The Woods at Ducks Harbor (Scranton, Carbondale: HOA fees, houses, neighborhood)

[Fred314]

Been looking at houses in the area.Anyone have any kind of opinion on this community ? Normally I don’t like the idea of a development with an HOA but this one seems not to bad. Anyone ?

[DavidWebb]

Never heard of that place till you mentioned it....but I do like that the lots are a decent size....no one on top of you....

[fisheye]

It looks like the area is very remote. I presume you want that location to get away from people and have no reason to commute to a job? I would check the availability of stores and medical facilities close by.

[DavidWebb]

I see Honesdale, Carbondale, and Scranton are not too far away but not close either....if I could I'd buy Lot #46 they have available.....

[Gerania]

If you want to be out in the middle of nowhere, it sounds great. Crickets. I personally like crickets and the middle of nowhere, so don't listen to anything that I say.

[Fred314]

Thanks for the replies so far. As for crickets , I think they make better neighbors than most people. My wife and I are both retired so commuting to a job is not an issue. I’m guessing 25 to 30 minutes to Honesdale? A bit farther than I’d like but acceptable. As for lot 46 , that Is the one I’d chose as it backs up to a natural area. I’d rather buy an existing home but I see only one currently on the market there. Looking at what’s recently sold there were several I would have liked to see but that’s water under the bridge. One thing that concerns me in that area of Pa is all the dirt roads. How is the winter maintenance? In my area in NY the few remaining dirt roads can be very bad come the sprIng thaw season. At times severely rutted. Same true in Pa?

[DavidWebb]

Originally Posted by Fred314

One thing that concerns me in that area of Pa is all the dirt roads. How is the winter maintenance? In my area in NY the few remaining dirt roads can be very bad come the spring thaw season. At times severely rutted. Same true in Pa?

Yes that is a concern and if you're the impatient type and don't like to take your time traveling on them it can be a pain....I speak from experience....I've been living where I am since Nov. 2007 in a community accessible only by our dirt road and to make it worse it has 3 uphills....of course I live all the way at the top which is I think around 10 feet more/less short of 1,000 feet in elevation.....years past the road either going up or down was a nightmare because of the damage done to the road by rain and melting snow....now if the roads are mostly flat in Ducks Harbor then you have nothing to worry about.....I don't know since I've never been there....here where I live my neighbor's son takes care of the road coming up to us and going down around to their property.....there's a small group of us neighbors who chip in $60 - $200 to help with his roadwork, machinery, and gravel costs....you might want to find out how DH handles it....being that they say they are a professionally-managed company they should have their own maintenance crew whom they pay through HOA fees.....the biggest problem with dirt roads is the dry months because of the dust that gets kicked up....which in my neighborhood isn't much of a problem since most of those who come in here are residents....once in a while we do get the occasional knuckleheads on ATV's that come flying through but that's also rare.....hope this helps.....

[fisheye]

Sine you are both retired you are at the age where you will see doctors more frequently. We have some posters that complained there were no specialist in areas not as remote as what you are looking at. You might want to ask the management there where do they go shopping and where are the closest doctors and hospitals.

I have a long driveway; about 400 feet. 300 feet of that is straight down a hill. For the first 20 years we had just a dirt road. Fortunately we had neighbors with equipment that would grade our road when needed. Sometimes our downhill section would wash out several times each year. If the road had just been graded the dirt road worked great for traction. But if you are dodging potholes it is not that great. We did have it paved about 25 or 30 years ago and have been happy with it ever since. Of course the paved road can be tricky with ice storms and we have to keep salt close by to apply before attempting the downhill section.

Make sure you visit the area before you buy. A great time to visit is right after a very hard rain so you can see if any of the roads have problems with flooding or your perspective home or lot has water problems. You can also check out the commute to local stores and services. Since this area is so far away from where we live; most of us cannot give you first hand information; so good luck!

[Gerania]

A while back, I needed to go to a hospital ER three times in about 36 hours. It was only about 15 minutes away. After that, I tripped on my son's black cat at about 4 AM while I was on the way to the kitchen for a glass of water and broke my arm. Back to the ER. I didn't know that I needed that until I needed it.