Costs Associated with Buying in Leisure World

I’ve noticed the blog post I wrote a few years ago about Condo/Co-op Fees in Leisure World is my most popular blog post, so I thought you might also want to know the costs associated with buying in Leisure World.  This is something I go over with clients the first time I speak with them, but I thought it might also be helpful to have this information in my blog. 

Any real estate transaction comes with closing costs.  When you buy in Montgomery County, Maryland, where Leisure World is located, you can expect to pay about 3.5% of the purchase price of the home in closing costs, and a bit more than that if you’re using a loan rather than paying cash.  Closing costs include taxes (county, recordation, and transfer taxes), title charges (settlement fees, title insurance, etc.), pre-paying condo fees if the unit has them (Leisure World always has them), and pre-paying Homeowner’s Insurance. There’s also a brokerage fee if you’re using an agent to buy.  If you’re using me as your agent, Samson Properties charges a $345 brokerage fee as part of the closing costs.  All brokerages charge a fee like this, and Samson’s tends to be one of the lower ones.  The buyer’s agent commission is usually paid by the seller. That might change with the new NAR ruling, but at the moment, that is still what I’m seeing.

I say closing costs are usually about 3.5% of the purchase price, but I can’t give you an exact number, because different title companies charge different fees, homeowner’s insurance cost varies, etc.  If you’re a first-time homebuyer in Maryland, you don’t have to pay the state transfer tax, so the total amount you’ll pay in taxes also varies, depending on your situation.  But 3.5% (a bit more if you get a loan), is a good estimate to keep in mind. 

When you buy in Leisure World, you also pay a one-time 3% of the purchase price fee, that goes towards their reserve fund.  At the present time, Leisure World is re-doing their Administration Building and the parking lot at Clubhouse I and the Administration Building.  Their reserve fund pays for projects like that.  There’s also a $350 membership transfer fee.

All of these costs are paid at closing.  So, when thinking about what you can afford at Leisure World, make sure to add about 6.5% to the total, to take care of these closing costs.  Sometimes, you can roll this into your loan (if you’re getting a mortgage), or you can negotiate when making an offer on a home, that the seller pay part of these closing costs.  But buyers often pay the whole 6.5%, so I think it’s important to be aware of it.

If you have any questions about anything in this article, or if you’d like to talk with me about possibly purchasing (or selling) a home at Leisure World, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  Thanks!

Newer Condo Buildings at Leisure World

Vantage Point East, at Leisure World of Maryland

I’m often asked, is everything at Leisure World very old?  Well, actually, the oldest buildings in Leisure World were constructed in the late 1960s, so nothing there is really very old.  And the older buildings (including the patio homes) have often been renovated by previous owners and can feel very updated and fresh.

But there are several buildings in Leisure World that were built after the year 2000.  Vantage Point West was constructed in 2001, Vantage Point East in 2002, Overlook in 2004, Creekside in 2006, and 15000 Pennfield Circle, one of the buildings in Villa Cortese, was constructed in 2013.  These buildings have gas furnaces, high ceilings, and of course the kitchens and bathrooms feel newer than those in the older buildings that haven’t been renovated.  Vantage Point East and West and Overlook are on the golf course, and many of the units have wonderful views, just as their names suggest. 

These buildings tend to be more expensive than the older buildings, which isn’t surprising, given their plusses.  The floorplans of the units are very similar to what you’d find in the older buildings. 

Many other buildings in Leisure World were built in the 1990s.  Turnberry Courts was built in 1999-2000, the rest of the buildings in Villa Cortese were built from 1994 - 1996, and Fairways North was built from 1991-1993.  These buildings vary on whether they have gas furnaces and higher ceilings.

While Leisure World has no new construction, it is easy to find units that feel updated, and you can’t beat the location, campus, or number of amenities, clubs, and organizations it has.  If you’re interested in learning more about Leisure World, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  Thanks!

