55 and over communities

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I can guess how this thread will go considering the general feeling here about even the loosest of home owner assns but here goes. Has anyone looked into these (over 55) communities or have any info about them. Mostly concerned about any firearm bans. I reload as well. Just curious if they tend to have specific by laws in reference to our hobby. I've been in a single family home for ever and have never had to answer to anyone but we're not getting any younger and are starting to look into options like condos and 55+. Are there restrictions in ordinary condo docs or apartment leases? Let's hear what you know. TIA
 
Rarely; the real issue is "does the condo assn have the authority to add such a ban after you buy". You need an attorney to answer.

Over 55 is generally something negotiated to convince a town planning board the occupants will not put more kids in the schools. If over 55 is important to you, make sure the seller has a contractual obligation to keep it that way. It is not unheard of for a developer to get an over 55 approved; fail to sell at the asking price; and come back to the town trying to re-negotiate the over 55 limit.
 
Usually they have an elected BOD who can and does make all sorts of onerous rules with legally enforceable penalties. I served a lawsuit by a condo assn on some poor guy for $4K, he explained that it was because he had a small rip in the storm door screen in back of the house (it was a single family ranch but someone bought 3 in a row and condo-ized them) and because he had moved the "approved" picnic bench 90 degrees on his back deck.

My experiences are secondary from my late MIL who bought a condo in a >55 community in Ft. Lauderdale in the 1970s. They brought people up in front of the BOD for planting a small tree on the property as "it would undermine the foundation many years later". The condo rules were that nobody under 40 could live there. When my MIL passed away my Wife and her Sister inherited it. The one time we used it (prior to selling it) after her death, one of the old codgers waited by the stairs for me to get out of the car and then said "can I help you sonny" since it was obvious that I didn't belong there (I was 40). Thanks but no thanks.

I would expect that if anyone in one of these communities caught wind that you owned guns that it would go poorly for you. They would likely make a big deal about it and even possibly threaten to evict you if you didn't get rid of them.

Thanks but no thanks. My experiences in an apartment (Antico's Charlesbank Apts) with the standard Boston type lease with 5 pages of rules on what you could not do, led me to break my lease and buy a house quicker than I would have done normally and this was back in the 1970s.
 
What is the attraction for these communities? I'm over 55 and the last thing I want to do is live with a bunch of old folks. I'm afraid it will rub off and I'll start giving in to, and constantly talking about whatever physical maladies I may have.
 
We have friends who bought in an over-55 development under construction, they paid full price for a condo. After a year the developer couldn't sell some units so he rented them to Section 8. They can't sell because the place looks like a housing project and they need to sell for almost full price...a disaster
 
I refuse to live in ANY organized community. It becomes a shit show, I've seen it happen to other people over and over again. I'll keep my privacy and my autonomy, thank you very much!
 
What is the attraction for these communities? I'm over 55 and the last thing I want to do is live with a bunch of old folks. I'm afraid it will rub off and I'll start giving in to, and constantly talking about whatever physical maladies I may have.

Same hear. I don't like hanging with old folks.
 
What is the attraction for these communities? I'm over 55 and the last thing I want to do is live with a bunch of old folks. I'm afraid it will rub off and I'll start giving in to, and constantly talking about whatever physical maladies I may have.

For some folks, the attraction is not having to deal with loud parties late into the night. Others, it's not having to take care of a big yard.

That said, I'm with you. My wife can go live in one if she wants. Me and the dog will stay in the house.
 
its actually cheaper to just hire a landscaper to mow the lawns and remove the snow than it is for condo fee's at most places. put a little money off to the side every month for maintenance. condo's usually suck to live in too many rules and little hitlers running around looking to rat people out over small infractions.
 
its actually cheaper to just hire a landscaper to mow the lawns and remove the snow than it is for condo fee's at most places. put a little money off to the side every month for maintenance. condo's usually suck to live in too many rules and little hitlers running around looking to rat people out over small infractions.

Absolutely spot on!!
 
I was looking into these to see if it was a viable option for my mother to move to. She never does anything interesting at all, so complying with rules would not have been much of an issue for her. We did not look at condos though, just prefab house over 55 communities. The main problems I had were they all were way overpriced for what you get. I don't mind the idea of a prefab as long as it is built like a regular house.... These things all had 1/8" thick wall paneling that flexed on touching and were impossible to nail a picture hanger to.

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to paraphrase Groucho Marx " I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member"

Oh god, the Home Owners Association, a bunch of power hungry losers, determining my future. Could I have my grandkids over for a night? Can I paint my house yellow with pink polka-dots? What if my lawn is over 2.3" high will I get fined?

I'm retiring to a place where I can do what I want, as long as it is less than half an hour to the nearest, competent, emergency room.
 
