Category: Active adult communities
March 10, 2025 — The 2021 Surfside Towers collapse near Miami killed 98 people and injured many more. The Florida legislature’s response was swift and strict. Now, as those laws go into effect, backlash from the hardships they created is leading to efforts to soften the regs.
Already burdened by exploding insurance premiums, condo owners now also face huge assessments to catch up on their new reserve requirements. Added to those woes, newly required building inspections have discovered costly building repairs that need to be made. All of these combined factors have led to special assessments and/or significant dues increases. The result is a spate of homeowners who are unable to pay. Many have no choice but sell and and then find a new, more affordable place to spend the remainder of their retirement years.
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Published on March 9, 2025
Comments 4
Category: Active adult communities
March 5, 2025 -- There are a whole lot of people longing to retire in the Western half of the US. For those folks, the appeal of the sunshine, mountains, beaches, deserts, and outdoor life is strong. So to find out what kinds of communities they are interested in out there, we looked at our user logs to see which active adult communities in the West get visited the most at Topretirements. com. This data gives some insight into what type of communities, and their location, that have the most retirement appeal.
Results by StateThis was not what we expected. The state with the most communities on our top 10 list is Washington, which had 3. Arizona and Texas had 2 each, followed by Utah, California, and Colorado with 1 apiece. Frankly, we thought Arizona and Colorado would top the list, but not so.
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Published on March 4, 2025
Comments 3
Category: Active adult communities
February 25, 2024 -- Following up on our recent article about the issues that Keep HOA Boards of Directors up at night, here is the other side - the things that HOAs do that drive home owners crazy.
Homeowners often have love-hate relationships with their Homeowners Associations (HOAs), but here are the most common complaints and frustrations:
1. Excessive Fees & Increases
Many homeowners feel that HOA dues are too high or increase too frequently without justification.
Special assessments for unexpected expenses can be a financial burden.
With proper planning and budgeting, most assessments should be unnecessary.
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Published on February 24, 2025
Comments 9
Category: Active adult communities
February 6, 2025 -- Condo and HOA Boards face a daunting list of challenges these days. Insurance, aging infrastructure, and new government regulations are just some of the issues. But just as difficult are the many tricky situations that arise when a group of people share spaces and common property.
Last week Topretirements attended a conference held by Becker, a law firm that has a specialty in community, condo, timeshares, and HOA law. The presenters covered explanations of the many complex new requirements that communities must follow. But the most interesting part of the meeting were the non-stop questions from members of the audience. It was abundantly clear that these boards are being put to the test by many difficult situations.Those attending were mostly HOA and condo board managers with a mix of Community Managers too. The questions gave a good picture of the tough challenges that condo and HOA board members have to deal with everyday.
Top 7 Condo and HOA Problems
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Published on February 5, 2025
Comments 8
Category: Active adult communities
January 10, 2025 -- In a sign of what is to come from Florida's strict new condo laws, an entire condo building in Fort Lauderdale is for sale. The condo owners can’t afford the millions it will cost to repair it.
Damage from saltwater to the building's foundation is only part of the problem faced by the condo owners. Residents at Springbrook Gardens in Fort Lauderdale were forced to evacuate last September after an engineer warned of an unsafe foundation. The roof also needs expensive work, and there have already been many special assessments. According to one owner, the condo is spending $1 million in engineer studies and to get the building up to code. Foundation restoration work is estimated to cost over $4 million. There are only 18 units in the 70 year old building, so even though there might be some loan assistance, the cost per unit would work out to be about $222,000, a pretty large number.
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Published on January 8, 2025
Comments 4
Category: Active adult communities
January 8, 2025 - The votes are in for Topretirements' 25 most popular active communities for 2025. Not surprisingly, Florida and North Carolina had the most winners at 5 each. South Carolina and Virginia were hot too, garnering 3 spots each. Connecticut had 2 winners. Pine Village in Flagstaff, AZ was the only community in the west to make the top 25.