Selling a Condo, Co-op, or Home in Leisure World

I’ve written quite a few blog posts about Leisure World from a buyer’s perspective, so I thought it would be helpful to write a post about selling a home in Leisure World.  It’s not too different than selling a home anywhere else, but I thought it still might be something someone would be searching the internet for information about.

Many homes in Leisure World aren’t sold by the owners of the home, condo, or co-op, because the owners have passed away or they’re in an assisted living or memory care facility.  If you’re selling a home (from here on out I will say home to mean condo, co-op, or patio or townhome) on behalf of someone else, you need to make sure you have the legal documents in place to rightfully sign all the documents needed to sell the home.  Often, I work with Personal Representatives or Trustees to sell a home.  Your first step is to contact an attorney and make sure you have the documents in place needed to represent the owner to sell the home.  If you’re already the owner of the home (you are listed on the title), you can skip this step.  If you’re the owner of the home and someone else is on the title with you that has passed away, you’ll need to have the death certificate of that person, and possibly some other documents as well.  I am not an attorney so please contact your attorney to ask exactly what you will need.   I do often work with an attorney who conducts many closings at Leisure World, so if you’d like to speak with him, please let me know and I can provide you with his information.

After you get the documents you need, the next step is to contact a real estate agent about selling the home.  I sell many homes in Leisure World and would be happy to help.  There are a lot of great agents who sell homes in Leisure World—I recommend working with an agent who has expertise in Leisure World.  Leisure World requires some disclosures for the sale (I won’t go into them here) that other, outside sales don’t require, so you want an agent who won’t leave anything out, and who has a working relationship with some of the managers at Leisure World, in order to streamline things.

Once you contact an agent, they can inspect the home and let you know what they recommend you do to get it ready for sale.  If you don’t live in the area, the agent can often take care of these details on your behalf.  Of course, just like any sale, there are things you can do to the home that will most likely increase the sales price you can get for the home (new carpet and paint are two that spring to mind), and there are things you can do that might increase the sales price, but not enough to be worth the expense of doing them (brand new kitchen).  Of course, all of this varies on a case-by-case basis.  You can also choose to just sell the home without improving or refreshing it at all.  The agent you hire should be able to give you a rough idea of what price you could sell the home for, depending on what you decide to do.

In order to sell the home, the agent will have you complete and sign a listing agreement and the disclosures needed to sell the home. Then they will list the home for sale.  Once you have a contract on the home, you or your agent will need to order what’s known as a “resale package” or “condo docs.”  Those cost about $300 or $400 dollars, and they will contain all the budget information, the by-laws, etc. of the mutual and home that is for sale.  As part of these documents, a mutual representative will inspect the home and make sure there are no violations the owner needs to correct.  If they find any, the owner will need to correct the violations before the sale closes (and the inspection report will be included in the resale package).  It usually takes a couple weeks for the resale package to come in, once ordered, and then once they’ve come in (over e-mail unless you pay extra and request a paper copy), the buyers have seven days to review the information, and back out of the deal if they see something in them that’s a deal breaker.  The buyers will also most likely want to do a home inspection.  After the home inspection they will probably present you and your agent with a list of items they would like fixed or given a credit for at closing.  Your agent can advise you about negotiating those items, if any.

Closing is typically anywhere from 21 – 60 days after the property is under contract.  The most typical timeframe is 30 days.  By closing, all the repairs requested in the home inspection will need to have been completed— you usually need to show the invoices for the repairs, to prove they’ve been done and who did them.  By closing, you’ll also need to make sure you have all the keys, fobs, and possibly even garage door opener that come with the home.  There can sometimes be several different keys—the home key, the mailbox key, the storage room key, the key for the padlock on the storage cage, etc.  If you don’t have them or can’t find them, that’s good information to know before closing so the mailbox can be re-keyed, or a new key can be bought for the storage room, etc.

Does this sound like a lot of work?  I can’t say that selling a home is ever tons of fun, but with a good real estate agent working for you, things will be easier, and at closing you will have the proceeds from the sale to show for all the effort.  If you have a home you’d like to sell at Leisure World, I’d be happy to help. Please feel free to contact me.  Thanks!