55+ Communities (Dover, Middletown, New Castle: wood floors, contractor, cabinet)

[Gone-2-Beach]

Originally Posted by cant wait to retire

Hi Charley, Here are the model base prices as of yesterday. Each appeared to have been raised by $10,000. Palmer now $239,900, Mayfair $259,000, Riverdale $269,000, Canterbury $279,000, and the Baybridge is now $289,000. There were other handwritten notes on the price/option sheet (such as Basement $37,500, no 10' ceilings in the Palmer, fireplace remote is $175, etc.)as well as the scratched through base prices (just not very professionally presented, but I'm overly attentive to details since I've been doing this so long). The builder rep. did mention some "attractive package" they are "putting together" for a club membership till their facility is built; but no specifics.

Thanks. That's the September 2008 pricing and the idea that they are using old sales sheets is quite incredible. Here's the thing. I'm sure I have updated ones - which tells me that the person covering didn't know what she was doing. Not a good sign. Why would they even keep the old ones??

I was just about 100% set on Roesville but given the events of the past few months, I'm not at all happy. Yes, the models are beautiful and the price is right ... but there's something missing there. It's a good thing I have time to continue to watch - and keep Champions Club and a few others on my radar screen.

Thanks so much, CWTR.

[rorys]

Originally Posted by Charley

Thanks. That's the September 2008 pricing and the idea that they are using old sales sheets is quite incredible. Here's the thing. I'm sure I have updated ones - which tells me that the person covering didn't know what she was doing. Not a good sign. Why would they even keep the old ones??

I was just about 100% set on Roesville but given the events of the past few months, I'm not at all happy. Yes, the models are beautiful and the price is right ... but there's something missing there. It's a good thing I have time to continue to watch - and keep Champions Club and a few others on my radar screen.

Thanks so much, CWTR.

Charley, that's exact how I felt at Roesville - something just didn't "feel" right and after many years on this planet, I've learned it's sometimes good to just go with your gut We haven't ruled it out completely, but being that we have a bit more time - I'm taking a wait and see...

[susieC]

Can't Wait to Retire, I'm so glad you found Roesville too remote also; I thought maybe I was being too particular but as we age do we want to drive 20 minutes to buy milk (or even now)Will the stores come? Who knows...with this economy it may be years. Many of us are coming from metropolitan areas and I know you can't have it both ways but there are alternatives. Our next trip to DE will be to the Lewes area, specifically Nassau Grove. It's not just 55 but I understand a large part of the population is the 55+ crowd. They are in Phase II, pool and clubhouse open and all the homes come with with a basement. This is important to me for the heating and a/c. I will keep everyone posted.
Thanks everyone for the updates! Never thought this would be such a difficult decision.

[Gone-2-Beach]

Originally Posted by susieC

Can't Wait to Retire, I'm so glad you found Roesville too remote also; I thought maybe I was being too particular but as we age do we want to drive 20 minutes to buy milk (or even now)Will the stores come? Who knows...with this economy it may be years. Many of us are coming from metropolitan areas and I know you can't have it both ways but there are alternatives. Our next trip to DE will be to the Lewes area, specifically Nassau Grove. It's not just 55 but I understand a large part of the population is the 55+ crowd. They are in Phase II, pool and clubhouse open and all the homes come with with a basement. This is important to me for the heating and a/c. I will keep everyone posted.
Thanks everyone for the updates! Never thought this would be such a difficult decision.

Stores will come ... and when I visited last, Kathy (the former salesperson) was reviewing a map from the local transit agency that should a potential bus route that would stop at the clubhouse and also have stops at shopping sites. I don't know what ever happened with that, but it's on my ever-growing list of questions for when I see Rich in November.

Side note - still hoping for some real names to go along with the nicknames, for those who are comfortable enough. (If not - it's OK. I promise. )

Oh - one more thought. (sorry) I would imagine that as folks in 55+ communities get close, they share some of the chores, like spliting the driving to the store or picking up stuff for each other (I only need a gallon of milk as long as you're going), etc.

[sjtoomey]

Live in Marlton, NJ real estate taxes are killing us. We are interested in Delaware. I will need to drive to Amtrak in Wilmington daily. Looking for a nice low crime area. All I know about Delaware is that I can take 95 to cross it!

[armx]

FYI sjtoomey, there are 55+ communities in northern Delaware, close to I-95 and Amtrak. It is just that most of the forum posters happen to be located or interested in being in southern Delaware - close to beach, open rural surroundings (of course, not close to stores) etc..

[drnorman]

My wife and I spentthe weekend driving from one end of Delaware to the other. I will give you a report on our findings: Independence is off route 5 in the Fairmount/Millsboro has huge 24,000 sq ft clubhouse and homes by Schell. Prices start at around $289,000 although we think you can use their various incentives to bring that down. We just did not care for the floor plans although others may well love them.HOA: $295/Mo. PROPONE HEAT.

Nassau Grove in Lewes may be ok but they have considerable work to do to make it attractive to us. The clubhouse is 5500 sq ft. This is a condo association with fees of $2600 per year which includes some insurance. PROPANE HEAT. They offer some significant financial incentives. The homes have full basements. Quoteone home at $279,000 which you can surely reduce very quickly if you are serious. Not sure if they have many lots left to sell.

