Downsizing

 

News & Record
February 20, 2005
By Tina Firesheets

Many baby boomers in the Triad are flocking to new communities that feature single-level homes and maintenance-free lifestyle David and Carroll Miller decided to sell their two-story house and its two acres of land in Jamestown for a new one-level house in Stone Gables of Jamesford. That meant no more steps and no more yard work for the Millers, who are in their 60s.

When David and Carroll Miller came to Jamestown in 1980, Carroll thought it would be their last move. But last summer, the retirees sold their home and moved one mile north of their Cedarwood. The Millers said their two-story, four-bedroom home on two acres of land became too much to care for. In recent years, back problems and bad knees have made climbing stairs and yard work more difficult. They needed a single story, maintenance-free home.

“Yard work was not something we could do anymore. It was too big of a problem.” Carroll Miller said. “We needed that washer and dryer on the same level.”

Their new 2,200-square-foot home at Stone Gables of Jamesford is in a subdivision that caters to retirees and empty nesters such as the Millers. Their three daughters moved out of the house in the 1980s and now have their own families.

The Millers aren’t the only ones opting for smaller homes and a maintenance-free lifestyle. Since 1981, seven subdivisions of communities such as Stone Gables have sprouted in Jamestown area.

Residential developers began construction on four of those within the past four years. It’s a trend that some developers and real estate experts say will continue to rise as baby boomers age. Town Manager John Frezell said retirees have always been attracted to Jamestown. “Older people have migrated to the Jamestown area through the years because of its small-town atmosphere and (because) it’s close to larger cities. There’s not as much traffic, and you still get to know your neighbor,” Frezell said.

The 2000 U.S. Census reports a median age of 40 among Jamestown residents. Thirty percent of the population in Jamestown is between the ages of 45 and 64. This means that as the baby boomers grow older, their housing needs will change, local real estate developers says.

Census data also predict that from 2000 to 2010 homes with children will decline by 2.8 percent while families without Children will jump 18.5 percent. UNCG economics and business professor Don Jud specializes in real estate. He said this kind of data causes developers to think about the kind of housing that’s needed. “I think what’s happening is that developers are just trying to cater to that group of people without children, whether it’s empty nesters who children have moved away or people who never intended to have children,” Jud said.

Betty Smith, president of Smith Marketing Inc., said the Triad area is behind the national average when it comes to the empty-nester housing market. Smith a 30-year veteran of the real estate industry is former president of the Lake Jeannette Development Company in Greensboro. That company first targeted the empty-nester market in the mid-1990s.

The projects included a cluster of condominiums and town homes that targeted couples that didn’t have children. Many of those were older than 55. Smith’s company conducted a study in 1994 that indicated Triad homebuyers were about a decade behind national buyers in making the decision to downsize. In larger metropolitan areas, people were downsizing in their early to mid-50’s. But in the Triad, homeowners weren’t downsizing until their mid-60s. That’s because the economy was strong in the Triad during the 1990s. So they bought larger homes.

“People had a lot of paper money so they decided to invest in real estate,” Smith said.

The Millers began to think about moving to a smaller home a couple of years ago. They started their search for their new abode by visiting River Landing, an upscale continuing-care retirement community where entrance fees begin a $101,000 and monthly rental fees tack on an average of about $3000 per couple. “It was beautiful. I wanted to move in that afternoon, but I couldn’t see where it would fit our pocketbook,” Carroll Miller said.

Residents at River Landing also don’t own their places, which was another reason why a home at Stone Gables was more attractive to the Millers. David Miller, 65 said they both could live another 20 to 25 years. Carroll is 66 now. “I can own something and build equity,” he said.

The Millers were able to customize their new home for less. They even have a room upstairs that includes a full private bathroom so that if they need in-home care, another person can stay here. A basic unit at Stone Gables starts at $250,000.

Greensboro-based Mid-Atlantic Development Group, the company that built Stone Gables at Jamesford, has had such success with the development that construction began last week on a second phase that includes an 18-home community across the street form the Millers. Mark Schwarz who owns the company with his brother, Todd, said they would like to buy more property in the area. On deck are plans for a 20-home community on Deep River Road, about three miles away from Stone Gables.

Mark Schwarz said the location of these communities near Jamesford Meadows is ideal. There are 280 homes in the 18-year-old subdivision. Though the homeowners association doesn’t tract statistical data on its residents, the association’s president, Dan Quinn, said most residents have children, and most are baby boomers. The Schwarzes hope to draw potential homeowners form the Jamesford Meadows neighborhood. They believe in coming years, as children leave the home, parents might consider a smaller home where the homeowner’s association fees will pay someone else to do the yard work and building maintenance. Frezell, the town manager, said this is a bonus for those older than 55 because some also have second homes elsewhere.

“A lot of retirees want to travel. They don’t want to be married to their yards anymore. This way they can be gone for several days and not worry about pruning and mowing the grass,” Frezell said.

Frezell and his wife are baby boomers that wanted such a lifestyle. They moved to a two-story town home at Riverwalk where someone else mows his grass while he and his wife have more time to ride their bikes and travel.

The Schwarz brothers have learned that while homeowners may be looking to downsize, they don’t want to stay far because they’re already established in those communities. The Millers, for example, wanted to in the Jamestown area because they are members of Jamestown Presbyterian Church. The Builders were inspired to build homes that target the older than 55 market by their mother, Ann Schwarz. About three years ago, she started thinking about moving from her four-bedroom, split level home in Asheboro to a smaller space. She looked at a number of places in Asheboro and was ready to purchase a home she didn’t really like, said Mark Schwarz. Her friends, who are in their 60s, also shared similar frustrations.

“(She) and her friends talked and we listened to them,” Mark Schwarz said.

That’s when her sons decided to build a home for her. That led to the development of Lexington Commons, a 38 home subdivision in Asheboro. Construction began there in 2001 and all but one home has been sold.

“One of the things that we’re finding is that people aren’t so much downsizing a they are trying to simplify their lives,” Mark Schwarz said. Jamestown is attractive to older people because it has numerous banks, shopping centers and doctors offices, Smith said. It’s also about 10 minutes from Wesley Long Medical Center at Adams Farm.

“I think it’s a growing market,” Smith said.