Sun City Types of Housing

You have 2 shared walls?
Does that mean that you are a combination of 3 condos stuck together?

 

Your place must be located just above Bell Rd. around Palmeras. The next time I am in that area I will take a look at homes.
Yes, prices have very defintely gone up about the amount you mentioned.

I considered investing in a home in Sun City last year when the prices were as low as they were going to get.
On second thought I decided I did not want to be a landlord. Hmmmm. Or landlady. Is there such a word?

 

Interesting on the homes not being listed, because the other night I drove by them and low and behold there were two for sale signs. Home Smart listed 10718 Buccaneer Way and Keller Williams had 10720 Topaz Drive. I came home and looked them both up and neither indicated they were active listings. I suppose they could both be pending but they usually put signs on them so stating. The third home I thought was for sale was on Del Webb Blvd. It was a small 3 bedroom and was owned by a former Webb employee. It's been on the market for the past two years, perhaps that one has sold as well. Strange.

I wrote an article for my old Sun Cities Today blog on these Patio homes a couple of years back. Here is the link, but disregard the realtors name in it. Judy has moved on to be near family in California. There's a couple of pictures and the unit mentioned has obviously sold. They are just a small piece of Sun City's history.

One piece of advice for those looking to buy: Write down what you want in a house; number of bedrooms and bathrooms; square footage; formal dinning room; galley kitchen or eat in; out door living space; whether you are looking to remodel or not. Once you've boiled them down, any realtor worth their salt can help you find your dream home (and not waste time looking at those that don't fit the parameters). A word of caution; don't panic if the home you want sells, in Sun City one just like it will be for sale next month.

 

I always turn off my water at the main pipe when I am going to be gone more than a day.
I also have a neighbor go into my house every few days to check things out and bring in the mail.
No, I don't ever stop the mail.
Then, of course, I do Vacation Watch with the Posse.

Adding a new sewer drain for washer sounds like a good idea.

When my new washer was not installed correctly last year, it flooded my laundry room and part of the dining room that is on the opposite side of the wall. The company that installed the washer corrected the problem and paid to have carpet cleaned. They were probably worried that I would sue them. The washer and dryer should have originally been put on the wall next to the garage. Now I keep a close eye out for water.

 

I did just exactly what you said in last paragraph re writing down what you want in a house.
First realtor apparently wasn't listening.
Second realtor found my house within 2 weeks.

 

My most recent evaluation is up $3,000 from previous year.

You can have the property tax frozen if you meet certain conditions.
The full cash value is frozen for 3 years unless there is a change of ownership.
This program is available for those 65 or older.
Information is on the back of "Property Notice of Evaluation".

 

All plans are different and some have split truss systems with bearing walls. Please do not assume your house can just have interior walls removed. Some of the smaller, flat roofed plans no problem but even some of those have bearing walls as well as some of the larger homes with raised ceilings, they can be loaded with bearing walls. Trust but verify lol.

 

I was on vacation when they came down! I can imagine how much fun my son had with a crow bar and sledge hammer.

 

I read your article, B. Those patio homes are so cool. I don't know if I should wait for one or what. I've always wanted a house with an enclosed courtyard and they have two. I didn't want a lot of square footage, 1300-1500 is perfect for me, and it seems they are all bigger. Who know though I might go bigger for something like that. I wonder if the courtyard is included in the square footage. I'm keeping my eye on them for a while, but I don't want to wait too long to buy. If i can't I might try to add a courtyard in the back but couldn't do it like those. Curious though if there is no HOA fee, what happens if a shared wall is damaged. A contract must say something about it.

 

I have never seen my husband enjoy himself so much with a sledge hammer lol. It does feel good to get rid of the oldness sometimes.

 

Peg mentioned this earlier C; there are CC&R's regarding wall height for virtually everyone in Sun City with the best you can hope for is 6ft (considerably less on the golf course). The oddity of these units is they were built that way with them being as high as they are and with no issues regarding the CC&R's. The two court yards are wonderful and often have multiple exits to them. The one I looked at had 3 or 4 to a pool in the back patio.

No idea on the walls or the responsibility. They look solid as a rock and i suspect somewhere that is all spelled out (most likely in your deed restrictions). You know timing is everything and just about a year back there was a 1800 sq ft unit that was listed for $96,000. I don't know if it ever sold for that, you know the games they play in short sales and foreclosures.

What you should do is come over and take a look at one to see if it fits your lifestyle. If so, waiting might be a good option.

 

Yes, seems the highest walls are those patio homes. I had researched this too bec. of my dogs, but as you've heard, 6 ft won't necessarily deter a coyote,which seems hard to believe, but somehow they do it. Heck, even cottontails are surprising--the four foot one by my neighbor's often has one sitting on top! Anyway, a smaller kennel run with top might be handy to have with a doggy door leading to it. Two of my neighbors have these on the sides of their homes, and a 4 ft fence around your property might then be enough for some dog-running under your watchful eye. I wouldn't be in a big hurry to put up a cinder block fence without spending some time living on your land. A neighbor quickly installed one, then realized they missed their more open view beyond, missed the breezes, etc. Consider decorative pierced cinder too. Research those companies too. My house came with a knee wall that was incorrectly installed and was cracking. Part was installed on concrete pad and part on stones. A proper footing is needed. You can start by using list available via SCHOA.

 

What has worked in my neighborhood to keep the coyotes out is a chain link, or decorative block wall with bushes planted on the outside.....

 

One winter while we were away, we rented our home for three months for about $1800 a month. Not sure what they get today, but these types of rentals are available to a service.

 

Lots of good ideas here. I'm curious how a chain link fence keeps out the coyote. Can they jump over it?

 

Coyotes can jump just about anything ! ! In reality -- - EVERYTHING !
I had a coyote on top of my Block Wall fence which is 5 foot plus in December - 2012....
I tried to get a good photo of this creature on my wall - -all I got was this pic thru my sliding door/screen....
He was a bold critter....looking for something ? ? ?
I have no pets for him to want...but he was up there looking around.
Just be cautious - especially if you have small pets....be with them always - - and don't let them outdoors alone -- a simple rule - -stay with your pets.





Also pictured - a coyote family crossing Del Webb...going on Riverview Golf course. June 2010

 

Not a chain link alone but combined with bushes or a hedge outside it. Sorry if I didnt make that clear.