Foxfield in Garnet Valley, PA is a McKee home just north of the DE line. We went there to see a particular model. There are some financial tradeoffs to living in PA vs. De and, for some people, they may be of interest.

Stonewater Creek in Millsboro is interesting but check it out carefully to make sure it is what you want. Prices supposedly begin at $199,900 but you can do better.

The Village of Eastridge near Smyrna is Benchmark Builders. No clubhouse or pool yet. $25,000 to start. We did not find it interesting.

Willowwood in Smyrna, built by Ryan, prices start in $190's. Not for us. They advertise if as an "active adult community" but, if I recall correctly, it is not a plus 55 community. (I saw so many places this weekend that my notes are sometimes incomplete.)

Crossing at Cristina is sold out.

Roesville built by Hovnanian. Indoor/outdoor pools. Fitness trail. No clubhouse yet. Obviously something is wrong here. They do not appear to be pushing forward with this development. I could not get answers to some questions and because I'm very familiar with the two Hovnanian family conglomerates, I'd guess that there is a stop order in at the top - maybe not - but something is keeping progress from being made and it's not from lack of interest on the part of buyers. These are only my opinions but until I see some action down there I would be very leary of buying. On the positive side, we loved the houses. Prices start at $239,900 but I suspect prices are less than firm right now.

The "Legacy at Odessa National" in Townsend has plans for 262 homes. Prices are $200,00 and up. While it was not our cup of tea, others may like it. There are several problems including clubhouse, pool, tennis courts and ownership. 55 homeowners have apparently filed suit against the owner of the property which is very confused at this point. I could not pin it all down and it depends on who you speak with but there are definitely problems here.

Spring Harbor in Middletown has replaced Heritage Shores as our favorite community. It is in Middletown. They do have financial incentives at the moment. Speak to Mary Ellen at 1-866-299-4996. Tell her Norman from New City, NY referred you. She is terrific. Ok, why is this our favorite place? It's a McKee community. They build houses that we like. We like their carriage house models, as opposed to their Americana series. Houses are not cheap but they are very well constructed in my opinion. We love the floor plans. They build their carriage houses 3 at a time, all connected. If they sell two and you come along and buy the third one, they may give you a good deal. 317 planned homes, 106 sold, 99 occupied. 7,000 sq ft clubhouse. Pool. The carriage home model we are looking at has 1536 sq ft plus 140 sq ft for an added sunroom and they are asking $263,000. They have a nice, somewhat smaller clubhouse, pool, bocce, gymn, the usual. HOA: $163/mo. Taxes: $1500 per year. If you are over 65, after one year of residence, the taxes drop by $800. Makes our $12,000 plus property taxes in New City look a bit high, doesn't it? Oh yes, they take care of everything outside except the front door. And, they include some type of insurance although we will certainly have our own anyway. The location is approximately 55 minutes from City Center, Philadelphia; 15 minutes from Newark, DE; 35 minutes from Wilmington, DE; 90 minutes from Baltimore; and they say 2 1/2 hours from NY City (however after being stuck on the NY Turnpike going and coming, I'm not sure that the time is accurate). By the way, shopping is available right outside the entrance to the development - more stores than you will ever need. Fortunately, the community is set well back off the road at the end of a very attractive drive.

I just want to close by making it clear that these are my opinions only. I plan to do much more research on Spring Arbor to ensure that there is nothing there that would give me pause to purchase.But we do plan on buying there in December if it checks out. Why then? Because just yesterday, our house sold!!! We close then.

All my best to everyone here. This is a wonderful message board and I am grateful to you all!

[DeeD]

Wow, drnorman, your review was great. I think all your information is right on target. I also feel the same way about Spring Arbor, it is #1 on our list, at this time. We also like that the homes built on crawl spaces rather than concrete slabs, included in the price. Thank you for the update on all of those 55+ communities.

[Honeycrisp]

Lots of info to digest today, thx drnorman for your very thorough informative post - still perplexed about Roesville (which has no pool/s at present), like so many others here, we also liked it very much but good to know there's quite a few very nice alternatives (hadn't realized there were so many!) - and congrats on the sale of your house, it's a huge accomplishment.

[Gone-2-Beach]

Originally Posted by DeeD

Wow, drnorman, your review was great. I think all your information is right on target. I also feel the same way about Spring Arbor, it is #1 on our list, at this time. We also like that the homes built on crawl spaces rather than concrete slabs, included in the price. Thank you for the update on all of those 55+ communities.

Dr. Norman - We liked Springmill (also McKee, built before Spring Arbor) but the traffic in the area was a big concern. Being from New City, you'll understand this reference - it looks like 59 on a Saturday afternoon. If I remember the numbers correctly, it's Rt 299 that takes you back and forth to Route 1. 299 is a one-lane road and each time we travelled it, it took longer to get through the old section.

Originally Posted by drnorman

Taxes: $1500 per year. If you are over 65, after one year of residence, the taxes drop by $800.

One small correction on the taxes. At age 65, you'll get a reduction of up to $500 on the school portion of your real estate taxes. It's still a great deal compared to what you're paying now.

Great report!