Here we are at the Holiday Season and hopefully feeling jolly!  Well, ok – perhaps not so jolly since this year finds many unemployed or under employed.  For those of you who have worked, planned and saved to purchase a home in an active lifestyle or age-restricted community your prospects are looking really, really good.  Even though Wall Street is still sluggish, the values in residential real estate have never been better (for you as a buyer)!

In this installment of our ongoing article about buying Active Adult 4 Less we will journey through the States of Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington on our quest to uncover the very best values for you and the lifestyle that you want and deserve. 

Colorado has the high/low opportunities that you may not be able to pass up!  High as in Rocky Mountain high and low as in low, LOW prices!  Grab your skis (and your golf clubs) and get to the Mile High city of Denver to check out the Active Adult community of Windsor Gardens.  It touts itself as Denver’s Premier In-Town 55+ Community.  It is, in fact, a golf course community of condominiums and townhomes situated on 143 acres with lawns, gardens, ancient elms and towering pines.  Amy and Scott have all of the details on available homes which go from the low $200’s down to $39,900 – now that’s Active Adult 4 Less!!       

About 10 miles southeast of downtown Denver is Aurora and the age-restricted community of Heather Gardens.  The homeowners association says it’s a carefree, maintenance-free lifestyle set on 200 park-like acres and enhanced by their award-winning 9 hole course.  The age restriction is 39 years with no one under 16 allowed as a permanent resident.  Homes are currently on the market there from $69,900 to $269,900.  Fred will give you the low-down on the available homes as well as details on the tennis, swimming, dining and everything else that this active adult playground has to offer!

You can also check out all of the great active lifestyle and age restricted communities throughout Colorado at ActiveAdultLiving.com’s Colorado State Directory page.

Think of Nevada and what comes to mind?  Likely it’s Las Vegas (or in the case of my in-laws it is the river town of Laughlin situated along the Arizona/Nevada border).  Because Nevada (and Arizona) had some of the highest rises in new home prices before the market correction and mortgage meltdown they now offer some of the very best values to be had.  Think of it; no state income taxes and 24/7 gaming, shows and night life plus - mild winter weather! 

If it is sunshine, golf and mountain views that you love then check out the nationally acclaimed active adult golf community in the Sunny City of Mesquite where a new 2 bedroom, 2 bath home of 1,241 square feet is priced at just $176,490 with quick move-in available!  Call Angela – she has all of the details for you about the homes, the community and the Mesquite lifestyle.

The myriad of great age-restricted, age-targeted, and active lifestyle communities that Nevada has to offer can all be seen at ActiveAdultLiving.com’s Nevada state directory page.

In Eugene, Oregon I researched SongBrook - a beautiful little age-restricted 55+ community of manufactured homes on leased lots.  It is a family owned and operated community and is situated on 34 acres with a beautiful park-like look about it.  Their spin is that you can save the cost of purchasing the land that your home is built on and lease it from them instead – thus saving you some capital outlay and giving you Active Adult 4 Less.  They even have a detailed comparison at their website to show how the numbers pencil out!

You can check out lots of other great Oregon active lifestyle and 55+ age-restricted communities at the Oregon state directory page of ActiveAdultLiving.com.

The state of Washington has a gated "pre-retirement" 50+ community called Stillwaters Estates in Centralia (60 miles south of Seattle).  There you will find that a 2 bedroom and 2 bath home goes for just $150,000 and even includes a deck with a view!  Or, if you prefer renting they offer ground level garden apartments with no steps for rent.  For the rest of Washington’s age-restricted and lifestyle communities just click here.

In our next installment - Part VIII (coming January 27^th) of Active Adult 4 Less I will be offering up to you a potpourri of great values from all around the country.  I’ve been book marking them as I find them and am excited to share them all with you! 

For now I wish you all a great Holiday season and look forward with you to a great 2010!