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"Active Adult 4 Less"
A little
easy investigation provided us with a number of age-restricted
and active lifestyle
communities offering home ownership for
very little. If you are after a place to
 call home at less than
today’s median price of homes – read on . . .
Perhaps
when one thinks of inexpensive housing options, condominiums may
come to mind. While the type of condominiums which may come to
mind may be low rise, mid-rise or high rise, there is also a
whole new breed of what are being called single level ranch
style condominiums. They may be detached (free-standing), or
may be built in a duplex, triplex or quad-plex configuration.
Because
ownership of a home traditionally includes the cost of the land
it is built on the cost of that land figures in to the overall
price of your purchase. Since low rise, mid-rise and high rise
condominiums are built vertically with common walls and
typically no (individually owned) land around it (just common
ground) the cost then should be less per square foot since many
condos may be built upon a very small plot of land.
I found
an excellent, almost unbelievable, active adult community,
 Morningside at Martin’s Run in Ohio (built by Oster
Homes, a K. Hovnanian® Company) offering 1 and 2
bedroom new construction low rise condominiums starting at only
$59,900. Wow! What an opportunity to own and enjoy the active
adult lifestyle for peanuts!! It also includes underground
parking so no snow shoveling.
Well,
perhaps condo living is not your cup of tea. They also build 3
other series of homes at Morningside – with single family
free-standing homes starting at about $139,000. Still, at those
prices, an exceptional value and certainly priced below the
average cost of homes for the region. And the community is
loaded with amenities such as a club ho use, fitness center,
indoor and outdoor pools, tennis, chipping green and more. When
completed, Morningside at Martin’s Run will have
about 400 homes.
Getting
back to condominiums (and I now refer here to the single level
ranch style condominiums) the Rockford, Illinois community of
The Villas at University Centre by
Gracious Living Homes has a one bedroom plus a den, 1 and a
half baths and a sunroom priced at only $157,350.
There is
also a large and successful franchise, Epcon Communities,
providing small and regional builders with the expertise and
cooperative buying power to develop intimate communities that
are age-targeted or age-restricted with low maintenance living
at a price in the neighborhood of the low $200’s. A few
examples of such communities are:
The Villas at Deep River Plantation
Greensboro, NC
Pepper’s Ferry Villas
Christiansburg, Virginia
Villas
of Arden Mills
Washington County, PA
In our
research, we also came across an age-targeted (but open to all
ages) community of about 120 site-built modular single family
homes called
The Highlands at Sherwood Forest in Cameron, NC where
1,600 square foot of home (without garage) is currently being
offered at only $120,000. (The development is being built by
Grau Homes and is NOT an Epcon Community.)
In future
articles we will continue to explore communities throughout
North America where great value for dollar exists to get you the
active adult lifestyle for less! If you know of any such
communities, please
email us and we’ll check them out. |
