The Tucson area is home to a multitude of active adult communities which range in price and amenities available.
Some communities require that buyers be age 50 and others age 55. Some communities stipulate that the owner meet the age requirement. This means a child less than 50 or 55 cannot purchase a property for a parent who meets the age restriction.
Other communities have no restriction on who can purchase a property as long as the occupant meets the age requirement. Some developments ask for proof of age, others don’t. When purchasing a property in an active adult community, the Covenants, Codes and Restrictions (CC and R’s) will spell out the requirements.
Price points run the gamut from $60,000 to more than a million dollars. Popular manufactured home active adult communities offer lower cost options and yet have many of the bells and whistles of the more expensive communities. Most have pools and recreation centers and offer the camaraderie of like minded residents.

Active adult communities built by production builders such as Pulte and Robson sport a beginning price point of the high $100’s.   Add ten to twenty percent to the base price for new home construction upgrades. When considering new home construction, use a Realtor®.  Make sure you make your first visit to that community with the Realtor® since he/she can often save you money and guide you in terms of what upgrades you should consider for future resale value.  You want to have representation and not be represented by the builder’s site agent who is working for the builder, not you.

Your Realtor® should check the inventory in the community to make sure you are aware of what is available.  Pre owned homes will probably have landscaping completed as well as window coverings, fans, and other upgrades which make a house a home and will save you money in the long run.  He/she can help you compare and contrast various communities.

Understanding your wants and desires and trying to match communities throughout the Tucson area is the function and job of your Realtor®.  There are many smaller communities within town; condos, townhomes, patio homes, manufactured homes, in addition to single family homes which may meet your requirements.  Not all active adult communities are golf course communities with hundreds or thousands of homes.

Think about what you want in a home, how you want to live your retirement, and tell your Realtor® who can help you translate that into reality.

So you are thinking about a retirement community…or in the proper parlance, an active adult community.  There are several questions you should consider and discuss with your partner.

You can do what is known as a “Ben Franklin”- take a sheet of paper, fold it in half lengthwise, and on one side write all the pros – reasons you want an active adult community- and on the half, list all the cons – reasons you may not want an active adult community.  Both parties should do the same, and the fun of the game is not to talk with each other about your lists.

Give yourself two weeks or so to do this.  As you go about your daily business, you will think of reasons for either column, then write them down.  At a previously agreed upon time, over coffee or wine, in a relaxed atmosphere, pull out your lists and discuss them.

You may want one thing and your partner another…this is a time to sit and discuss what is on the list and prioritize what you have created.  You will find that this exercise will help you both formulate what is important to you both, or what is important to one, but perhaps not another.  It will help you to understand what you features you can comprise.

Do you want a single family home?  And if so, what kind?  A regular Single Family home or a patio home?  Or do you want a town home or a condo.  In my last blog, I discussed the differences.

Are you looking for a community which provides a plethora of activities which are pretty much contained within the community?  Or do you want to participate in activities such as classes at Olli, classes and activities from Parks and Rec which run the gamut from learning how to play tennis to advanced pottery classes.  Or are you a volunteer type of person who would become a docent for the Symphony, for the Desert Museum.

This is your retirement and this is your opportunity to do what you have always wanted to do!  Unfortunately many people never think about this and just kind of stumble along in life.  Make this time for you, for you are the most important person in your world!  Do the hard work now so you can enjoy your time in retirement, wherever it is!

If you are considering purchasing a home in Arizona, your agent should provide you with the Buyer Advisory, a document which is nine pages and provides information about items a person should know prior to purchasing a home.

The document, written by the Arizona Association of Realtors, is designed to allow the consumer to check  issues he/she should consider when purchasing a home.  It contains links to many websites which can answer consumer questions.

Information concerning neighborhoods is not static, changing frequently, and the Buyer Advisory is revised periodically.  The websites referenced in the Advisory also change their information frequently.

Crime statistics are important and the Advisory references the various sites in Arizona cities where these statistics can be obtained.  An agent cannot know all of these facts and the knowlegable consumer will reference the Buyer Advisory to find answers to his/her questions.

The Buyer Advisory is also a document which a homeowner can use to ascertain answers to questions he/she may have regarding where to go for tax information, zoning information, information about area schools, and the ever famous sex offender information.

If you are considering purchasing property outside of Arizona, the Buyer Advisory is an excellent guideline to questions you may have and potential places to obtain the answers in that state.

