Tell me about living in a 55 or older condo community (moving, communities)

[no kudzu]

We are considering it. Ages 69 and 76 with two 14 year old girls in high school. pool, garden, walking distance to high school, clubhouse, floor plans we like, community we love. Girls are on board with it. We can afford it. It will be harder and harder to downsize as we get older. Currently in almost 5ksq ft moving to almost 3k sq ft. I'm so over the mcmansion and all it involves and costs.

[saralvr]

I am curious how you can move there with.your daughters. The 55+ places I know won't allow it.

[ukgirl49]

My over 55 does not allow any resident under 19 and an age minimum is normal practice, I believe.

[ansible90]

Good thing it's walking distance to high school so your girls can easily participate in activities and hang out with other kids, cause they surely won't find friends in the neighborhood.

I'm surprised you find 3000 sq ft small - to me that would still be huge. I guess it's all relative.

Do double-check the age restrictions of the community and read the CCRC (community rules and covenants) thoroughly before you commit.

[thinkalot]

I don't know of any that allow under 19. We don't.

Is this a 55+ Active Adult Community or a single condo complex?

[engineman]

In the 55+ communities that I have lived in, one said no one under 19 and the other no one under 18.

My last place was 1154 sq ft, and where I am now is 1100 sq ft. We are just 2 old timers.

There are all age condos with a wide variety of amenities.

[rjm1cc]

I have not come across any 55+ community that allows children. I would get it in writing in a binding contract that the children can live in the home.

[Happy in Wyoming]

Originally Posted by engineman

In the 55+ communities that I have lived in, one said no one under 19 and the other no one under 18.

My last place was 1154 sq ft, and where I am now is 1100 sq ft. We are just 2 old timers.

There are all age condos with a wide variety of amenities.

And an even wider variety of problems.

[marino760]

Even if you were allowed to live in a 55+ community with your girls, you would be doing them both a disservice. What kind of social life will that be for them? If I were 14 and my parents moved me into a community for seniors, I would really resent it.

[no kudzu]

This is a brand new community not even under construction yet which allows 10% under 55 owners but also as long as the owners are over 55 there is no problem. We have that in writing. So far it is planned 63 units and only 5 lots are presold so the 10% under 55 would not be a problem.

We currently live in a neighborhood with 100 homes and all of their friends live elsewhere so it's not like they will be leaving lots of close friends. Believe me, this move would be as much for them as for us if not more. We all are working too hard taking care of this house and grounds when we could be spending our time and energy doing more fun things. Also I do not want to die leaving them or their older brother and sister with the incredible headache of getting rid of all the stuff we have accumulated.
We've looked at smaller places but all involve renovating and still yard work. I like the idea of brand new and most of the headaches handled by somebody else.

But I'd still like to hear from those who live in such communities.