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How is "first accident forgiveness" defined under your policy? Robyn
We're with the Hartford/AARP:
The Hartford waives any premium increase associated with your first accident so long as all drivers on your policy are free of accidents and major violations for the previous five years.
I guess we're oddballs. Since we retired we up sized into a nicer larger house, bought a vacation condo, have 3 vehicles, one car for her and her club meetings, girly get togethers etc and me I get the SUV for my running around and guy things. The 3rd car stays at the condo. Our insurance through AARP?Hartford for 3 cars, 2 residences, a boat, and personal belongings is just over $1100.00 annually. That's about 1/2 what State Farm and All State quoted. Progressive ha, forget about it, they're even higher than SF and AS by about $800.00 more.
It's still fairly expensive to own a car here in MA. We had some of the highest insurance costs in the country but that has gone down some. We have to pay a yearly excise tax to the town and we are required to get the car inspected once a year and also every time it is sold for $29.00.
I don't exactly enjoy paying the excise tax but the annual inspection is a good thing. I've been in states that don't have that requirement and you get exhaust fumes, mufflers hanging off, smoke coming out, all sorts of things. Then they can have brakes that don't work, brake lights that are out, directions that don't work, all sorts of things that make the cars unsafe to be on the road. I know I don't want to drive when other cars are on the road in sub standard condition. Our one older car is pretty economical, all in all though.
Do most 55+ communities have residences with 2 car garages?
I live in Sun City Carolina Lakes, near Charlotte NC and all our models of single family homes and also the Villas (both double and triple) have 2 car garages. The Carriage Homes (sort of like apartments) have 1/2 the models with 2 car and 1/2 with 1 car, but those aren't built anymore. I think all Sun City locations have 2 car garages. We also visited The Villages and they have 2 car garages as well.
In fact, a couple of the new models here at SCCL also have a golf cart garage so that you can have 2 cars plus a golf cart (or small car like a Smart Car) and be able to park them all inside. I have also seen people part 2 cars plus a golf cart in a regular garage as long as one of the cars is small. They just put the golf cart in sideways.
Most I saw with two car garages. There were few that were one. As someone said there are rules about parking on the street, parking boats or project cars. I personally don't plan on a project car. The boat might be nice but as someone mention it really isn't a boat. It is a hole in the water you pour money in.
Again, here at SCCL the HOA has rules. You can't part a boat, RV or "project car" in your driveway. There are some storage facilities in the area for this purpose. And if someone comes to visit you with an RV, the sales center will usually let them park there for a couple of nights. They also don't want cars parked in the street overnight. It is for and "uncluttered look", but also more for the ability of emergency vehicles not to be restricted access in the dark and for people to be able to maneuver easily through the neighborhood at night as our street are not that wide.
Used to be that they didn't allow more than one vehicle to be parked overnight in the driveway, but that has been pretty well loosened because of people coming to visit parents/grandparents, etc. Good thing due to the fact that we will be forced with 3 cars until such time that my hubby can fully retire.
Basically you definitely need to read the CC&Rs. I read every word with highlighter in hand!
Basically you definitely need to read the CC&Rs. I read every word with highlighter in hand!
I got a copy of Hill Country Retreat in San Antonio's CC&R in digits and read through it. Nothing I was shocked by. Actually it made me feel much better about the community. I didn't see anything in it to stop me from doing home improvements like replacing a counter top or changing out a toilet for one with a built in bidet for example. I am very glad for that. I don't mind restrictions on the outside as I can relate to it, plus I don't want to be hauling bark mulch or shredding leaves.
So back to the cars though that is great as far as I am concerned. I plan on just using a couple of cars maybe. It all depends on the wife as I do not have a problem with having just one car as long as I am the driver (she scares me ). Just teasing before all of you have an uproar.
We live in a "regular" neighborhood in a suburb of a large city. We still have 2 cars after two years in retirement. We don't use the 2nd car much, but there have been times when we both wanted to go someplace at once, so it has been handy. I think that I'd feel trapped at home if DH took the one car and I was left with none. Given that our 2nd car doesn't incur much mileage, the insurance is lower.
I guess we're oddballs. Since we retired we up sized into a nicer larger house, bought a vacation condo, have 3 vehicles, one car for her and her club meetings, girly get togethers etc and me I get the SUV for my running around and guy things. The 3rd car stays at the condo. Our insurance through AARP?Hartford for 3 cars, 2 residences, a boat, and personal belongings is just over $1100.00 annually. That's about 1/2 what State Farm and All State quoted. Progressive ha, forget about it, they're even higher than SF and AS by about $800.00 more.
You're not alone. We moved out of a condo and built a larger house when we retired. We can't buy cheaper auto insurance because then we'd lose our current homeowners' insurance (which is the tough ticket item in Florida). We'd lose our umbrella policy as well. Robyn
Technically we are one car because I drive a company vehicle.
We live in a small southern town where golf carts on roads are legal 1)inside the city limits and 2)do not drive on state highways (duh?) and follow all traffic rules because cops will ticket if you don't.
Small town and there is nowhere (doctors, hospital, post office, grocery shopping, restaurants and church) we can't go via golf cart. I can easily see us driving 70 miles a week just around town on a golf cart.
I like it, it's fun and you always meet interesting people out "on the road".
One of my hobbies will be setting up a solar powered charging station just for my golf cart. I so want to stick it to the oil companies.
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). Just teasing before all of you have an uproar.