Take advantage of this resource, it is part of a buyer’s due diligence when purchasing a property.   A link to the Arizona Buyer Advisory is provided below, you may be surprised at the amount of information it contains.  Use this information for your advantage.  A knowlegable buyer is a good buyer.

http://www.aaronline.com/documents/buy_advis.pdf

http://www.aaronline.com/documents/buyer_advisory.aspx

There are plenty of active adult community properties for sale in Tucson less than $200,000. This is the time to look at your southwest sunbelt home. Check properties now while you still have the best pickings…before the majority of winter visitors arrive.   Enjoy January through April here in beautiful Tucson while your neighbors shovel snow, dig out their car, and bundle up in winter gear just to go to the store.

The price of property in Tucson is at 2003 levels and interest rates are at a historical low. This equation equals an opportunistic time for people who always coveted a retirement home or second home in the southwest sunbelt to purchase that dream.

Tucson and the surrounding area is home to several active adult communities and homes in these areas have decreased in price.   Prices are down 15 to 25% from three years ago.

In the entire Tucson Multiple Listing Service, 91 properties sold during the past three months (since June 22, 2010) in active adult communities at an average list price of $262,873 and an average sale price of $248,302.

That is an approximate 5.5% discount to list price. The median asking price is $249,000 and the sale price was $230,000 or a 7.6% discount to list. And the low price was $92,800 with the sale price of $92,000 or a .08% discount to list. The high end property which sold during the past three months, had an asking price of $599,000 with a sale price of $569,000 or a 5.0% discount to list.

Currently, as of this morning, there are 460 properties in active adult communities on the market, four of which are more than $1,000,000. The average price of those properties is $297,942 but of this total, 45 properties are $500,000 or above skewing the average prices upwards. The median price is $249,700, the low price is $52,500 and the high price is $2,800,000.

Most people seeking an active adult community will be purchasing property below $500,000 and the 415 properties on the market have an average price of $251,827, with a median price of $239,000, a low price of $52,500, and the high price of $499,900. These are asking prices.

Using the discount to list price during the past three months of 5.5%, one may be able to purchase an average active adult community property for about $237,000 if we use the entire domain of properties to $500,000.

To use an old cliché, “the early bird catches the worm”. For more information about Tucson active adult communities, contact me, terry@terrybishop.com for more information and a relocation package.

    Celebrations of the winter solstice marked the full rotation of the earth around the sun.    The shortest day of the year is behind us.  Daylight increases with every passing day.  Holiday cheer is abundant and in less than ten days, we will be welcoming 2009 with First Night celebrations.  

    Snowbirds, or to be politically correct, winter visitors  will soon arrive.  While much of the remainder of the country has snow, sleet, freezing weather, and bone chilling cold ahead of them, those people who make a pilgrimage to Tucson will be in for high 60’s and 70’s  weather and increasing daylight – especially since Arizona does not turn it’s clock back!

    For anyone thinking about purchasing a winter home, this is the time!  Although many people pay cash, it may be worthwhile to think about taking a mortgage, especially since rates are 4.625% for a person with good credit scores who can put 20% down.  The 1% loan origination fee charged on this $100,000 loan has a break even point of about four years.  Principal and interest at that rate on $100,000 would be $514.14.

    Wrapping the loan origination fee of 1% or $1,000 into the loan at a higher rate of 5% makes the payment $536.82.  The difference is $22.68 a month.  Dividing the $1,000 by $22.68 gives a break even point of 44.209 months, or nearly four years.

    Although it has been the dream of everyone to be mortgage free, the exercise of examining one’s own mortality may be worthwhile.  Looking at a 30 year mortgage, assuming I am 68 years old, what is the probability I will live to be 98?   When really do I think I will die?  Let’s see, my Mom died when she was x years old, and my Dad died when he was y years old…what does that say about my own gene pool?   Hmmmm….I will probably die about 86 years old.

    So if I have a 30 year mortgage, that means there will be an additional 12 years to pay off when I die.   History has told us that inflation is inevitable… and let’s just calculate a mere 3% inflationary factor each year…interesting…that $100,000 in 2009 will become $245,684.22 in 2039!  It may be more prudent for me to let my estate worry about that remaining 12 years…a consultation with a financial advisor or CPA, might be in order here.

    History also tells us that regardless of the political affiliation of the administration, whenever we have a budget deficit, the government pays it off by printing money…i.e. inflation.  So perhaps 3% is a low rate. If we were to experience 5% – a rate which has been consistent for Tucson between 1993 and 2004, the value then jumps to $446,774.49!

