nova over 55 communities (Arlington, Manassas, Springfield: apartments, condos, townhouse)

[Suse48]

our house in new york has finally sold and we will be in virginia at the end of next week to find our new home. we are relocating to be closer to our daughter and her family. in an earlier post someone mentioned heritage hunt in gainesville and the more i've looked online the more I like it. our daughter is also suggesting four seasons at historic virginia in dumfries (montclair?).

i'm interested to learn as much as I can about the over 55 communities as I can before we arrive. gainesville appears to be growing and pretty much everything we'd need on a daily basis seems to be there. our daughter lives in springfield and our budget is $300,000.

help!

Susan in NY, for now.

[mshan242709]

Heritage Hunt Golf & Country Club

http://www.heritagehunt.org/default.html

Frankly MLS website has active, under contract, and 5 years of actual sales.

From what i've seen, $300,000 is going to get you smaller detached home with no basement, or attached home in that community.

There are two condo buildings in the community where prices have collapsed (under $200K or so), but monthly condo fees are high.

Regency at Dominion Valley is other active adult community. Two layers of monthly condo fees. you might find something with no basement in 325 - 350 range.

Some realtor has Owl55 website which is supposed to list a lot of active adult communities in Virginia.

Piedmont is community located between Heritage Hunt and Dominion Valley. Seems prices there have collapsed more there (guessing young couples who bought into housing bubble, but no longer want to deal with 3 hour commute to get into DC for work).

[tysonsengineer]

Gainesville to Springfield isn't the best drive even on the weekends. What size units are you looking for? House? Townhouse? 2br high rise? 2br garden style?

For 300,000 you could likely find a townhouse closer to Springfield than Gainesville.

[Suse48]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Gainesville to Springfield isn't the best drive even on the weekends. What size units are you looking for? House? Townhouse? 2br high rise? 2br garden style?

For 300,000 you could likely find a townhouse closer to Springfield than Gainesville.

my husband is oxygen dependent so we are looking for single story living, or at least a master suite on the main level. not real easy to find. no high rise either. my daughter agrees gainesville will be a terrible drive which is why she came up with dumfries/montclair to the south.

thanks for your input....

[Mike From NIU]

You may also want to consider Westminster at Lake Ridge (Spacious Cottage Homes or Senior Apartments in a Continuing Care Retirement Community - Westminster at Lake Ridge - Westminster at Lake Ridge). They are a continuing care community, which means you can live independently and then access in-home services as needed as you age. It's not the cheapest place, but it is very nice and the services appear to be top-notch.

[Gekkota]

Because your husband is oxygen-dependent, I would agree with the continuing care idea. You would be able to have an independent-living situation with the added security of having access to nursing or assisted living services if necessary. If one of your health statuses changes, you would not have the added stress and cost of trying to find a suitable place very quickly, which is what seems to happen frequently to people as they age.

Many of the CCRCs are very nice, but they can be costly. If you are considering this option, allow yourself enough time to check out several of them since their financial arrangements really vary.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by Mike From NIU

You may also want to consider Westminster at Lake Ridge (Spacious Cottage Homes or Senior Apartments in a Continuing Care Retirement Community - Westminster at Lake Ridge - Westminster at Lake Ridge). They are a continuing care community, which means you can live independently and then access in-home services as needed as you age. It's not the cheapest place, but it is very nice and the services appear to be top-notch.

I agree that the Westminster community is very nice. I like the setup of where you can get your own small house with yard option and, if need be, you can move into the high rise if you need more supervised care. The neighborhood looks very well maintained.

[irisheyes13]

I'm not sure how close you want to be to your daughter but Fredericksburg has a few 55+ communities you may want to consider also. This is not a commute I would want to make on a daily bais but if you are retired and can travel during less congested times, it might work for you.
There are 2 Del Webb communities that I know of: Celebrate (new and resale) and Falls Run (resale only). Lennar has at least one called Virginai Heritage at Lee's Parke. I know there are others but these are the 2 we have checked out so far.

Celebrate by Del Webb: a 55+ Retirement Community in Fredericksburg, VA
Virginia Heritage - Prestigious Gated Active Adult Community by Lennar Homes

[smagid]

There are quite a few Active Adult communities in the area. There are some in Lorton (Spring Hill), Arlington (Jefferson Retirement Condos), Dumfries (Four Seasons at HIstoric Virginia), Manassas (Gatherings at Wellington and Liberty Grove), Gainesville (Heritage Hunt) and Haymarket (Dominion Valley).

I recently sold a lovely 1 level 2 Bedroom home in the Four Seasons in Dumfries for $280K. While there is going to be limited inventory in the price range of under $300K, you should be able to find something very nice.