I might have mentioned it before but i will repeat it; it was 3 or 4 years ago when we suddenly found a bunch of new members joining TOSC . They had stumbled across the site and were using it to fill in their internet research on which age restricted community might appeal to them over others. I think at one point we had 5 or 6 potential buyers log in and ask questions about the community. Most of them ended up purchasing a home in Sun City. I know some still read but don't post much any more. Once they get here they realize there is way more to do than sit at a keyboard and type. All beside the point, because what i am looking for, given our 4 latest new TOSC members have already purchased homes in Sun City, are some easily answered questions. I have long suspected sites laden with data and information are far more helpful than realtor sites where it appears they are simply trying to secure you as a client. My questions are simple: 1). How did you find TOSC? 2). What drove you to consider the original Sun City, given it is the oldest? 3). How much online research did you do beyond TOSC. Feel free to answer them individually or as a narrative on relaying your story to us.
I found it by a search on Google. We looked at Sun City and Sun City West but felt our money went further in Sun City. I looked at the Sun City website and city-data.com Phoenix board. We purchased our condo on our very first trip to Sun City.
Dang suss, never asked you that before. Once you found it on Google was it the websites from the two organizations that showed you what you wanted to see or were there other sites that got you further interested?
I was looking for a 55+ home in the Phoenix area 3 months ago, mostly in Mesa. A friend suggested I check out Sun City and I was impressed. Googled the area and, like ssussea, city-data and Talk of Sun City came up. The home had the right price, right HOA and houses are solid. Very well built. I started reading the older posts and quickly realized Sun City was the place for me. It just felt right.
Hey LilC, thanks. Love the feedback; hopefully the other new comers will join in. No question the net is becoming an incredible resource, and why this site can be a value added. I've written it too many times to count but we visited several Webb communities before we bought. All were newer and nicer, none felt as comfortable. 20 years after buying and 17 years of living here and we still feel like it was the perfect choice for us. That first year of living here was by far the best. Every day was an adventure and we are still finding things we didn't know.
My questions are simple: 1). How did you find TOSC? When my husband and I began our search, I tend to over research. Especially due to the fact that the last time we purchased, the market crashed shortly thereafter. I found this site a year ago and lurked about a bit and read quite a few of the posts. I was fascinated by the interest in the history and appreciated how well documented topics were in this forum. 2). What drove you to consider the original Sun City, given it is the oldest? Initially our interest was piqued in researching 55+ communities when my mom purchased two years ago in Sun City West. We looked at those properties as well as Pebble Creek, however I became fascinated in the original Sun City due to the location and history. The unique architecture with all its charm and challenges intrigued me. Once we seriously began to look it took us a year to find a property that fit our needs in the lot specifics my husband desired, as well as a flexible floor plan. We finally found both! 3). How much online research did you do beyond TOSC. I attempted to research online, I looked for facebook forums which seem to be nearly non existent. Initially we were considering Sun City West and they do have a lively and interactive forum on facebook as that seems to be my social media of choice. However, I did find resources pointing us to the museum which we investigated, as well as the sun city web site. Overall we are very pleased with our choice! We have spent last weekend removing popcorn and refinishing ceilings, on to paint base boards and flooring so we can move in soon!
Thanks gang for the responses. I've long believed Sun City has been short on an aggressive net presence. We're there, just not in a capacity or interactive approach like we should be. Hopefully that will change over the next couple of years. Funny thing on interactive sites because organizations frown on them. As you noted Cheryl, Sun City West does a better job of at least trying to respond to questions online. A couple of years back while president of the Del Webb Sun Cities museum we worked with a former board member who had a foundation and she donated money to pay for the patio we built out back. It served its purpose but is now gone and being replaced by a wonderful addition for some much needed display space. She was originally from Boston and loved talking about the historical significance of places like Boston and Philadelphia. They played integral roles in the founding of our country and their rich history made them destinations because of it. I never forgot those comments. Here's why; on a smaller scale, Sun City has a history that stands alone. We were the first and consequently the most important community of its kind in the country. And as a i read hundreds of files, folders, magazines and books i came to understand just how important that history was, is and always will be. The problem is, where the hell do you store it? How do you showcase it? How do you make it more prominent? The answer was simple, the internet. Of course the bigger challenge is making it visually attractive. Building a site that is easy to navigate and exciting to sift through is far more difficult. Then compound that by adding in social media and its even tougher. Our committee on a comprehensive 5 year plan is moving forward. One of the first steps will be to enhance the museum's Facebook page. On July 6, we will launch a different concept in presenting Sun City's history on Facebook. No idea how this will be received but i am excited by the potential to tell the Sun City story in ways it has not been done before. I have offered to do the writing for it. The museum has an amazing photo library and we will incorporate it into the story telling. We are convinced the better people understand our history, the better people will understand how and why we were successful. Love to hear others thoughts because it helps validate we are moving in the right direction.
How do I become involved? I am very new and excited to help. I am enchanted by the history of this community, if you get a chance, please let me know how to join the museum!
Couple of different answers to that question C. If you want to become a guide this fall when it opens i can get you materials to read during the summer. If you are looking for a bigger challenge we will be putting several committees together this summer to work on the 5 year strategic plan. Love to have you join us on one or both of them. There is a private message function on this site so pm me for more details.
Yes yes! My apologies. We are in the process of renovating our new home there and went a bit deeper than we thought we would! Lol. Ceiling popcorn, painting, new flooring, kitchen. Crazy!! We have been up there killing ourselves with all the fun hoping to round the bend. We started the flooring yesterday, hoping to get moved in this coming weekend. My apologies for the delay. In response, it has taken us longer to get to the end result. We bought a Castillo which I believe was the same floor plan you had over on desert rock so I'm sure you are intimately acquainted with all the possibilities of that floor plan! Please give me a few more days! I am happy for this opportunity! Cheryl
Nice. No rush. There's not much to do this summer. A little light reading and meeting a few folks will pretty well round out what we can do. The new addition opening in November will be the highlight for the museum this year. The Facebook story line we are working on should be interesting and i may want to pick your brain on that. Pretty clueless on the whole social media thing. The Castillo is a great model, so much you can do with it. We loved the heck out of ours and only left it because of the limits we had from the lot size after the addition had been put on. It's one of only a handful of models that has the big open kitchen. I've seen some where they have taken down walls and it gets pretty cool. The biggest problem is with the flat roof, the use of engineered beams with more than 20 foot spans gets pricey. If you read the story form selling the compound, you may have noted we remodeled the kitchen three times. Funny what a little paint did in there the first time. And a quick note, adding a solar tube was incredible. Interior spaces that are dark during the days explode when adding the tube and they are not very expensive. We just put one in our laundry room in the new house and once the sun comes up, i swear there is a light on every time i walk by.
I discovered this forum via Google. I've been searching the listings for weeks and figured it would be a good idea to find forums related to the areas.
