I agree! Developers-Realtors live off of young suckers to fund these developments - how do I know - been there, done it once, will never ever ever do it again and do not recommend buying into a development under any circumstance. Overall, they are not the best investments. Each house sold bankrolls the next sucker build.
What to know about developments
- Never let a realtor that is representing the Developer Represent you at the same time.
- Do not buy a property that has open space beside you, across the street, or behind you - even if there is a nature preserve or wet lands where the realtor-developer swears that there is no way they will ever build on any of that land...things can change pretty fast and you can find yourself living in perpetual construction hell. It happened to us where we bought at the end of the road next to wet lands for privacy and within 4 years, they built over the wet lands. By By Blue Herons on the pond, hello ugly ecru house next to ours.
- Know that the HOA Fees to maintain the Lawn, Open Community Spaces, etc go one way, which is up.
- If anyone in the community goes into foreclosure or does not pay their HOA Fees, the rest of the community must absorb the increase in fees.
- Community Governments can be extremely inflexible.
- Developments can often have their own water and sewer districts that are split up between the lots where each lot pays the same rate no matter how many people are living in the house. For example, the sewer bill is $100 per month per house, not by usage. If the economy tanks and people default on their bills, the extra costs will result in an increase in rates.
- Developers are notorious for not honoring their warranty...so, if it is a new build, you need to live close, educate yourself fast, or dig up friends or family who are contractors so that the work can be inspected as you go. And when you find mistakes which you will, make them fix it before closing. It can take an act of god to get them to do anything post close.
- Look up on the better business bureau the name of the developer and watch how many complaints come up. They all have them but you want to read how they have resolved the problems and if there are any open lawsuits against them for unresolved issues.
- Check that your driveway is not shared with another house as this is a nightmare waiting to happen.
- Check local crime reports - redfin will have one right below the listing if you scroll down. Developments are easy targets for day time crime - even gated communities.
- You can find better investments for your money than planned communities. They do not appreciate as fast, usually are not the best quality, offer little by way of privacy, and are overly expensive once you add up all of the extras and fees that will bleed you on the monthly basis after closing.