What Type of Community And Amenities Are You Looking for?

The survey uses the term "private communities" without defining that term. It may be helpful to specify what that includes or excludes.

Editor's comment: Thanks LS, good point. We modified the questions to try to be more clear. What we meant was any type of community/development that is not part of a town or city. Usually that means a community association.

I too, found the one-size-fits all definition confusing. We already retired and purchased a regular home in a small town near a city. There are a number of "retirement commuities" in the area and we are currently shopping for our final stop We aren't interested in a 55 & over "neighborhood" with individual homes but ARE looking for an ultimate retirement "community" with condo-style that offers continuing care. Some are rentals, some you buy in as a CO-OP or condo. There are a LOT of types of choices. The survey didn't cover as much as it could have and didn't give the option for more than one situation.

Editor's comment: Thanks for the additional clarifications. We just modified that question so you can give up to 3 options.

I have a request that I hope can be fulfilled. In searching for a "final chapter" home, one thing that we are considering is a manufactured home in a 55+ community. But we prefer to own the property and not have to be subject to rent any portion of it. A lot of the communities that come through in the Active Adult Communities portion of the emails that I receive are Sun RV Resorts. While the homes look nice, you purchase the home but rent the land it is on. I am afraid about what would happen if they decided to sell the property one day and I will be forced to relocate my home. Some people might would prefer it that way but not me!
Is there anyway in doing your research that you can provide these properties where you own the whole "kit and kaboodle" so to speak??

Hi Frances:

After researching Tiny Homes, I learned some things. It appears that RV/Tiny home communities do rent the land beneath them much like mobile home parks.

Perhaps modular housing is what you are looking for? Those are small homes (although they can be quite large too), but they are built in a factory and shipped modular pieces and then assembled on site. They are quite lovely and you can own the land under them like a regular house. Some of these communities are 55 and over. My sister-in-laws mother lives in Salem Oregon in a place like that and she loves it. The grounds are well maintained--there is a small monthly fee..

Thanks Jennifer for your response. I am very familiar with modular homes and do not mind investigating them. A 55 and over community is definitely on our radar when the time comes for us to stop traveling in our motorhome and settle down.
That being said, it will be somewhere in Florida as we have all of our healthcare here and have a son who lives in Florida also. There are so many of those communities here so we should not have any trouble finding one. We just need to narrow it down as to location.

Frances-Be sure to check out The Villages in Florida. No place like it for active adults.

Bart
Thanks but no thanks on The Villages. We actually "winter" about 6-8 months out of the year in Webster which is about 25 miles from The Villages. It is a nice place to visit and shop but we do not want to live there. The restaurant choices are all over the map as far as cuisines also.
There are some really nice homes and maybe that lifestyle suits some people but not us. We do not golf nor participate in sports.

We’re coming from a home on a large lot with lots of privacy. The main drawback to most 55 communities for us are the cookie cutter homes on tiny lots, crammed in one on top of another. Wish we could find 55 communities that offer more privacy.

25 years ago, after traveling the country, my wife and I had the big idea of building a log home (modern home with heat, A/C, 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, etc) on land in Montana on a river. That was 25 years ago! Now we live in a "55" plus community with plenty of amenities and close to plenty of amenities beyond the front gate. For us - it seems like internal and external community amenities become more important as age and the years creep by.

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We are not retired yet, but are planning as we are fast approaching retirement. We moved from our family home of 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths to a 3 bedroom 2.5 baths Ranch. The ranch is in a regular neighborhood with no amenities and low HOA cost. The HOA covers common areas and trash pickup. We are close to our doctors stores, and services and all of the activities we like to do. Activities that are available through the local rec center - tennis, pickle ball, pool, community festivals.
We try to live life as much as possible NOW - not waiting to retire to do what we love. We look forward someday to having Time to do what we want to do when we choose and not be bound by Work constraints. I agree that it is very important to make sure you have the medical services you need within a reasonable distance. What we miss most right now is being able to travel because of the pandemic.