55+ Communities (housing, retiree, gas)

[DeeD]

drNorman, Congratulations on your move into your new home. It is a wonderful community. My husband and I like Spring Arbor very much. We have toured the clubhouse and the community several times and agree with all of your findings. Look forward to reading your posts. I did not know there was an ER, across the street, which is comforting to know. I hope your visit to the ER was nothing serious. Happy New Year!

[cant wait to retire]

Hi everyone and Happy New Year! We just got a call from a neighbor at Champion's Club that the bulldozers are moving dirt on our lot today. Yipee!!

[Mary2014]

I found a very interesting article that many in the 55+ community may have an interest in reading. As a single person who is also a veteran I am planning my retirement to DE with the idea of finding a place where I can age in place.

Not having long term care insurance has always been a concern. What happens if I need home care help or I reach a point where I need to consider assisted living? Medical expenses can quickly eat up a nest egg.

I had no idea until I read this article that veterans over 65 who served during time of war (and their spouses) could be entitled to a monthly pension if their assets (not including house and car) are below a certain threshold.

I am usually aware of all the VA benefits - never had school loans because I used my GI bill - but, I was totally unaware of the aid-attendance benefit. I hope I never have to use it, but, it is nice to know it is there.

Aid and Attendance Eligibility | VeteransFinancial.com (http://veteransfinancial.com/aid-attendance/eligibility.html - broken link)

The article is written by a private company, not the VA - but, it has some very useful information. I think it is a must read if you are a veteran or spouse of a veteran.

Mary2014

[Gone-2-Beach]

Originally Posted by cant wait to retire

We stayed at the Microtel motel/hotel whatever they call it, on Lebanon Rd., just outside the entrance to Dover AFB. I wouldn't hesitate to stay their again.

Thanks for sharing this information. We're thinking about coming down for one night at the end of March (on a very tight budget!) and this could be an excellent option for us.

[cant wait to retire]

Hi Charley, Have ya been snowed in? After two opportunities to remove snow this year hubby is getting more and more excited about not having to do it any more! The son-in-laws are in a battle over who gets the snow blower. They may have to draw numbers! Be sure to ask for an AARP or AAA discount at the Microtel; they have several different discounts. I think we used a military discount. Wish we were already in our CC house......we'd offer you the hide-a-bed for a cheap (although maybe not so comfortable!) night's stay! We may go back over to DE on the holiday Monday (the 18th) or the following Monday which is also a school holiday for us. Anxious to look down into our hole in the ground! Doesn't take much to entertain us does it?

[Gone-2-Beach]

Originally Posted by cant wait to retire

Hi Charley, Have ya been snowed in? After two opportunities to remove snow this year hubby is getting more and more excited about not having to do it any more! The son-in-laws are in a battle over who gets the snow blower. They may have to draw numbers! Be sure to ask for an AARP or AAA discount at the Microtel; they have several different discounts. I think we used a military discount. Wish we were already in our CC house......we'd offer you the hide-a-bed for a cheap (although maybe not so comfortable!) night's stay! We may go back over to DE on the holiday Monday (the 18th) or the following Monday which is also a school holiday for us. Anxious to look down into our hole in the ground! Doesn't take much to entertain us does it?

Microtel actually has a rate that is lower than their AARP rate if you reserve early enough. A queen size bed in a room for about $60. Not a problem since we've been on a queen size bed for 36 years! We're thinking about going down for one night during the March/April school holiday when my wife is off.

I'm chuckling about imagining you going to look at the hole in the ground, BUT, I absolutely understand the attraction.

[NapaJoe]

Originally Posted by cant wait to retire

Hi everyone and Happy New Year! We just got a call from a neighbor at Champion's Club that the bulldozers are moving dirt on our lot today. Yipee!!

Congrats CWTR, I'm sure you're thrilled but is that how long it takes to start building. Didn't you sign your contract last August? I haven't visited this thread in quite some time and thought maybe I missed something. Did you get lot # 202? If so lucky you, that's a nice sized lot, the Austin is a beautiful house and I'm jealous of the full bsmt.

Since the last time I posted in August, I've been going back and forth between Charlie's "Titans". As it stands right now there is a good chance we will be neighbors. We haven't ruled out Roesville. They did give us a decent price on the Riverdale but we're still nervous about the lack of a clubhouse. They did put up a trailer with some card tables and exercise equipment and then commented about how this shows they care. However I believe if they really cared they would just go ahead and build it.

So this weekend we will take one more trip to Champions Club prepared to sign an agreement if we can get what we want for the right price. If the price for the Broadmoor approaches the price for the Riverdale, we might have to flip a coin. My wife still likes the Riverdale for it's layout and curb appeal. C.C. offered us another incentive but reversed on paying our lot premium so it's not as sweet as I had hoped.

But if all goes well we will be on lot #188, just around the corner from you. Wish us luck, Joe & Sharon

[Gone-2-Beach]

Originally Posted by NapaJoe

Since the last time I posted in August, I've been going back and forth between Charlie's "Titans". As it stands right now there is a good chance we will be neighbors. We haven't ruled out Roesville. They did give us a decent price on the Riverdale but we're still nervous about the lack of a clubhouse. They did put up a trailer with some card tables and exercise equipment and then commented about how this shows they care. However I believe if they really cared they would just go ahead and build it.

They brought the trailer onto the property in mid-December. They "hope to open it by the end of January." Six weeks??

[NapaJoe]

Makes you wonder.

[cant wait to retire]

Hi NapaJoe, We signed our contract the 1st week of November, then made our selections two weeks later. Our settlement date is May 12. Lot 188 is a very nice lot! We considered 189 and 190 but because we were adding a full two car garage to the Austin it made our road frontage so wide (it sounds funny even saying that our mini-house is "so wide"!) but it was too wide for any of the lots in CC except Lot 202. I tried to negotiate out our Lot Premium, too, but they wouldn't budge. (And I like to think I'm a strong negotiator!) We were afraid if we didn't go ahead and commit to Lot 202 someone else would take it and we'd be left without a lot to fit our plans. So we paid the extra $3,000 but we did feel like we got lots of other extras from the builder incentives. Can you make any modifications to the CC Broadmoor to make it more appealing to your wife? Because they have to add in the space for basement steps in the Americana Series, it totally changes lots of parts of the house. For instance, the master bath ended up teeny and also the master walk-in closet (and that would not work for me!) so in addition to adding the front feet for the full 2-car garage we had to bump out the wall in the master bath to bring it back almost to its original size (actually it ended up slightly larger than on the original plans) also my walk-in closet is bigger. If we could have afforded it we would have added an equal extra square footage to the master bedroom. But by that time we already totally blown the budget I had originally set. (My husband whined and begged like a 2-yr. old for the full 2-car garage and now I find out that his pickup truck probably isn't even going to fit in the garage! But surprisingly? there WILL be room in the garage to house his motorcycles!) Good luck on your decision making and keep us posted on which community wins.