this is old news for most of you) prospective buyers buy paint. If it looks good, their anxieties are lower. Right now, kitchens and bathrooms are huge. Assuring prospective buyers that all things mechanical are new or up to date is key. We sold our house in five weeks after listing it with a broker. We passed the inspection and appraisal with no problem. What I need to tell you though is that we painted the entire house, inside and out, and spent a ton of money over four years fixing and upgrading almost everything before we put it on the market. Many people seem to be avoiding purchase of homes with obvious problems - maybe now more than ever since there is a surplus of inventory.Staging is important for most of us because our particular preferences may not suit many buyers. A professional can set your house up to appeal to the most people. Well worth the money for many!

[Mary2014]

drnorman,

You provided some excellent reasons why anyone moving to DE and buying new construction should add to their buyers agreement that it is contingent on a home inspection by a qualified home inspector. This would also cover a Radon test - which I consider a must if you plan on having a home with a basement.

So, it looks like we should add to our "to do" list finding a recommendation for a DE real estate lawyer to review the buyers agreement before it is signed AND names of qualified home inspectors in the specific DE county to do a home inspection of a new home.

mary2014

[drnorman]

Mary2014: When you are offered a contract, don't be afraid to have your own local attorney read it. You must have a DE attorney for a settlement/closing but you don't need one to review the initial contract and suggest changes to you. Just know this: You have every legal right to either seek changes in a contract or ask for an addendum to your contract which includes changes you want in a contract. Few of us have seen a contract offered by a builder that did not need to be changed to enhance protection for the buyer or reduce silly potential penalties for the buyer, etc. Builders, even the best, have attorneys who write contracts for one party: the builder. Builders of controlled communities try to control everything including what upgrades are possible, what front door you can have, what shrubs you can plant, and what your purchase contract says. Buyer beware! You have many, many rights as a potential purchaser which any attorney worth her/his salt can explain to you after reading the contract. You may have limited choice in a front door but you have many other rights. Think of a contract as a negotiation. It is not a trap but it may have some inclusions that are not in your best interest to accept. This is one time that everybody should be consulting an attorney, no matter how many homes you have bought or sold.

[Mary2014]

All,

I noticed that many of the DE communities are heated by gas. I have always had electric/heat pump in my PA home. My only experience with gas was using a gas stove in my apartment back in the early 70's - and the stove itself probably dated back to the 50's.

So, if you have any experience with gas heating, gas fireplaces etc. please share.

I see that some places heat with Propane (tanks?) and others appear to be natural gas lines. I gather from other posts that Propane might be higher in cost than those hooked up to a gas line.

Here are some of my questions:

What kind of price difference between a natural gas line VS propane tanks?

If electric power goes out do you still have heat? Or is a gas line or propane tank dependent upon you having electric power?

Are gas fireplaces just for show or do they really heat a room? (Do they still work if your electric power is out?)

I have always avoided having a wood fireplace in my home because I have a very bad problem with tree pollen and I have a very bad reaction to be around burning wood. For emergency purposes if power goes out in the winter I have a portable kerosene heater. However, I also react badly to the smell of kerosene. ( I also can't be around scented candles, perfumes etc.)

I have never been in a home heated with natural gas/propane and I wondered if there is any type of smell associated with it. I recall my old stove in my apartment back in the 70's had a pilot light always going out and the gas had a distinct odor to alert you to the fact that the pilot light was out.

Please share what I need to know about homes heated by natural gas in this century.

Thanks,

Mary2014

[elizamary]

[quote=Mary2014;11634135]All,

I noticed that many of the DE communities are heated by gas. I have always had electric/heat pump in my PA home. My only experience with gas was using a gas stove in my apartment back in the early 70's - and the stove itself probably dated back to the 50's.

So, if you have any experience with gas heating, gas fireplaces etc. please share.
Hi Mary,

We have an electric heat pump also and gas dryer and stove. No problems.


I see that some places heat with Propane (tanks?) and others appear to be natural gas lines. I gather from other posts that Propane might be higher in cost than those hooked up to a gas line.

no experience with propane and glad we have a gas line. I don'tlike the idea of a propane tank sitting outside my house.
then again......some are undergroud. Still don't like it.


If electric power goes out do you still have heat? Or is a gas line or propane tank dependent upon you having electric power?
we have a gas line and if the power goes out.........we're screwed.

Are gas fireplaces just for show or do they really heat a room? (Do they still work if your electric power is out?)

some are for show and some for heat. Depends on which one you get. I think the ones that come with the models give heat.
You can purchase you own......I know neighbors that have. some are for show and others generate heat.
Theres a place in rehobeth where they all got their fireplaces. Nice too.

Personally......I rather gas line......MHO

[from PA]

Hi Mary2014, I can't answer all of your questions but do have gas for heating, hot water, cooking and we have a gas fireplace.

We have never been without electricity long enough to know if we would loose heat but I would imagine that there are igniters and other components controlled by electricity that would effect the operation of the heater. We are in Kent County and if we have a power outage, it usually lasts only long enough that all the clocks in the house have to be reset. Incidents are less frequent now that they are not building in the neighborhood.

We opted for gas cooking as we prefer it to electric. No smells associated with the gas, if you do smell gas, something is wrong.

We have a gas fireplace and absolutely love it. You need to make sure there is a blower for it otherwise it is just for looks and does very little to help take the chill off. We use our fireplace when the evenings are chilly, in fact our kitty insists on it.

During the summer, our gas bills run about $25. per month. Our latest bill was $63 with our average temp of 54. Our highest gas in the winter runs about $200 but our home is 3200 sq feet.