Guidelines in Choosing an Active Adult Community

1.Determine if living in an active adult community is for you. Living in an active adult community requires a lot of adjustments and flexibility. Ask yourself if you can be flexible with your new environment. Your lifestyle may also change and you should be prepared that the place, the surroundings, the people and many factors may be far more different from what you have now.

2. Consider it early. Living in a retirement location may require you a lot of time to make a decision. However, you should consider it early. You need to think about it and decide for it before you in the midst of retirement, or else it will catch you by surprise. In addition, moving in to an active adult community may involve relocating to another city or state such as Florida, Arizona, or California. Therefore, it is better to make your decisions long enough in advance to plan the logistics of a move.

3. Make a list on what you are looking for in an active adult community. Since moving to an active adult community means living in a new place, shop around before jumping on a final decision. Make a checklist of what you like in a retirement location. Getting a handbook of every prospect will also help you make the job easier. Consider the houses, the neighborhood, the different amenities and accessibility of the place.

4. Visit the community, and if possible, have an extended stay for a weekend or longer. It is better to check on many retirement locations before you make the final choice. You can then narrow down your choices. Visiting the place will help you make the comparison and will make you also consider if the place feels right for you. That will also be the chance for you make a survey of the neighborhood. You can also ask them what they like about the place, the experiences and the things that they do not like about the place.


5. Budget for your new home purchase. Do not forget expenses that will arise once you have moved in to your new active adult community. You need money to live a comfortable, active retirement lifestyle - and that is why it important to have a financial plan before you make any permanent decisions about making the move to your new retirement community.