This morning i went past my mother's quad unit to see how the tile guy was doing. When i left i drove around the corner i noticed a for sale sign in one of the units in her HOA was for sale. There's only 12 of them so it's relatively small and friendly. The unit is like mom's, but that's not the point. What struck me was the house was on the market. I know the two couples that own and share it, and I hadn't expected to see it for sale. It sent my mind scurrying...why? A bit of an explanantion first though: I used to run the used lawn bowls program for the 5 lawn bowling clubs in Sun City. I became accustomed to checking the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the British pound, and the Australian and Canadian dollar. I'm not doing it these days, but i still check the rates periodically. Which brings me back to my thoughts: The Canadian dollar is just a touch over 75 cents against the U.S. dollar. Obviously that is significant for Canadian's who own in Sun City...and there's a whole slew of them. We've long been a destination for our neighbors to the north. So as i analyzed the why, it struck me, they are Canadian's. Don't know if you know this but when Canadian's come here they have to buy special health insurance and it's really expensive and the older you get the higher it is. To add to their woes, the quad they own has a monthly HOA fee of $225 per month (add 25% to that) and you see where this is going. Now consider taxes, rec fees, and the cost to come down here and stay for 4 to 6 months and the costs explode. Then figure if you sell it, you get paid in American dollars. And this is where i see another potential perfect storm for the Sun City housing market this fall and winter. If the Canadian dollar stays weak, look for some of those Canadian's to be bailing out rather than taking the hit. Dang, sometimes i wish more normal.
Very interesting information. I meet a lot of Canadians. Especially at the Posse when they leave and then return. I do know they can only be out of their country for a specific length of time. It has something to do with health insurance. BTW. Keep being "abnormal".
Totally not the point of your post, but I got stuck here"...used lawn bowls program...". What's a used lawn bowl program? This is an interesting point you make about the Canadians, the Canadian dollar, and the cost for them to come down to the US for the winter. Our friends who summer in Sweden winter in SC, have made a lot of friends who snowbird from Canada. I will have to ask the Swedes if the US exchange rate is taking a toll on their friends.
Lawn bowling is a popular sport in Sun City with 5 lawn bowling clubs and about 400 members. Unfortunately the sport is one that is virtually unknown in the USA, spare a few places in the country it is popular. Every year we get lots of new bowlers giving it a try and the problem was, there's only a handful of new bowls sellers online and they are way too expensive for someone who is just breaking into the sport. A dozen years back the clubs started a used bowls program. I ran it for 6 years and was frequently looking to but used bowls from either the UK or Australia. The bulk of our bowls came from older bowlers who were getting out of the game, but we tried to supplement our inventory with some newer bowls to entice trade-ins. It was and still is a great program in that new bowlers could buy a used set (4 bowls) for as little as $50. The best part was we would buy them back for all but $10. Kind of epitomizes Sun City, recycling the bowls to help keep it affordable. I tried to maintain between 80 and 100 sets of bowls.
ahhhhh.....so knowing that a bowl is (for lack of a better comparison term) the ball(s) used in lawn bowling would have served me well. Google is my friend.
I guess here's two more thoughts about home sales this fall: The PIF fee will be increasing from $3000 to $3600 and potential buyers are probably being made aware of that fact. The increase may not mean anything to some, but others will want to close before the increase goes into effect. Could the new casino opening just around the corner in Glendale be a subtle draw to buyers? No more long bus trips to the east valley!
Spot on aggie; but I think the increased PIF is going to $3500...anyone know the date it will change? And the new casino will just add to the long list of reasons to opt for the West Valley as a destination of choice. Hopefully the idiot politicians will get out of the way and stop fighting its opening. I know the tribe is shooting for an opening by years end...that would be sweet.
