Yet another article about boomer's not being interested in Sun City...

It literally drives me wild; perhaps it's because I look for articles about age restricted communities. There's been a never ending stream of why boomers aren't interested in what Del Webb first built. How the boomers are coming with a whole slew of new wants, needs and expectations. Usually the people they are talking to (the experts) are folks selling new communities.

I get it, competing with us is tough enough; far easier to tell boomers what they want isn't places like the original Sun City. What makes it even worse is when their boomer surveys support the very tenants Sun City was built around. The newer communities do not and never will be what we are. Between land mass and costs to replicate, smaller is the name of the game for them.

The thing is, there's plenty of buyers to go around. I seldom bad mouth what newer communities are. I know they more impressive at first glance and for lots of potential buyers they will always beat us on pure appearance. It's why I always tell people to do their homework. It's easy to get caught up in glitz and glamour. And if that's what you are looking for, you should buy there.

But if you want more to your retirement than just playing your life away, Sun City is on an entirely different level. The infrastructure and the history is special but more importantly our future is in the very hands of those buying here. There's a responsibility that comes with ownership that is unique. Others may be more pretty, but peal back the layers and look closely at the differences.

We will sell close on to 2500 homes this year, staggering numbers. Imagine being a new Del Webb Sun City and reaching those kinds of sales figures. They'd think they died and went to heaven. We look at it as how it should be. How cool is that?

Oh, by the way, here's the link to the article.

PS. The Webb spokesperson Jacque Petroulakis is a wonderful young lady who cut her teeth as a reporter at The Daily News Sun (our local paper) back in the early 90's.

 

Hmm, an interesting article, but too generalizing IMHO.

I know there are those that say they want the age restricted community that takes care of them and they don't have to volunteer for anything. Sounds great until you realize you are paying a huge premium to have someone else choose your destiny. Not my idea of fun.

I talk about Sun City all time with my friends that are close to my age. Their response is typically something like, "that sounds really nice". However when I tell them to check it out, 7 out of 10 will say something like, "while it it sounds nice it is not what I like". These folks have it in their head that these communities are like the newer smaller ones being built today. They really don't get the original Sun City idea.

All I can say is to each their own. I personally would like to have some say in what happens to my community. Even if my wants don't happen at least I was able to provide input. In the newer communities that we have looked at (Sun City Festival and Sun City Mesquite) you are at the mercy of the builder and have no say in anything ever.

The original Sun City is the place we want to be. We did a quick trip for our anniversary over Labor day weekend and looked a few open houses. While the open ones we looked at seemed way over priced we got some good ideas of what a little bit of work and paint can do. I know how to do the bulk of the work so labor would be cheap.

At this point we have to figure out my needing a new job situation, but if all works out we may be in Sun City sooner than we had originally planned. At this point we are doing all we can and have left the rest up to the good Lord's guidance.

 

The reality is that SC could not be duplicated today. A "build" that I had a small involvement in was in court and in planning nearly 20 years and was an investment of $100 million before the first home was built.
To me one of the most positive things about the future of SC are the remodels. Amazing what can be done with a 50 year old SC home.

 

Rest assured there are jobs available for seniors in and around Sun City.
Even the Rec Centers hire seniors.
Walk into any store and you will see seniors working even Taco Bell! It's refreshing.
O.K. so the pay might not be great, but.........

With all the medical facilities, doctors, hospital, etc. there are many jobs available that would probably pay more, and you do not have to be medically inclined.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't looked for a job!

 

I had no difficulty in finding a job. I wanted part time work that would earn enough just to cover my monthly private health insurance premium of $490. The problem I had is they began to schedule me to work more hours than I signed on for when hired. The employer's request for increased hours interfered with my volunteer and caregiver duties for my parents. I did give them 3 years of service. Now I finally have Medicare with Medisun which is like getting the income from a part time job without working!

It's hard to balance all your time when there's so much to do in Sun City.

 

I have noticed that around Sun City employment would not be much of a problem if the level of pay is not an issue.

Unfortunately for our situation I need a couple more years of that good pay I am enjoying.
I am pursuing a job at my currently employer that will allow me to work from my home office.
If this works out for me and my sweet wife can get approval to work from home also we could possibly be ready to move by next spring. Lots of variables.

Stranger things have happened, it is in the Lord's hand now.

 

Spot on regarding all of the above comments gang. There's plenty of part time work to help supplement a retirement income, but full time with decent pay is tougher to come by (as it is everywhere in the country). Anyone with a medical background has clearly got a leg up, and that will only get better as time passes. Sun City will continue to be on the cutting edge of medical technology for seniors.

I was given a book put together in the late 80's or early 90's by a guy who did insurance assessments for major corporations around the country. He wanted the museum to have it and what was so interesting was he had replacement numbers back then well in excess of 100 million dollars. He took every asset we had and set a value to it.

These figures support fj's point; we will never be replicated or duplicated. Lots will keep getting smaller and smaller, especially when you get closer to larger cities. Amenities will shrink in both number and size, most likely having one really grand palace, that will be the showstopper for new buyers. It's kind of like those 150 square foot bathrooms, awesome to look at, but then what? Sorry to be so graphic, but taking a crap is still just taking a crap. Why would you want to pay more to do that?

But of course I jest...kind of. Boomer's will always want/expect quality, and that's exactly why I near on beg potential buyers to check out Sun City. We never are what they expect, especially after reading articles telling them we aren't what they want. There is a method to new developers madness, which is why I usually put my two cents in.

 

The median age in new "senior" communities is generally between 60-65. While SC has a higher median age, those newer communities have an increasing median age, whereas SC should have a declining median age.