You’re looking for a new house and you’ve heard about these Senior Communities. Maybe your kids are even pushing for you to move into one.

But wait, you’re not old yet. You don’t even feel a day over 55! Why should you be thinking of moving to a senior community? And your kids think you’re the one who’s out of touch…

Maybe before you poo-poo their prodding, you should at least hear them out?

After all, you’re pretty sure that this new home is going to be the last one you ever buy. Not that you’re ready to die, because let’s face it, you’ve still got a lot of life left to live. Moving is just plain stressful.

While you don’t feel old, you know that you’re at least old enough to make the best of a moving decision possible. That’s called being wise.

So let’s do a little research. It can’t hurt to at least see what these senior communities are all about.

Aren’t Senior communities full of old people?

When you hear the term “Senior Community” your first thought is old people.

True, most days, the word “Senior” does not describe how you feel about yourself. When you think of that word, you have visions of nurses changing adult diapers. Definitely not you!

You’re still active, having fun, traveling, in many cases–even working still. Yes, you are still considered an active adult. The only time you might want to claim the senior status is when you’re trying to milk the system for a cheaper movie ticket. Even then you almost feel guilty, at least until you take a second look at the full price of admission.

Frankly, we’re often a little more liberal in our use of the term “Seniors”. We’re not insinuating that you are over the hill. Quite the opposite in fact. We’re even lumping those of you between 55 and 65 into the mix.

As far as we’re concerned, living in a senior community doesn’t make you old.

First of all, there is a big difference between 55+ active adults and assisted living.

So what is the big difference between a senior community like what Leisure Villas builds verses an assisted living arrangement?

The simple answer: A HUGE difference!

For example:

Nursing Home

People go to nursing homes to die.

Nursing homes are depressing.

Grandkids hate going to the nursing home.

Residents are always trying to escape.

Residents live sedimentary lifestyles.

 

 

Senior Community

People come to a senior community to live.

Senior communities are exciting.

Grandkids can’t seem to visit often enough.

There is often a waiting list to move in here.

Homeowners here like to get out and play.

 

 

 

This list could go on, but I think you get the point. Moving into a senior community is more about sharing an active lifestyle with neighbors your same age. Not saying that having younger families in the neighborhood is a bad thing, but you’ve got kids and grandkids who can visit and give you that diversity.

Wouldn’t you like to have more neighbors whom you have more in common with?

Second, your age is only a number.

To better help you understand what we mean by this, Senior communities are not “young” restricted, they are age restricted.

This means that we only look at your legal birthdate to determine if you’re able to live here. We don’t offer meal plans or medical services because you are still young enough to take care of yourself.

But I know what you’re asking–Are there some really old or really young people living in these communities?

The answer is yes. Naturally there will be some diversity. But we’re not well suited for assisted living. Nor do many young couples feel like moving here. So the average age tends to hover mostly around the empty nester stage of life.

What’s to keep our community 55 and over? If someone decides to sell their home, couldn’t a bunch of young families eventually fill in the neighborhood?

This is the beauty of living in one of Leisure Villas’ developments. While some neighborhoods market to “Seniors,” they don’t all have the safeguards in place to keep that community age restricted. Each one of our developments is a HUD Approved Senior Community. Under these Federal guidelines, our senior communities are legally bound to accept no more than 20% of household owners under 55 years of age.

Every sale of every house must therefore be approved by the HOA to maintain its continuing age restrictions. Thus you can be well assured that the 55+ neighborhood you buy a home in today, will remain such for the life of the whole community.

 If you are over 55 and thinking of moving, you should check out one of these communities.

Okay, so maybe your kids aren’t as daft as you may have first thought when they asked you to look into a senior community. A 55+ community is actually starting to sound a little fun. This is a relief, not only because you always hoped that your kids would turn out to have at least half a brain, but now the gears in your head are turning also.

This idea of living around people your same age has nothing to do with being old. It has everything to do with settling into a neighborhood with people that you can relate to.

The younger families all have their starter home communities and you never know what the mix will be in other subdivisions. But in a 55+ active adult community, you know exactly what kind of people are going to be there. They are going to be people like you. Neighbors that you can go out to lunch or dinner with; Neighbors who you can go shoot a game of billiards or go shopping on a whim with; Neighbors who you can even go on a cruise with.

You’re not just moving into a subdivision with people your same age, you’re moving into a community that has greater opportunities for developing real meaningful friendships. Just imagine the possibilities.

Undoubtedly, this short treatise for senior communities won’t persuade you alone. If nothing else, hopefully, it’s enough to just get you thinking. If you really want to see what one of our communities is really like, check out some of our communities here. Then come visit us in person. You can walk around and see the amenities and visit with the good folk living there.

You’ll be more convinced after chatting with some of them than you’d ever be by anything you read see or even hear from our friendly sales staff.

Leisure Villas has been in the business for nearly 20 years. Nobody understands you better than us. Come visit us today, and see why we are Utah’s preferred builder of active adult communities.