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Avoid them at all costs and for the reasons that others have pointed out. My wife and I live in a condo complex (for now...it's on the market. Anyone want a deal? :D ) There is more stupid bullshit to deal with than anywhere I've ever lived. I would seriously rather live in an apartment. My wife threw me a birthday party a few years ago and hung three of those 1' crepe paper balls on the porch to let people know which place was ours. They had been up for 15 minutes when she got a call from the complex manager telling her they needed to come down. It absolutely is not worth it.
 
I love this post! It's exactly why my wife and I don't want to move to one of these places. As my late mother used to say, "Who wants to live with a bunch of alta kakas?"

What is the attraction for these communities? I'm over 55 and the last thing I want to do is live with a bunch of old folks. I'm afraid it will rub off and I'll start giving in to, and constantly talking about whatever physical maladies I may have.
 
its actually cheaper to just hire a landscaper to mow the lawns and remove the snow than it is for condo fee's at most places. put a little money off to the side every month for maintenance. condo's usually suck to live in too many rules and little hitlers running around looking to rat people out over small infractions.

There's an over 55 community in Stoughton that has a monthly fee of $650.00/month for "maintenance". For that price I can hire a guy to do my lawn and buy the biggest frigging snow blower on the planet. [laugh]
 
I know there is one in Winchendon and the guy who moved there likes it according to his son. If you do this, move into a well established one and KNOW the rules before you sign anything.
 
As bad as any regular HOA or condo complex is, imagine it where everybody is retired and has nothing better to do than make and enforce arbitrary rules.
 
Make your fence 55" or over so neighbors cant bother you. Why would someone want to live in a community where they can tell you if you can fly a flag? Not for me.
 
I love this post! It's exactly why my wife and I don't want to move to one of these places. As my late mother used to say, "Who wants to live with a bunch of alta kakas?"
Had to look it up:

Definitions-Yiddish
elderly person, old-timer [literally "old shitter"] "A crotchety, fussy, ineffectual old man."
[rofl] I would have liked you mother.
 
Thanks for the answers. Pretty much what I thought. The 55+ is for my MIL. She's almost 90. It would work for her. The condo info was for me but I really don't think I could handle the life. Not just the rules but the 'closeness' of all those humans. Haven't been in an apartment since I was a kid. I need a certain amount of personal space.
 
Thanks for the answers. Pretty much what I thought. The 55+ is for my MIL. She's almost 90. It would work for her. The condo info was for me but I really don't think I could handle the life. Not just the rules but the 'closeness' of all those humans. Haven't been in an apartment since I was a kid. I need a certain amount of personal space.

I hate being in close proximity of humans myself!
 
As bad as any regular HOA or condo complex is, imagine it where everybody is retired and has nothing better to do than make and enforce arbitrary rules.[ /QUOTE]

that's 1000% what happens, there is no MYFB. stuff gets made up as well to fill in the gaps, which blows it out of proportion.
 
I know there is one in Winchendon and the guy who moved there likes it according to his son. If you do this, move into a well established one and KNOW the rules before you sign anything.

But you get screwed when they change the rules. And majority rules!!


As bad as any regular HOA or condo complex is, imagine it where everybody is retired and has nothing better to do than make and enforce arbitrary rules.

As bad as any regular HOA or condo complex is, imagine it where everybody is retired and has nothing better to do than make and enforce arbitrary rules.[ /QUOTE]

that's 1000% what happens, there is no MYFB. stuff gets made up as well to fill in the gaps, which blows it out of proportion.

Exactly true!
 
I know an older (in their 80's) couple who live in a 55+ community here in MA. They have many firearms and are having a safe room built in their condo. My kind of people![wink]
 
She had a very dry sense of humor. She was 79 when she had a cardiac bypass and Aortic valve replacement. One of her nosy neighbors mentioned that she hadn't seen her in a while and asked where she'd been "At the hospital. I had breast implants."

Had to look it up:

Definitions-Yiddish
elderly person, old-timer [literally "old shitter"] "A crotchety, fussy, ineffectual old man."
[rofl] I would have liked you mother.
 
There's an over 55 community in Stoughton that has a monthly fee of $650.00/month for "maintenance". For that price I can hire a guy to do my lawn and buy the biggest frigging snow blower on the planet. [laugh]
And a happy ending massage at that price.
 
DAMN! My kids always call me that. Said it meant brave warrior. Now I know why they giggle so much.
Had to look it up:

Definitions-Yiddish
elderly person, old-timer [literally "old shitter"] "A crotchety, fussy, ineffectual old man."
[rofl] I would have liked you mother.
 
She had a very dry sense of humor. She was 79 when she had a cardiac bypass and Aortic valve replacement. One of her nosy neighbors mentioned that she hadn't seen her in a while and asked where she'd been "At the hospital. I had breast implants."

That's awesome.
 
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