Adult Communities & 55+ Homes Insider Insights
Cedar Glen West in Manchester, NJ: A Guide to This Adult Community
Cedar Glen West is an adult community in the northern part of Manchester Township, Ocean County, with 575 homes of about 700 to 1,100 square feet. Its monthly fee, according to 55places, covers an unusually long list…
Four Seasons at Harbor Bay in Little Egg Harbor, NJ: Adult Community Guide
Four Seasons at Harbor Bay is a gated adult community by K. Hovnanian in Little Egg Harbor Township, in southern Ocean County. Development began in 2007, and 55places lists 387 single-family homes in craftsman-style…
Four Seasons at Wall in Wall Township, NJ: A Guide to This Adult Community
Four Seasons at Wall is a gated adult community of 400 single-family homes in Wall Township, Monmouth County, built by K. Hovnanian from 1997 to 1999. Homes run from about 1,500 to 3,500 square feet with two to four…
Horizons at Barnegat in Barnegat, NJ: A Guide to This Adult Community
Horizons at Barnegat is a small adult community in Barnegat Township, Ocean County, with 164 single-family homes built by Kara Homes between 1998 and 2005. Every floor plan listed for it is over 2,000 square feet, and…
Lake Ridge in Toms River, NJ: A Guide to This Adult Community
Lake Ridge is a gated adult community of about 925 single-family homes in Toms River Township, Ocean County, built by the Kokes Organization between 1994 and 1998. 55places describes it as set on 300 landscaped acres…
Nobility Crest at Ocean in Ocean Township, NJ: Adult Community Guide
Nobility Crest at Ocean is a gated adult community of condominiums in Ocean Township, Monmouth County. 55places lists 198 homes in low-rise condominium buildings, with a 4,300 square foot clubhouse called the Lifestyle…
Wedgewood Place in Brick, NJ: A Guide to This Adult Community
Wedgewood Place is a small adult community in Brick Township, Ocean County, with 145 single-family homes. 55places lists Brick Builders as the builder and gives construction dates of 1999 to 2003. Every one of the four…
55+ Community Clubhouses and Amenities: What the Association Fee Pays For
A 55+ community's monthly fee pays for whatever its documents make the association responsible for, which can be as little as the clubhouse and the grounds or as much as your lawn, snow, trash, roof, bus service and…
55+ Golf Communities in Monmouth and Ocean County: What the Golf Includes
Ten age-restricted communities in Monmouth and Ocean County describe a golf course inside the community on their own websites: nine in Ocean County and one in Monmouth County. They range from a private nine-hole par-3…
Buying a Home in a 55+ Community for a Parent
You can often buy a home in a 55+ community for a parent, but whose name goes on the deed matters: the community's rules decide who may own and who may live there, a lender decides whether your loan counts as a home…
Can a Younger Spouse Live in a 55+ Community in New Jersey?
Under federal law, yes. A home counts toward a 55+ community's required 80% as long as at least one person living in it is 55 or older, so a 57-year-old and a 51-year-old spouse can live there together. Whether your…
Can Adult Children, Grandchildren or a Caregiver Live With You in a 55+ Community?
Often yes for an adult child, and the community's documents decide. Federal law only requires that one person in the home be 55 or older, and each community writes its own rules for everyone else, such as a minimum age…
Co-op vs. Condo in New Jersey: What You Own and How Buying One Works
With a condo, you own your unit and a share of the common areas, and the unit has its own property tax bill. With a co-op, you own shares in a corporation that owns the property, plus a proprietary lease that gives you…
Condo, Co-op or Single-Family: What You're Buying Inside a 55+ Community
"55+" describes the age rule, not what you own. In Monmouth and Ocean County, one age-restricted community is a condominium, where you own your unit plus a share of the common elements; the next is a co-op, where you…
How Are Homes in 55+ Communities Priced and Appraised?
Mostly against other sales inside the same community. Fannie Mae's appraisal guidance says sales from the same market area, including the same subdivision or project, should be used when possible, and that comparable…
How Do You Sell a Home in a 55+ Community in New Jersey?
You sell it the way you'd sell any New Jersey home, plus three extra pieces: line up the association's resale requirements early, price it against your own community's recent sales, and plan for the age certification…
Where Are Monmouth County's 55+ Communities? A Town-by-Town Guide
Monmouth County's 55+ communities fall into two groups: a western cluster in Manalapan, Freehold Township, Howell and Marlboro, and a string of mostly smaller communities from Middletown and Holmdel down through Tinton…
New Construction or Resale in a NJ 55+ Community? How the Two Purchases Differ
New construction gets you a new home, New Jersey's new home warranty and a seven-day right to cancel after you sign, but the community is still run by the builder and its track record is short. A resale gets you an…
New Jersey's $250 Senior Citizen Property Tax Deduction: Who Qualifies and How to Apply
New Jersey's senior citizen and disabled person deduction takes $250 a year off the property tax bill on your home. You qualify if you're 65 or older or permanently and totally disabled (or a qualifying surviving…
Ramps, Grab Bars and Stair Lifts: Reasonable Modifications in a 55+ Community
Under federal and New Jersey fair housing law, a 55+ community's association can't refuse to let a person with a disability make reasonable changes to their home, such as a ramp, grab bars or wider doorways, when the…
Can You Renovate or Add On to a Home in a 55+ Community?
Yes, you can usually renovate or add on to a home in a 55+ community, but most projects need two approvals: the association's, under its architectural rules, and the township's, under New Jersey's construction code.…
Selling Your House and Buying in a 55+ Community: How to Time the Two Closings
Put the 55+ purchase's extra steps on the same calendar as your sale, then choose the order: sell first, buy first with a home sale contingency, or close both on the same day. The extra steps are age verification, the…
What Is a 55+ Community, and How Do the Rules Work in New Jersey?
A 55+ community is housing that qualifies under federal law as housing for older persons, which allows it to operate as age-restricted. Under HUD's rules, at least 80% of its occupied homes must have at least one…
Association Paperwork When You Buy or Sell in a 55+ Community: Estoppel Letters, Capital Contributions and Transfer Fees
When a home sells in a 55+ community, the association produces its own paperwork: a certificate of any unpaid assessments (often called an estoppel or payoff letter), the resale or disclosure package, and a bill for…