Senior Living
Rex Ireland, 80, and his wife, Joan, were surprised in 2011 to sell their California home in three days. Fortunately, they had already researched and visited metro Atlanta communities while on trips to see their daughter and had placed a contingency contract on a home in the Orchards of East Cherokee.
The couple chatted about their single-family home, which is one of 47 detached homes and 92 condos in the Woodstock community.
Q: Why did you move to Georgia?
Joan: Our daughter lives in Roswell. She was concerned that we didn't have relatives in California if we needed help. We lived in that house in Corona, Calif., for 30 years. Lo and behold, it sold in three days.
Rex: I think the good Lord had a hand in that. It took a lot of upkeep to keep it going.
Q: How did your search progress?
Joan: We were here in May of last year and we were looking [areas included Gwinnett County, Lake Lanier, Cumming, Canton and Woodstock].
Q: Did you consider only 55-and-up neighborhoods?
Rex: Not really. First we wanted to get something that was on a golf course, but with all the work you do to keep up yards, I kind of gave that up. That's all included here. They take care of the outside, including the painting of the house.
Q: How much did you downsize by?
Joan: We didn't really end up downsizing, as it turns out. It's a two-story home. It had a formal living and dining room and a beautiful kitchen and dining room. The whole master wing is downstairs. We don't have to go upstairs unless we want to.
Q: What impressed you about the process?
Rex: They went out of their way to make adjustments in the house before we moved in. We had the garage door painted.
Joan: I wanted the house painted inside. I wanted them to change out the carpet because I wanted Berber carpet throughout the house. They were very agreeable to that. They put a laundry tub in the laundry room. We added a couple more ceiling fans in the den and the bonus room. And we have a beautiful screened porch with a tile floor plus a patio, so it has everything you can possibly want.
Q: What are some aging-friendly features?
Rex: These houses are all built with extra-wide hallways and stairways (to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers).
Joan: The doorknobs are not knobs. They're handles. Plus coming in from the garage or the front porch, there is no step up or step down.
Q: What’s the neighborhood like?
Rex: They have stuff going on every week. The men have coffee on Wednesday morning. Another thing around here is there are many golf courses to go and play (semiprivate and public).
Joan: We have a card group that meets once a month. We have a ladies lunch bunch that goes out once a month. The last Friday of the month, there's a potluck dinner. They celebrate the holidays. There's as many activities that you can participate in or not. It's up to you.
Q: What tip would you give older buyers?
Joan: If you know you're going to move, you need to start planning and sort way ahead of time. [The buyers] wanted us out in 30 days. We said we needed 45. Even 45 was not enough time to do everything.
Rex: You need to reduce as much as you possibly can so you don't have a high moving bill and all this stuff to keep track of.
At a glance
Rex and Joan Ireland’s new home in the Orchards of East Cherokee in Woodstock has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and about 2,938 square feet. They purchased it in October. Homes range from $185,900-$269,900.
