55 and older

[Lobo Fan]

I am working on a report for a townhouse in a gated community. It changed to a 55 or older only community in March. There have been no closed sales within the development since July of last year. I called a couple of Realtors that work the area pretty hard trying to come up with an adjustment to active listings.

Any other ideas as to how to gauge the impact? I want to make sure I explore all possibilities.

 

[Jerry Bone Jr]

Use some comparable sales from inside the community. Use some comparable sales from a near by, competing 55+ community. Adjust active listings ?

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

Is there another similar development in the area? Even if the distances have to be exceeded? In my market we have two fairly similar MH PUDs - one of which is 55+ and other is not. I can't see any market reaction one way or the other because of age requirements in these developments. One of them generally sells for higher prices because the homes are typically nicer/bigger and the amenties are larger/better. The other is smaller/older - it is the 55+ community but I believe the market reaction is to the homes themselves and the "niceness" of the amenities.

Since Florida has a lot of retirees, these developments are not uncommon down here and I would think they wouldn't be where you are, either.

I would try to find a 55+ community of similar homes and attempt to use comps from it. I would also use the newest sale from the subject's neighborhood. In this case, you may have to comment that there have been no sales since the recent conversion to 55+ to base making any adjustment on the market reaction.

 

[Walter Kirk]

Is the change to 55+ retroactive? Most communities of this type are deed restricted. If you are working on a unit which was deeded before this restriction it probably doesn't apply.

 

[Lobo Fan]

There is another, similar 55+ community. The subject development is located on a golf course and is gated. The other is not. The 55+ was enacted in March and is effective immediately. It replaces an earlier restriction on nobody under 18 which is illegal. No sales in the MLS since last July. One FSBO and one short sale. I do not have access to either.

Several actives, though no real pattern has developed. Would a drop in value be attributed to the market or the restriction? Hard to tell.