55-Plus Communities Explained

55-plus communities are communities where the majority of the homeowners are over the age of 55. In most states, for a community to qualify for the 55-plus designation and to be marketed as such, at least 80 percent of the units have to be occupied by at least one person over 55. A common misconception is that everyone must be over 55 but that simply isn’t true. On the other hand, this does not mean that someone under 55 must be allowed to purchase a home. A community– through its deed restrictions– can legally deny someone the ability to purchase a home if they are not yet 55 years old.

Some 55-plus communities have limits on how long relatives such as kids or grandkids can visit, but those instances are usually limited to mobile home parks. While there are still many 55-plus communities being built throughout the country, research suggests that some boomers do not want to move into a 55-plus community due to some of the restrictions involved and because they associate it with being “old.” If you fall into this category, you may want to seriously consider a maintenance-free lifestyle community as an alternative. But even still, the business of developing and building 55-plus communities is… excuse me… booming, and those who do it right are experiencing amazing successes.

Bill Ness is a retired executive of Del-Webb, creators of the Sun City retirement community concept and pioneers of retirement community lifestyle design. Bill knows a thing or two about active adult and age restricted communities, and he’s got a website called 55Places.com where he reviews a whole bunch of 55-plus communities across the country. Be sure to check it out if you are considering that option for retirement.

(Photo by Christopher Dick on Flickr)