Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Another Retirement Option and a Hike in the Superstition Mountains…

After looking at a couple of retirement communities I felt we should take a look at something I felt might be a more likely option in our short term future. Although I know we will eventually end back in a sticks and bricks house I really don’t see us stopping RV’ing anytime soon. What I see s a transitional phase where we would acquire a small home as a base, keep an RV and travel seasonally.  With this in mind we went to visit Gold Canyon, Arizona to Superstition Views, a Cal-Am resort.

What appealed to me here were the casita models similar to ones we looked at when we were staying in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas at Bentson Palms. We drove over to the Cal-Am resort and checked in with the sales office. They had three basic models with varying floor plans available to look at. The smallest was 12 feet wide, the middle, another one 14 feet wide and the largest one was 16 feet wide resulting in casitas ranging form the low 600 square feet to just under 900 square feet of living space.

The smallest place we saw at Robson Ranch was over 1,200 square feet so we were curious what we would think about these smaller casitas. Along the tour we felt the smallest one was just a bit too small despite having a floor plan that made it appear much larger inside. We could live in a unit this  small but really liked the other two larger casita better than the smallest one.

We happily discovered this trip that we had very similar likes and dislikes about our future living arrangements. We do have some differences but nothing too earth shattering. The biggest difference we have is that I see no need for a second bedroom whereas Sharon would like one. I figure that since these casitas allow for an RV pad alongside the casitas, this would provide us guest accommodations when needed.  Sharon also preferred the plan with a laundry room rather than a closet for stackable washer/dryers. She seemed very happy with the plentiful resort amenities although they were on a smaller scale than those at Robson Ranch.

The least expensive were the smallest units starting right at $90,000 and the largest one was just over $100,000 so there would be no reason in my opinion to settle for the smallest one. We would need an additional $10,000  for the full hookup RV pad.  We would also upgrade the basic flooring and kitchen options to our tastes and add the optional deck.After a quick tally we found it would be pretty easy to move into a place at this resort for $150,000 or so. Now the downside would be the "lifestyle fee" (they don’t call it an HOA) as they are pricey at just over $500 per month with the likelihood of increasing about $24 per month at each anniversary until year five.However when considering all you get and the fact that you have no real estate taxes it really isn’t all that bad. If a buyer purchases an already built casita, this lifestyle fee is waived for two years whereas a custom built casita has a one year waive of the fee.

The biggest wow factor for us in this area out were the stunning views to be had by spending the additional money for the outside staircase for access to the roof as a patio deck. With the views of the Superstition Mountains I could see us spending a lot of time on that patio for sure…

  

After our complimentary lunch and tour we noticed  while driving back a small pull out along the road that appeared to be a parking lot for a trail. We stopped and sure enough found a nice series of trails that traversed some small hills with those same fabulous views of the Superstition Mountains. There was a lot of color on the trail as many flowers were blooming giving a beautiful contrast to the saguaros and other cacti as well as the beautiful reddish brown hue of the rocks. We did a short loop of less than two miles and wished we had found this trail system earlier..

We have come to the end of our stay here in Mesa and will leave today for Casa Grande. Yes it is only about 50 miles but that is the way I prefer to travel when we can. I am looking forward to Spring and resuming our life on the road again!

11 comments:

  1. We do now actually what you are looking at in the future. Small home, keep RV, travel 6-7-8 months a year.

    We love the Superstition Mountains area. We just visited Sandie and Jim yesterday. Those mountains are so spooky looking. Safe travels dear friends.

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  2. We spent some time at Casa Grande...nice RV resort there!!!

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  3. So many amazing options that you can choose, and the south west is an area we would love to spend a lot of time. Not feasible for us to buy a place and still travel being Canadians. But we do love all those areas.

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  4. Since we really enjoy living in the fifth wheel, it really works for us to leave the big fiver here and travel with the little Bungalow. But I would agree - for the relatively small additional amount the bigger unit would be nice.

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  5. Your considerations of your next step are very interesting to me and I appreciate all the details you've mentioned. I'm with you on my preferred way to travel. 50 miles a move, maybe 100, tops 150. It gives me a really in depth look at an area but sure makes it hard to see the country in the number of years probably left to me.

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  6. I learned a lot from you when you were researching what you wanted in an RV. I will be following any future musings about semi sticks and bricks you may have. Yes, that lifestyle fee is a killer.

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  7. Thanks for this look into the future. Of course, we are thinking the same thing some day. We both appreciated this blog and your thoughts:)

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  8. What you are considering is exactly what we are doing now at Retama Village in south TX. We are very happy with our decision. The Superstition Mountain area could be a great place for something like this. If you are ever back in the RGV stop by and we can show you what life can be like as a "part-timer".

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  9. I like the little adobe looking one with the motorhome peeking out of the side!

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  10. I am really enjoying reading about the possible options. Seems like a smart choice. But having met you, I do know that you are definitely smart! Both of you! Happy future pondering to you.

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  11. One of these days you'll find the perfect place. You don't want the find to be too easy. Take your time and enjoy what you're doing.

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