The thoughts of moving to a new location and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it can cause stress and anxiety. There are plenty of things to worry about, such as costs of ownership that might not be apparent on first look; proximity to services you count on (supermarkets, medical facilities, a decent airport); and seemingly small things that might be especially important to you (e.g. easy access to the golf course, a men's or women's golf club). We can help you sort through these criteria; fill out our confidential Golf Home Survey, and we will provide you with some initial observations about which golf communities match up the best.
In the 10 years we have been working with people moving to a Southeast golf community, we have found that some people add unnecessary worries to their considerations, increasing the anxieties of the search. Here are five anxiety-producing questions that you should ignore as you do your research for your golf community home.
Will we make friends easily (or, "Are the people friendly there?")
Are you friendly? Then you will make friends in whatever golf community you move into. In general, the larger the community, the easier it is to make friends quickly because of the number of clubs and programs available and the opportunity to play golf with a wide variety of players of your own ability (through the men's or women's golf club). In virtually every one of the 150 or so golf communities we have visited, people hail from all over the country. They have faced the same issue you do, moving to a new place filled with "strangers." The residents you find in your new community have been through exactly what you have, and unless they are raging hypocrites (the vast majority are not), they will greet you with the understanding that comes from having had the same experience.
Is this community & house a good investment?
With apologies for answering a question with a question: Do you intend to live in your new golf community home for more than 10 years? Then, yes, it should be a good investment, assuming you have done your homework about the community itself and it is financially stable. (We can help with the homework.) But don't even think of the home you will live in as an investment. If you choose wisely, you will derive years and years of pleasure from your new home and community, which is payoff enough. When the time comes to move and you have made some money on your golf home, consider that a wonderful bonus.
