Generations

a neighbor, about the same age , , , often voiced his unhappiness with 'having a house' - and 'thinking about moving to a condo.'

with the increased real estate (including condos....) costs, and the fees/etc., he rapidly found the option of not having to mow grass, rake leaves, do landscaping, house maintenance, etc etc. . . . vastly exceeded the cost of staying in the house and simply hiring people to do 'all that stuff.'

an acquaintance had to move her mother into an 'assisted living' arrangement, , , @ $5,000 per month, until her mother went broke and qualified for Medicad type financial support.... which only took a couple months . . . .

my mother moved into a retirement community - between the entry fee and the monthly fees . . . a financial disaster.
she had a monthly 'eating allowance' - okay if you still had the mobility / interest to get to the dining room. was sorta' like 'eating at the same restaurant for two years" - the menu wears thin. eventually she went into hospice care - moved in with us - and 'survived' hospice for five+/- years . . . an unusual situation in and of itself - but she was 'of the old school' and did not give up all so easy.

I can still manage the electric start John Deer riding mower, and the electric start/self-propelled snow blower - so I / we still do the "easy" stuff. but the tree trimming, two tons of mulch . . . yeah, we hire some help to make all that happen.
and actually, if the snow isn't too deep, I just let it melt . . . I use the chest freezer as my shopping destination . . .

there are a lot of factors that go into decisions about relocating into 'non-independent' situations.
btw, if you have enterprising grandchildren - it used to be "plastics," Mrs Robinson - now it's profitably re-purposing all these retirement / independent living facilities - because the baby boomers are fading fast . . .
 
Well, I suppose I am old. But I can't think of anything which interests me which could be termed an older person's interests.
That's why you and I aren't (and never will be) into going on those geriatric cruise ships where these old Q-tips get together and play shuffleboard and bingo. It's the same at some of the resorts DH and I go to. They have an activity calendar with various events that they give people upon check-in. We want no part of socializing with other people at these places, really. We also don't like structured activities and we want to go off on our own. We do like that it's mostly older people like us in that they generally do go to bed earlier and are not terribly noisy.
 
Now mind y'all, there are big differences here in the USA between all of these different living arrangements.

A 55+ Community is just that, a bunch of homes-in varying sizes-in one age-restricted neighborhood.

There's Senior Living Communities, like the one Mother is in, all older folks, usually more than 55+, with services added at a cost, such as meals, activities, outings/appointments/shopping, etc, in the Community's provided vehicle, Health Care Providers (when needed) in house 24/7. You can move into Assisted Living or Memory Care (eyes on you at all times) Apartments within that same Community-which usually are in Apartment configurations.

DH & I lived in a 55+ neighborhood for many years in Southern Arizona, but found it chocking. Everyone wanted to know our business and if we didn't participate in the "Forced Fun" activities, you heard about it! GOTTA GO!

I would suggest (I'm lookin' at you TastyReuben) that if one were thinking of buying a home in a 55+ community of any kind (condos, apartments, "single or double wides") look at the re-sale market within that community.
We got stung, badly, when we went to sell and get out.
Some folks living in those neighborhoods are quite elderly and for lack of putting any kinder, they had one foot an a banana peel and they other, well, you know what I mean.
When they did pass, their heirs wanted to sell and sell fast! They really didn't care too much about how much they got out of the sale, it wasn't theirs to begin with. They'd sell to the first person who came along at any price.
We were so under cut because of the "comps" around us - beware!
 
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