Why We’d Live In The Desert

It’s the best of both worlds.

Tucked against the Santa Rosa Mountains, Trilogy at La Quinta is only 35 miles from Palm Springs. If you’re an active adult, bring your golf clubs, shopping bags, backpacks and hiking boots because there’s going to be a lot to do. The area is renowned for world-class shopping, resorts and fine dining establishments. The surrounding mountains are filled with deep valleys and dramatic ridges ideal for hiking, mountain biking, camping, horseback riding and exploring by Jeep. The nearby National Parks are great adventure destinations.

But what if you, or your significant other, like nature okay just as long as it stays the heck outside? What if you’re an adult who simply prefers to be slightly less active? Well, in that case, feel free to gaze out at the scenic backdrop from among resort quality amenities and lifestyle activities not typically expected at active adult communities.

A master planned 55+ active adult community, Trilogy at La Quinta offers dozens of clubs, events and fun activities. In addition to sports and fitness, there are leisure and social activities, so there really is something for everyone. Whether it’s picking up another language or re-allocating your investment portfolio, expanding your photography or refining your wine tasting and culinary skills, it’s all available to you. There are neighborhood barbecues, philanthropic events, and Club Med trips to Mexico.

The Center for Higher Learning offers highly accredited instructors and guest speakers, some of whom are Trilogy residents.

The Coral Spa is a complete full-service spa offering the latest body treatments, massages, waxing, tinting, manicures and pedicures.

The Santa Rosa Club includes a state-of-the-art fitness center with cutting edge weight and cardio equipment, and aerobics and dance studio for low-impact aerobics classes, yoga and pilates. The indoor lap pool and walking track offer refuge from the hot desert summer days. There are craft and hobby studios, a ballroom, a theater, a computer lab, a library and billiards. Or have a nice cup of coffee and read the paper in the Café Solaz. Incidentally, the café’s fruit smoothies are a great way to end a workout session.

The Azul Restaurant & Bar is a great place to enjoy a relaxing lunch and a cocktail with friends, or an elegant dinner with your significant other.

Or maybe you want to actually cook an elegant dinner with your significant other? Top tier amenities don’t mean much if your “dream retirement home” turns out to be some cookie cutter tract home. Rest assured that Trilogy’s developer, Shea Homes, continually ranks among independent reviewers such as J.D. Power & Associates as the best active adult builders in the country. One tour through the community and it’s easy to understand why, the diversity of housing, exterior façade options, and sophisticated attention to detail given to every aspect of the community is outstanding.

Homebuyers in Trilogy at La Quinta can select from 12 single-family ranch-style floor plans that range from 1,381 to 2,789 square feet. The Shea designed homes are built with some of the latest luxurious finishes and high-end upgrades such as granite countertops, gourmet kitchens, spa-like bathrooms and expansive great rooms. Customization options include optional sunrooms, patios, wine cellars, cigar rooms and more. Many of the homes offer casitas and 3-car garages.

And if you’re concerned about the environment even though you don’t want to go traipsing around in it, Shea’s “green” building process incorporates eco-friendly materials and energy saving systems such as solar panels, Energy Star appliances and the use of sustainable building products. After all, decadent doesn’t have to be destructive.

Retiring as a Green Boomer

In 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated there were approximately 78.2 million baby boomers in America. A 2007 AARP survey found that about half of all boomers see themselves as environmental stewards, or "green boomers." This makes some sense when you consider that the baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. They grew up with the environmental movement of the 1960s and '70s.

They were at Woodstock, they lived the Summer of Love, they’re a big chunk of the population, and most of them are affluent homeowners. While “affluent homeowner” and “environmentalist” might seem at odds to some – consider how many Lexus Hybrids you see next time you’re out in traffic.

Face it; being green doesn't have to mean living out in the sticks and off the grid. It is possible to enjoy high-end living and use less energy in the process. It’s just a matter of paying attention to what you buy and what you do. Boomers have it down to a science.

But, what about retiring? You’re a responsible Green Boomer looking for an idyllic “Life’s next big adventure” retirement lifestyle – where do you go and what do you do?

Well, in California, lawmakers approved a new home tax credit of up to $10,000 effective May 1, 2010.

And if you like the San Francisco Bay Area, up the river delta and along Highway 4 around Brentwood, Trilogy at the Vineyards, an active adult 55+ community, is offering an unprecedented “Double Your Savings” offer.

In addition to the tax credit, buyers get an additional $10,000 in seller incentives. Yes, you read that correctly - this could mean $20,000 to state qualifiers who buy a new Shea Home in a Trilogy Community and buyers who don’t qualify for the state credit still get the $10,000 incentives from Trilogy while they last.

Given that any self-respecting Green Boomer would want to retire in an area still known throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for agricultural products like cherries, corn and peaches, it’s like getting an almost $20K kickback for doing something you would do anyway.

And it gets even better – Trilogy’s homes can achieve a 50% reduction in the therms associated with heating water, 75% reduction in energy used from lighting, 40% reduction in energy used from clothes washers, and a 41% reduction energy used by dishwashers.

They’re Shea Green Certified homes and they are built with a combination of the most important and cost-effective standards for green residential building set by LEED.

Options include solar power systems, solar attic fans, wood from sustainable forests, framing techniques that use up to 10 percent less wood (saving 5.5 trees per home), leak minimizing construction techniques (sealed ducts and penetrations), Energy Star-rated efficient appliances, 14 SEER air conditioning units, dual pane low-e windows, and motion and occupancy sensor lighting.

Of course, the icing on the cake is the recent announcement of several new designs offered at Trilogy at the Vineyards. Now you get the dream retirement in the beautiful wine country with easy access to San Francisco, and not only do you get to live it in an environmentally friendly home that costs less to heat & cool on top of the tax / builder incentives – but you get exactly the retirement home you want. One estimate put the number of different design combinations of floor plans and elevations within each of the three collections at nearly sixty.

