Are you folks familiar with that term? It stands for “other people’s money”. That’s exactly what the PIF is here in Sun City. We have and continue to rely on new buyers to finance our new projects. By doing this, nobody feels any financial obligation or responsibility for the new project because it’s basically “found money”. Where the rub comes in is after the fact when it comes to maintaining and repairing those properties. That’s when we expect members to pony up the money to do so. Well, now we’ve bent the rules to get the newcomers to pay for the new projects, but also pay part of the burden of maintaining what they paid for when they bought here. Somewhere, this has to end. We can’t continue to keep expecting newcomers to foot the bill. There is a day of reckoning coming
Just some thoughts, Larry: The PIFCIF (say that 3 times fast) is a flat number - so obviously as home prices rise that number equals a smaller percentage of sale price - which means less buyers will care. Day of reckoning may be when prices decline and buyers start to say no. But I'm sure what is already happening is that buyers are pushing back on sellers to pony that up or reduce sale price once it shows up on disclosure. The other issue is whether or not (I don't have answer) the RCSC is making it abundantly clear to prospective buyers exactly where and for what that money is going. ... the RCSC always makes things abundantly clear, right?
I would think the explanation of that money really belongs on the backs of the real estate agents selling those homes because a person would not necessarily otherwise know about those additional fees until they sign the Purchase Agreement? The RSCS needs to find a better way to educate the realters because I still see ads for home sales in Sun City that don't mention the age restriction and they also list the local school district! Then of course you have that area of homes north of Bell Road with a Sun City Zip Code but are not part of the RCSC and can't use the facilities!
Hmmm - only been a few years but I can't remember what I knew when about PIF and who told me... But Larry's post sure makes you wonder how people are going to take it. PIF was essentially to build new stuff designed for a 'different' generation. But CIF? "Oh yeah, well that's you paying us for things we built long before you got here and thru mismanagement have gotten run-down. Welcome!"
