looking to buy in either arrowhead lake or emerald lake.. (Platea: real estate, HOA fees)

[JBdelco]

Hi

We are looking to buy a vacation home in the pocono's.
I am looking for some information about fees, dues, etc. for both arrowhead lake and emerald lake.

What are the pros and cons of a gated community versus a non gated community?

thanks

j

[maf763]

We decided against Arrowhead for a vacation home partly because it was gated. If you're having friends visit, it could be a real pain to have to keep making and changing arrangements.

[poconoproud]

www.arrowheadca.org


I don't know if this will go to the listing I was looking at, but I searched the mls for Arrowhead lakes, homes between $220000 - $240000 & picked one..#07-10038. It said on this mls listing, the HOA fee for Arrowhead is listed as $1079 & they also list a transfer fee.

Anderson and Associates Real Estate -- Search Pocono Residential Listings

Did the same thing for Emerald Lakes, same criteria, listing was #08-1075 & it listed HOA fees as $800 and also a transfer fee.

I'm not sure about what your real estate taxes would be, sorry.

I can tell you that Arrowhead Lakes has been making improvements. They have three pools, and the largest has just been re-done - in the shape of an Arrowhead . They also replaced the bath house, and two of the playgrounds. It is a gated, secure community.

Emerald Lakes I don't know too much about, other than it is non-gated.
Emerald Lakes

[Summering]

Emerald is around one thousand a year or so, or it was.........those cost change as time goes on. Emerald is not gated, and someone I know who lives in there just loves it.

[stoymonkey]

I dont know where you are from now, but locals, like me, suggest not moving to a gated community. Since local police do not regularly patrol inside them, they are better choices for people who conduct illegal activity (to put it nicely). check out local papers, such as the Focus, Journal of the Pocono Plateau, and check out police blotter.
I would suggest buying my house....

[jlx]

Originally Posted by stoymonkey

I dont know where you are from now, but locals, like me, suggest not moving to a gated community. Since local police do not regularly patrol inside them, they are better choices for people who conduct illegal activity (to put it nicely). check out local papers, such as the Focus, Journal of the Pocono Plateau, and check out police blotter.
I would suggest buying my house....

The reason many people do not care for gated communities is because they can have many restrictive and cumbersome rules and regulations with the home owners associations acting like police in addition to the gate. Unless you're thinking of some of the more problematic communities, I wouldn't characterize them as "better choices to conduct illegal activity". It seems to be more of the opposite--people in gated communities desire a greater sense of control over their environment--scrutinizing and enforcing every last detail of regulations and turning in those who don't comply. I guess you have to deal with all of that to get all the amenities of the community. Definately not for everyone.

[LNTT_Vacationer]

And for a vacation home that will be vacant a significant amount of time, a gated community may offer some a degree of comfort. They do come with restrictive rules. . . . either a good or bad thing depending on whether you want to work on several cars in your front yard or desire that your neighbor doesn't ;-)

[Summering]

But things get stolen in gated communities too.......such as our neighbors motorbike, brand new. ( I should of listened to my dog barking in that dark nights direction)

Some neighborhoods are good without rules........no cars, no junk, no laundry out in the front........most people don't need rules if they think about their neighbors.

If people want to rob or whatever, they just walk in, or follow close behind so the gate remains up, with lights off.......that happened to us. Gates don't hold out crime or criminals.

[poconoproud]

so true, Summering. It does not matter where you live, bad things can happen in any town, any community.

[LNTT_Vacationer]

I don't think anyone will argue that crime can't happen in a gated community. The question really is; do they offer a lower crime rate? I don't know the answer but to a great many people, they do give the perception of increased security. . . .