So if you’re really interested in getting the retirement home you want, where you want it, and how you want it – but in an environmentally responsible manner at an attractive price, then check out Trilogy at the Vineyards.

A Look at Retirement Costs, Phoenix AZ

Cool thing about the internet, when people find something you’ve put out there, you get to see the search terms they used to get there. Maybe it’s the down economy or maybe people are just smart, but the words “cost” and “retirement” seem to go hand in hand.

Take Phoenix Metro for example. Someone out there searched “cost to live at Encanterra” in Google, and found our previous bit about the Southeast Valley.

In that article, we mostly talked about golf and amenities. We went on about how Encanterra’s golf course offers “elements reminiscent of the traditionally great private clubs” and how the main restaurant, Bistro 1528, offers “a casual yet sophisticated feel with emphasis on delicious continental cuisine, superior service and genuinely friendly team Members” We did not attach price tags to our descriptions, but we are aware that price is always a factor.

Here’s the thing – buying a retirement home, and associated 55+ active adult retirement lifestyle, is a little more involved than buying, say, a toaster, an entertainment system, or a car. There are a lot of variables to consider, and each one will have an up or down impact on “what it costs to live at Encanterra”.

First of all, there are a variety of floor plans to choose from, and each floor plan has different architectural styles to choose from. Then there are details such as what type of counter surfaces will there be in the kitchen, bathroom(s), etc. With so many options to choose from, purchase prices for your dream retirement home can range from approximately $160K to up to over $500K.

The up side is that this means that most people who are in the position to buy a retirement home can likely buy at Encanterra in Phoenix, but the down side is that when someone asks “how much” we always have to point back at “that depends”…

Then there’s the “green tech” stuff. According to one article in Arizona Foothills Magazine said about Encanterra “As eco-consciousness makes its way into the everyday, one Valley community is finding that the once costly and unattainable benefits associated with green building are not only a possibility, but also a reality.”

http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/living/homes/1062-a-green-lifestyle-at-encanterra-.html

So now we have to address the fact that Encanterra offers some standard energy saving features that other builders might charge extra for. Saving energy is saving money, so it’s like getting an upgrade for free and then you have to calculate the savings – which might also depend on things like how cold you like to set the thermostat in the summer. Like the ad people like to say about weight loss, “individual results will vary”.

So really, the best answer to the question is, “contact your real estate agent, or contact a representative of Encanterra directly and talk to them.” All we know is that the housing market as a whole dropped to levels not seen since 2000, and some people are seeing prices pick up again, just a little. Once you know what’s available and what it actually costs, then you’re in position to make an intelligent decision about buying in. Just asking the internet seems a little risky.

Buy your Rio Vista dream retirement home now?

Buying a home is always a big deal. Buying a dream retirement home is a bigger deal. For most of us, this is the last home we’re going buy – so choosing wisely in terms of location and timing is “mission critical”. While nobody ever wants to buy a home that will lose value, it’s especially important to carefully consider your investment at this point in your life. Why? Because, let’s face it, there’s always the possibility that no matter how active your adult lifestyle, there’s the chance that when we’re really old (it’s the mileage that gets us…) we may have to opt for “assisted living” – which can be very expensive. Having a home that’s a valuable asset could be the difference in levels of care and comfort if/when that time comes.

Yes – this consideration is a total buzz kill for retirement planning. We’d all rather look at glossy brochures of active adult communities with ideal golf courses, pools, Jacuzzis, and spas, blah, blah, blah. Who wouldn’t? But let’s be honest with each other – retirement planning is about understanding ALL the possibilities, positive and negative, and plotting accordingly.

Of course, if you’re already looking at your retirement in this light, that makes the decision whether or not to buy that dream home kind of scary. Sure, the housing crash means that prices have dropped – but have they dropped all the way? If they have dropped all the way, which areas are likely to rebound the most?

Well, the bad news is that things are still tough all over. The good news is that it looks somewhat like we hit bottom and home values might be rising again. If you’ve spent any time at all looking at real estate web sites and all of the associated graphs, you probably noticed that the bottom of the trough is right about where it was in 2000. You’ll probably notice that the very last bit of the line points up from that low point. The actual numerical value seems to change by location, but all of the graphs we’ve seen do seem to agree on the trend.

According to AOL real estate, for Rio Vista CA that up tick represents a .03% increase in value from February to March 2010. No, not exactly Earth shattering, but radical upheaval isn’t what we want in home values. Steady growth in value is what we’re after, right?

What this means to you is that you can buy a beautifully appointed home at, say, Trilogy Rio Vista, right now for about what you would have paid way back in 2000. It also means that if you wait too much longer, that home will cost you significantly more when you do make the purchase. We don’t know about you, but we’d rather get the ideal home for less money now than wait and pay more for it.

And what you get for the price is amazing. Staying with Trilogy as the example, you’re buying into a complete 55+ active adult community with resort quality amenities for well below what you would probably expect to pay. Trilogy homes are beautiful inside and out, with a variety of models and styles that offer plenty of versatility, comfort, and style. Trilogy Rio Vista offers a wide variety of activities and planned trips along with a community center, exercise gym, pool and arts and crafts studio. The Vista Clubhouse is 27,000 square feet! There’s an indoor pool, lakes to stroll, golf and tennis to play, or clubs to join – so you can truly enjoy your retirement and not worry about your home retaining its value because you bought into a highly desirable community when prices were depressed. Check it out for yourself, talk to your realtor and make an appointment to see Trilogy at Rio Vista – you’ll be glad you did.