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" Charleston South Carolina"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: home...finally, home .
8,814 posts, read 21,276,064 times
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A few over 55 places I have looked into (one was Eugene, Oregon) have adorable cottages, but they have what they call "land-leases". I think you own your house , but not the land on it. Then you pay a different kind of property tax. Is that like a co-op is in a city building, I wonder ? I would not think that is a good idea, but I don't know. The little cottages on small lakes were so cozy and pretty with trellises and flowers growing all around.
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By me there was a subdivision built like that but it was single wides. The land was leased and the SW was bought and put on the lot. Fast forward 2 years and the land owner had financial problems and sold the land to a developer. The developer decided to make it an upscale subdivision instead..offered the current residents some $$$ but it was not enough. After a big uproar at a city council meeting the buyout price was upped. A lot of folks just walked away and they cleared out the SW and started building upscale homes.
I don't know how long the lease was for but if the land owner gets in trouble he could possibly sell the land from underneath you to someone who has other ideas.
I would like to disagree, but I had a situation where everything that could go wrong with condo ownership did go wrong (and throw in rent control laws for extras) and I must admit, i'd be very wary of any shared ownership. I do like having control over my environment and expenses, even if there are cost disadvantages. I do believe that condo living should be able to work well, but I don't know how to find it and be reasonably sure about it.
On the other hand, there's one very nice 55+ mobile community in my town that seems stable...
I'd look carefully to see who owns the land. If it's the condo or park association, there shouldn't be a problem. That's basically the way condos work. But if the condo or park leases it from someone else -- as is often the case in the South where waterfront property is owned by power companies on dammed lakes -- it could be a problem.
I live in a condo and I'm very happy. There are no problems and things are well maintained. We have a few condo-nazi-wannabes but since they have no authority, everyone ignores them.
I researched the place before I bought here. I was attracted by the fact that all the patio areas around the condos were different, people decorated differently, had added on patios. I read the CCR. My real estate agent had sold several condos in the complex and introduced me to long-time residents.
I noticed that there was a good mix of cars and trucks in the parking lot and a lot of different ages and ethnic backgrounds walking dogs. It wasn't all cookie cutter, everything and everyone looks the same.
The complex is 30 years old so it has had time to develop a character. The only hard rules are replacement windows have to be brown, shades/drapes have to be white facing out and the doors have to be the same green. Other than that, as long as things are neat and clean and don't interfere with the mowing, you can do what you want. I have extensive gardens in pots in the front and back patios which I enjoy as do my neighbors. The grad students who rent next door help me lug stuff around in exchange for food.
On the other hand, there are a lot of other condo communities near this one that I would never consider living in. Just rows and rows of identical units with one tree in front and regimented planting areas.
I'm looking at a similar situation in Delaware. The model for the house is beautiful, the area is perfect, the price is right, but it's land lease. I look at it this way. Land lease fees, HOA fees and taxes together are estimated to be about $6,000 a year. Right now, in NY, I'm paying close to $10,000 a year in taxes. My current house will sell for more than the Delaware house costs - including closing costs, moving fees, etc. Land lease fees are capped at 4.5% per year (or the CPI) for the first 25 years. (So big time inflation could hurt us) ... but my current taxes aren't capped at all and the last few years, they've gone up quite a bit.
The representatives of this 55+ community tell me that the land owner is doing this as an investment for his daughters future. She is 8. So I don't expect him to be "selling out". It will be an 800 home community when finished and he owns a similar smaller community ... and talking about a third. So I think it's a fairly solid environment.
Aside from not owning my own land, I can't see the downside. After 30 years of owning my own home and land, I don't mind making the switch to "owning the home - leasing the land". I also don't mind that they will mow my lawn, shovel the snow, maintain the pool, etc.
I'm looking at a similar situation in Delaware. The model for the house is beautiful, the area is perfect, the price is right, but it's land lease. I look at it this way. Land lease fees, HOA fees and taxes together are estimated to be about $6,000 a year. Right now, in NY, I'm paying close to $10,000 a year in taxes. My current house will sell for more than the Delaware house costs - including closing costs, moving fees, etc. Land lease fees are capped at 4.5% per year (or the CPI) for the first 25 years. (So big time inflation could hurt us) ... but my current taxes aren't capped at all and the last few years, they've gone up quite a bit.
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It may or may not be a good deal. You are comparing a Delaware deal to NY taxes... take a look at Delaware taxes and their rate of increase. Is there a limit on Delaware tax increases? Your apple to orange comparison could be misleading.
I'm looking at a similar situation in Delaware. The model for the house is beautiful, the area is perfect, the price is right, but it's land lease. I look at it this way. Land lease fees, HOA fees and taxes together are estimated to be about $6,000 a year. Right now, in NY, I'm paying close to $10,000 a year in taxes. My current house will sell for more than the Delaware house costs - including closing costs, moving fees, etc. Land lease fees are capped at 4.5% per year (or the CPI) for the first 25 years. (So big time inflation could hurt us) ... but my current taxes aren't capped at all and the last few years, they've gone up quite a bit.
The representatives of this 55+ community tell me that the land owner is doing this as an investment for his daughters future. She is 8. So I don't expect him to be "selling out". It will be an 800 home community when finished and he owns a similar smaller community ... and talking about a third. So I think it's a fairly solid environment.
Aside from not owning my own land, I can't see the downside. After 30 years of owning my own home and land, I don't mind making the switch to "owning the home - leasing the land". I also don't mind that they will mow my lawn, shovel the snow, maintain the pool, etc.
I think this land-lease might work well for me.
Charley
What they say now may not hold for the future. The land owner could easily sell in a few years if he found a "better" investment for his daughter or needs to pay for college or any number of things.
It happened by me and all those folks had to move because the buyer had other intentions with that land. Granted he had to pay them off, but it still happened. These people had 99 year leases on their land.
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