How the hell are we supposed to retire?
- Thread starter rlb
- Start date
rick81721
Lothar
What's the question - living in a 55+ community? If you want to live in a community with lots of geezers and no kids, go for it. Not for us - our place in FL has geezers obviously but lots of younger families with kids as well. I like the mix.
ekuhn
Well-Known Member
Great advice. Im not scared of moving money around, its just from institution to institution that becomes the hassle to track.
Think Im going to do a 3 month, 6 month and then follow suit on the money market accts and keep the rest rolling.
qclabrat
Well-Known Member
Well for one, are they good economic decisions when it comes time to sell? Also, some have some high monthly maintenance. We're looking at bedminster at the hills but I'm also not crazy about developments.
rick81721
Lothar
No clue about NJ but not an issue in FL. HOA fees vary widely dependent on amenities, not 55+ vs no age restrictions.
FYI our townhouse HOA fee in NJ is higher than our house in FL. And we have more amenities in FL.
Like snow plowing
rick81721
Lothar
Minor expense, esp in NJ. Landscaping in FL is obviously much higher vs NJ.
I've been getting a consistent 5 to 5.3% in brokered CDs that mature in 1 to 3 months through my Vanguard brokerage account. I'm kind of doing a manual "ladder" where I just review the new rates as the CDs mature. I keep waiting for the bottom to drop out of the market but...
I think snow plowing is an excessive & unknown cost. You get slammed for the costs when there's a dusting but they come out and blow it around for a few hours, also will pay if it's a long snowy winter. Landscaping is a bit more of a known as it's negotiated and a consistent cost through the year. If the landscapers skip trimming hedges for a month it's no big deal. Not plow when there's a few inches and people can't get to work? Lots of headaches for the people on the board so they tend to allow getting screwed on the plowing.
I never thought about landscaping in FL until talking to some of our FL transplant neighbors the other day and they were saying how annoying it was there to deal with landscaping *all* year. Can definitely see how the costs are high there for that.
Plus if selling it would probably be a sideways move to another similar place.
I'd take a look at a bunch. 55+ places that are a bit "luxury" with lots of HOA fees scare me. I'd hate to be in one of those and then need to cut back on costs but be stuck with that high monthly cost. Also, what's the point of moving into one of those if you don't love it? I would say it's not ideal to move somewhere based on the costs as the main factor as opposed to a place you love and figuring out how to afford it.
I never thought about landscaping in FL until talking to some of our FL transplant neighbors the other day and they were saying how annoying it was there to deal with landscaping *all* year. Can definitely see how the costs are high there for that.
Demographically there's going to be lots of old people as potential buyers. And if it's a good development it should be an easy sell. It may not have the same increase in value as a non-55+ place but you'd be saving $$ during the time period.
Plus if selling it would probably be a sideways move to another similar place.
I'd take a look at a bunch. 55+ places that are a bit "luxury" with lots of HOA fees scare me. I'd hate to be in one of those and then need to cut back on costs but be stuck with that high monthly cost. Also, what's the point of moving into one of those if you don't love it? I would say it's not ideal to move somewhere based on the costs as the main factor as opposed to a place you love and figuring out how to afford it.
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JerseyPete
Well-Known Member
Is there any financial advantage to living in a community rather than single home ownership? I've never heard anything good about HOA leaders and their power trips.
Probably impossible to NOT have an HOA in a 55+ community. But they can differ vastly if it's just a neighborhood HOA vs one that has club houses, pools, tennis courts etc making the cost much higher.
rick81721
Lothar
I doubt there is any financial advantage, it's more convenience having things like a 24 hr gym, tennis, pool, etc landscaping included. Some HOA rules are silly like you can't paint your house bright orange or put a giant statue of David in your front yard.
JerseyPete
Well-Known Member
I guess that can be significant over single home ownership.
I would also guess that new is better than 10-15 year old place. If you had to pay for re-paving or new roof of the clubhouse just after you moved in, that would suck.
@rick81721 did your FL place disclose upcoming costs like that, or was it on you to research and figure it out?
rick81721
Lothar
Nothing big has come up in FL. We just took over from the builder a few years ago so fixing major things was part of the transfer. Oddly we got blindsided in the NJ townhouse 2 years ago with a special assessment for new roofs of $6200. We paid most of it (and the rest at closing) and they still haven't gotten to our roofs yet.
So can you transfer that to the new owner when it still hasn't been repaired before closing?
With the horror stories I've heard, I'd be afraid of any spot where the HOA can incur huge costs. It seems they're never run well and people suck at keeping costs down.
At the condo complex we rented at in Morristown the monthly fee was really high and there were no shared areas, clubhouses/pools/etc. But they had constant "special" assessments that mostly could have been avoided.
-There was a water leak that washed out the dirt under a few driveways over time that created a sink hole. So they spent $$$ on water bills (shared usage, no individual meters) without figuring out where the money was going to then have to spend tens of thousands to repair the parking spots.
-Roof had known issues that weren't repaired. Which lead to multiple units getting water damage and so repairs had to be paid by the HOA, IE everyone. Fixed the water damage on the first building in the units and then replaced the roof. Didn't replace the roof on our half of the complex. Of course roof failed, water damage and associated fixing costs and then replacing the roof.
-The skylight in our staircase that was shared by 6 units leaked. Leaked enough that it destroyed all the interior sheet rock. They repaired all the interior sheet rock but not the leak. They replaced the skylight, still leaked but the HOA never followed up, more damage. Few more fixes and contractors getting paid.
-Lots of other things.
Not a one-off situation, sounds like this happens everywhere. But these "special" assessments are just their way around permanent monthly fees that are higher. Much easier to sell when it's "OH, there's this special monthly fee to update the roof but it ends in Sept" as opposed to a higher monthly fee that includes the special assessment for repaving that starts in November... When we moved out that's exactly what was happening and people were freaking out about. One special assessment was ending as another was starting.
rick81721
Lothar
Nope we were told we had to pay it off. They are replacing roofs on all the townhouses - doing across the street right now.
rick81721
Lothar
I guess it really varies. The NJ roof assessment has been the first in a long time according to neighbors. In FL (6+ years now) we only had one special assessment of $500 to buy a parcel of land the builder still owns.
I'm probably not wrong in assuming FL developments have better run HOAs. Lots of retired accountants and project managers with free time...
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