All of the 25 were active adult communities, and most were designated 55+ (although the owners in all are predominately over 55) . Two were mostly specialized: Indian River Colony Club (retired military) and Carefree Cove (LGBT). In what appears to be a trend, very few of the communities offered golf as an amenity.
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Published on January 7, 2025
Comments 2
Category: Active adult communities
October 23, 2024 - Residents of Florida are concerned, rightly, about the hazards of extreme weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. So it was interesting to see how two communities, designed to take whatever Mother Nature can dish out, and located in the center of the storm area, would fare after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Babcock Ranch near Fort Myers, and Hunters Point on Anna Maria Island weathered both storms with almost no damage, flooding, or electrical outages.
Babcock Ranch residents sat out the 'canes in safety in a designated building for refuge, and were even joined by residents of nearby towns. There was tree damage but no loss of power in either community. Communities like these are proof that with proper planning and strong building codes, people can be safe and property protected, even in the face of the ever increasing risk of climate disasters.The New York Times recently reported on the Babcock Ranch success in its "A Climate Resistant Community Passed Its First Tests" article .
The Hunters Point Blog proudly touted how well that community did in the face of the two giant storms. The difference in outcomes for these communities vs. others in other nearby areas is telling. While lives were lost, power went down for days on end, public infrastructure destroyed, homes demolished and knocked off their foundations, there was no flooding, power losses, or injuries at Babcock Ranch and Hunters Point.
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Published on October 22, 2024
Comments 2
Category: Active adult communities
August 1, 2024 -- Pocket Neighborhoods were a surprising favorite in our recent poll of your preferred type of community for retirement. (Use this link to see all results from the poll). Last week we did a feature on another winner, New Urban Communities, so here is the lowdown what you need to know about pocket neighborhoods along with some outstanding examples.
What is a Pocket Neighborhood?The most common characteristic of a pocket neighborhood is a group of small homes or cottages sharing a common, open space. That area might be for gardens, pedestrian walkways, shared yards, or gathering places, and recreation. The idea is to promote a close knit sense of community and neighborliness with an increased level of contact. These usable public spaces belong to everyone who lives in that neighborhood.
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Published on July 31, 2024
Comments 3
Category: Active adult communities
New Urban Neighborhoods Have "Lots" to Offer
July 24, 2024 -- New Urban Urban Community was the surprising winner of our recent poll of favorite retirement community types. Of the 5 possible choices in that poll, New Urban got 28% of the votes, narrowly beating out "I wouldn't live in any of these" and "All Ages Active Adult". That development prompted Patricia to ask if we were going to have an article about New Urban Communities, which was a great suggestion! Here is a link to all the results from "Your Favorite Types of Communities".
New Urban communities (often called traditional Neighborhood Developments (TNDs) are an often overlooked choice for retirement. These communities deliver on many of the requirements desired by many baby boomers. Those include walkability, a neighborhood feel, bike or pedestrian access to a town/city center via paths or sidewalks, and an attractive environment with recreational possibilities.
Retro VillageNew Urbanism is, in our opinion, an oxymoron. “Retro Village" or "Retro Urbanism” might be better terms. That is because the movement seems more like a return to what towns were like before cars changed everything – there is really nothing “new” about it! There are plenty of examples of very old towns that are a perfect example of great urban planning – Savannah, GA; Washington, D.C.; Venice, FL; not to mention almost every walled city in Europe. In all of these cases residences are clustered around parks, shops, and restaurants – making everyday life possible without the hassle of cars and traffic.
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Published on July 23, 2024
Comments 1
Category: Active adult communities
July 18, 2024 -- The results are in from our recent poll of your favorite community types, which we labelled "The Search". In 2 polls featuring 10 different types, we asked our Members and visitors to vote on which type of community they would most like to retire in. The results came in much as expected, but there were also some very big surprises. In Part 1 the favorite was far and away 55+ active adult communities - it got 34% of the votes. In Part 2 the surprising winner was New Urban Communities, which garnered 28%. Golf and RV Resort communities were way down at the bottom, attracting very little interest. Over 400 people voted (thank you!) Detailed results below.
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Published on July 17, 2024
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