Tucson’s Active Adult Communities offer a plethora of activities. What activities do you, the active adult buyer, sincerely believe you will participate?
Are you planning on taking advantage of Tucson’s wonderful climate and surrounds? Would you rather snuggle on you patio with a cup of java and a great book? Perhaps you’re an artsy crafty person? Or are you longing to play golf and go out to eat at night? Planning on traveling to all the national parks in the Midwestern and Western states? Or taking classes to get another degree?
Think long and hard about what you want to do in retirement…and think too about your budget. We don’t like to admit it, but money governs much of what we do.
Active adult communities offer planned, structured programs with people from the same community participating. If you are an outdoors person, is it to your advantage and interests to join an “open” hiking club where people from throughout the city belong? What about arts and crafts? Would you consider joining Philabaum’s Glass Art classes in downtown Tucson, or classes at the Tucson Museum of Art, or the Sonora Desert Museum? Or perhaps you are a classic car enthusiast.
I knew a retired gentlemen, a Fortune 500 Executive, who enrolled in the University of Arizona for a degree in fine arts and graduated at the age of 76. He fulfilled a lifelong dream. Think about what you would really like to do in retirement. This is much like making New Year’s Resolutions, I’m going to do x, y, and z. But are you really going to do those things, or are those the things you think you should do in retirement?
The Homeowner’s Fees in retirement communities are expensive. In some communities there is a substantial fee which is paid when you purchase the house and the funds go to the capital reserves. There are monthly fees after that ranging from a nominal fee of $20 a month to more than $400 a month.
You want to consider that for every $5.00 you spend in HOA fees, you could purchase another $1,000 in a home. A $400 fee would get you an additional $80,000 in house. HOA fees do not appreciate like a home, and often they go up with inflation.
The purpose of these exercises I’ve discussed during the past few days is to get you to really think about what you want so that your Realtor® can help you get the most bank for your buck. It is pointless to pay for things you may never use, and there may be other options which suit your needs and wants more than an active adult community.
You are making an entire lifestyle change and you are committing a substantial amount of money to make this change. You will want to make sure you are doing what you really want to do, not what your friends, family, and neighbors think you should do!

http://www.meetup.com/tucsonhiking/
http://www.philabaumglass.com
https://www.tucsonmuseumofart
http://desertmuseum.org/
http://tucsonclassicscarshow.com/links/local-car-clubs

When trying to decide whether or not to move to an active adult community, several personal behaviors should be considered.  Many people believe they should move to an Active Adult community because it means “immediate friends”. 

Moving from an established community where long term relationships had formed through neighborhoods, places of worship, or careers, to an area which is new and different, but where  the climate is beneficial can be daunting.   Many people feel the best option is an Active Adult Community,

Tucson and Pima County certainly have an abundance of Active Adult Communities; some are golf course communities, and some are not.  It is imporatnt for people who are retiring to think about what kind of life style they desire in their retirement years.

There is the classic view of retirement…sunshine, leisurely breakfasts, clubhouse, going to the green for a round of golf, a late lunch, jawing with new found friends, then home to do a few chores and get ready for friends and cocktail hour.   The brochures project this, bur rather than golf, there may be substituted an exercise room, exercise instructors, aerobic swimming classes.  

The question I pose to you…what is it that you want to do when you are retired? 

This is not an easy question to answer.  

The automatic reaction is “to do the things I’ve always wanted to do” and an active adult community, when reading the brochure, provides easy answers to thing you think you might want to do.

But let’s say you decide to live in town rather than an Active Adult Community on the outskirts, you are close to world class restarurants, many live theaters, The University of Arizona and classes offered to Senior Citizens, close to crafts and recreational programs offered by Pima County and the City of Tucson, close to a Pima College branch to take exercise classes, or classes in a foreign language, social sciences, science, mathematics, or an abundance of informational fun classes. 

Buyers should think about what they want in retirement community before they buy.  Buying the image will not satisfy.  Often buying the tried and true is the most satisfiying and can be kinder on the pocketbook because association fees may be much less.

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