   And then we add the income tax deduction which is calculated on the marginal tax rate…and the fact we keep our $100,000 in tact for other safe but more liquid investments…

   Financing is a personal decision.  But with the price of properties in Tucson now, including Active Adult Communities, people thinking about a second home should consider the advantages of acting now.

Resources:

Tucson Weather and Precipitation:

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USAZ0247?from=tenDay_bottomnav_undeclared

Lenders:

Nova Home Loans:

http://www.lancedickson.com

Sundt Mortgage:

http://www.sundtmortgage.com

Realtor:

http://www.terrybishop.com

e-mail:  terry@terrybishop.com

Housing Statistics 1993-2007:

See blog

   Now that you have determined the area in which you think you would like to live, the next step is to determine whether you want to live in a community governed by a Homeowner’s Association.  Most newer homes are located in subdivisions which require a Homeowner’s Association and Association fees.  Determine what you are going to get for the fees you are going to pay.  Fees go up, hardly ever do they go down! 

    If you are 55+, you have the option of moving to an Active Adult Community.  Ask yourself some hard questions:  How do you envision your retirement years?  Are you going to be playing golf?   Is a golf course community necessary?  And if you play golf, do you want to play the same course, or are you the type of golfer who likes to play different courses?  If the later is the case, you may be better off living in an area which has good access to several golf courses, but is not on a golf course.   Are the classes you think you are going to take similiar to those given by Pima College, the University of Arizona, or the Parks and Recreation Department. 

    Asking yourself these “tough” questions for you and your family, prior to purchasing a house, can save you both time and money in the long run.  Now how many bedrooms?   Bathrooms?  Great Room or formal living room and formal dining room?  Think about your lifestyle and what suits your lifestyle best.

   Now that you have determined the area, bedrooms, bathrooms, type of living space, and now number of garages, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.   Go to my website, http://www.terrybishop.com and SEARCH at:  http://terrybishop.com/mls.html.   Now you can insert your parameters and see what comes up.  This database  is constantly updated in real time. You will be looking for ACTIVE listings.  Go to the upper right hand corner and click SUBMIT.

     The properties will come up in a thumbnail sketch.  You will be able to pull up detailed information, a virtual tour if there is one, as well as photographs.  You may also be able to access a map which shows the location of the property.

     If you have problems trying to located properties,  or otherwise need help, contact me at terry@terrybishop.com  and I will be delighted to help you.

    Meanwhile enjoy this feature brought to you by the Tucson Association of Realtors and by myself.

     For all of you who are thinking about purchasing a home or second home in Tucson, Arizona , read on!

     Tucson is a very large geographic area and when people talk about Tucson they often also think about the Green Valley, Sahuarita areas which are to the south of Tucson off of I-19; Marana, to the north, off of I-10,  and Oro Valley which is also to the north off of Oracle Road. 

    Marana and Oro Valley are relatively new communities with many homes built in the 1980’s through the present.  Green Valley is best known as a retirement community with an abundance of nice older townhomes.    The newest community is Sahuarita which lies between Tucson and Green Valley and encompasses a master planned community with thousands of newer homes.  Building is still going on there.

    Many people do not realize how large the Tucson area is – extending almost 40 miles by 40 miles.  To get an idea, look at the map of Tucson which is divided into various segments for real estate purposes.

http://www.terrybishop.com/map.html

     Where you live will be determined by your lifestyle including your place of work and types of recreation you enjoy.   For instance, a person working at Raytheon should probably not live in the Northwest section of town since they will be working in the Southeast area.  A person who wants to travel to the University of Arizona in the central part of town, perhaps should not live in the extreme northwest (XNW).  If you are an avid hiker, biker, the central area of town may not be a good choice.

    Once you consider your lifestyle, then consider the ammenties you want in a home.  Most of the newer homes in tract developments have five to ten feet setbacks on each side and are on smaller lots ranging from 4,000 to 7500 square feet.  Newer custom and semi custom homes are on larger tracts of land, and in the areas of the northwest and west as well as the east, some are in SR zoning areas which require 3.3 acre building lots.

     The older homes generally are on larger lots where the front footage to the street may be as much as 80 feet.  On some of the newer homes, the front footage is 30 feet so the houses are long and linear.  With an older home, you may have some renovation to do, but usually you will have a larger yard. 

Resources:

Town of Marana    http://www.marana.com/

Town of Oro Valley http://www.ci.oro-valley.az.us/

Town of Sahaurrita   http://www.ci.sahuarita.az.us/

Town of Green Valley  http://www.greenvalleychamber.com/

City of Tucson   http://www.tucsonaz.gov/index.php

Tomorrow:   Using the Search at http://www.terrybishop.com