Thursday, January 23, 2014

Visiting a Del Webb Community in Florida…

Del Webb Community 007

As Sharon and I are about to enter our third year of full-timing in our motorhome we often talk about what we would like to do at the end of the road. Now, don’t get any ideas as we are still having a wonderful time traveling all over our beautiful country!  However one of the main reasons we began RV travel was to search for the next “retirement spot” suited to our lifestyle.

Del Webb Community 002When we landed in Florida our first year, we quickly fell in love with the state, especially the southern coastal areas. Now that we are visiting in and around Bonita Springs Florida for the second time in the last two years we decided to go check out one of the local retirement communities, Del Webb. It is located in its own town of Ave Maria but our GPS recognized it as existing in the town of Immokalee, Florida.

This short 30 minute drive from either Bonita Springs or Naples enters into a community in the middle of what was once farmland. Del Webb has communities all over the USA and the one we visited here is still in early development as there were many new homes under construction. We were hoping to be able to tour one of the smaller homes to see if we like their size.  Given that the past 3 years has had us living in 400 square feet in the RV, we have come to the conclusion that 1200 square feet or less should be more than adequate for our post RV life.

Del Webb Community 001      Del Webb Community 003

We did look into a few larger homes but had no opportunity to tour and get a feel for what the smaller ones would be like. We drove around the neighborhood streets noticing how clean and beautifully manicured they were as they should be since the HOA fees are rather high.  There are also additional annual fees as well as hefty upfront charges when buying here. There was a golf course on the property with at least one alligator lounging on the shore of the adjacent waterway.  The neighborhood also had a massive and impressive "Oasis" club with a huge pool, hot tub, party areas, craft rooms, full gym, etc.  It also looked brand new. All throughout the neighborhood and to the town center were huge, wide walk/bike paths.  We saw several couples biking on this sunny day.

Del Webb Community 005We next drove over to the Ave Maria town center built around a beautiful, unique and large Catholic Church.  Across the street is Ave Maria University, a private Catholic University in its 10th year accommodating 1200 students.  We noticed that although small, the university also had very nice sports facilities.  There were quaint little shops in the town center but also lots and lots of vacancies as this project began just before the housing bubble burst.  As we walked all around the center we saw a mixture of younger and older people enjoying the outdoor seating.  I must admit that most everyone we saw seemed to be smiling and really enjoying their day, There were even isolated wetland areas for seeing wildlife. We even spotted a couple of glossy Ibis… Perhaps a community such as this could be in our future…. who knows???

12 comments:

  1. hmmm, looking for sticks and bricks? It's always fun to look! Sounds like an ideal place with all the amenities. Sometimes I miss the house we had, but love this too much still!

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    1. don't expect we will settle down anytime too as we still have the travel itch for now

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    2. Pfizer has a cream for that itch. Real expensive I hear. Involves mortgages and such.

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  2. How long are you staying in SWFLA? Wow! My neck of the woods....just started reading your blog beginning with the start in 2009. Interesting to see how people transition lifestyles. We're ready to phase gradually into full time over the upcoming summer and then decide next winter on selling our sticks-n- mortar once prices rebound. Maybe!

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    1. here in Bonita Springs for another week and then heading north, la belle for four days then not sure yet

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    2. Say hello to our little piece of real estate in LaBelle. Interesting little town, emphasis on little. Nice golf course.

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  3. We lived in a 960 sq ft bungalow for four and a half months this past summer and we wondered why anybody would need that much extra space!

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  4. Looks like a nice area.... But the summers are the bigger down there. Too much heat and humidity for us, especially my lungs. Ack!


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    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
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  5. Ave Maria University is the brainchild of the former Dominoes Pizza owner, who had religious experience and sold off all his stuff to start the University. Very, very right side of the aisle.

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  6. It's always fun looking at houses and new developments. Last year we saw 2 really nice floor plans at a Del Webb development in Mesquite NV....didn't like Mesquite but liked the houses. Let the quest continue :-)

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  7. Some kind of place somewhere when the time comes, that we hope is not for a long time yet.
    Loving this lifestyle too much.

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  8. We would like to hear your ideas of stick and brick house over wine? Looking forward to our meet.

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