Georgetown, Texas Real Estate Blog Your Host: Edward Lui

Check out this article below:

Guidebook names Georgetown top retirement spot
10:10 AM CDT on Monday, October 15, 2007

By BOB MOOS / The Dallas Morning News
bmoos@dallasnews.com

North Texans in search of the best place in America to retire don’t need to fly off to picturesque Cape Cod, sun-drenched Arizona or resort-rich Colorado. They have only to drive a few hours south on Interstate 35 to Georgetown. The Central Texas town has just earned top billing in the latest edition of Retirement Places Rated, one of the oldest and most popular guidebooks for footloose boomers and seniors looking to relocate upon retirement. “Though Georgetown may not be the first place to come to mind for most people, its strong economy and affordable housing gave it an edge over the 199 other communities we researched,” said author David Savageau.

A half-million Americans move to other states each year to retire, while another half-million resettle within their states. Retirement experts expect those numbers to double as boomers claim Social Security and seek out their own Golden Ponds.
Mr. Savageau, who has published seven editions of his guidebook in 25 years, used seven criteria to determine the best retirement spots this time around: climate, economy, community services, ambience, living costs, housing and personal safety. “Georgetown offers the best of two worlds,” he said. “It’s a small community on the edge of the Austin metropolitan area. Retirees want both the neighborliness of a small town and the cultural, entertainment and health-care amenities of a big city.”

None of this comes as news to Geoff Lawrence and his wife, Denise. The boomer couple moved from College Station to Georgetown’s biggest active-adult community, Sun City Texas, three years ago after he retired from the military. “The town’s small enough to get tee times easily, and it’s close enough to Austin to get to UT football games without much trouble,” he said. Mr. Lawrence said he also enjoys living in a college town – Georgetown is home to Southwestern University, a private liberal-arts institution. The Lawrences could well mount their own marketing campaign for their community. Not only have they moved to Georgetown, but so have his parents (from Santa Fe, N.M.), her parents (from Alabama) and, most recently, her sister and brother-in-law (from Waco). They all live within about 3 miles of each other in Sun City. “We all have different interests and lead separate lives, but our back yard has seen quite a few family get-togethers,” Mr. Lawrence said.

Retirement Places Rated has sold a half-million copies over the years, and a favorable score has sometimes bolstered a town’s fortunes. Murray, Ky., reversed a population loss with its No. 1 ranking in one edition, Mr. Savageau said. The president of Georgetown’s Chamber of Commerce, Mel Pendland, said retirees have played a significant role in his community’s growth in recent years. The town’s population has jumped 64 percent to 46,479 since 2000.

Sun City Texas, the active-adult community Del Webb began developing in the 1990s, now contains 5,500 homes and 9,000 residents, mostly 55 and older. Plans call for 2,500 more homes, Mr. Pendland said. “The first retirees to arrive in Georgetown came from other parts of Texas,” he said. “The next group moved from the Upper Midwest. Now they’re from Arizona, Florida and California.”

Central Texas’ lower housing prices have attracted them, Mr. Pendland said. Retirement Places Rated found that the median price for a three-bedroom, two-bath home was $199,210, compared with $339,600 in Sarasota, Fla., and $556,800 in Scottsdale, Ariz. “People are taking the equity they’ve built up in their old homes and paying out of pocket for something here,” he said. “Suddenly, retirement becomes much more affordable for them.” Mr. Pendland said some longtime Georgetown residents’ initial fears that the senior influx would overburden the town have proved false. “These are highly educated, accomplished people who want to stay engaged. Many are our most active volunteers,” he said. Through the Partners in Education program in the Georgetown schools, older residents have served as mentors for schoolchildren.
“Seniors are valued here,” he said.

Read more about Texas Retirement Communities: http://www.georgetowncustomhomes.com/active-adult.php

In the last few blog posts, we looked at some of the things Sun City in Georgetown, Texas has to offer. In this post, we will round out the list of amenities to be found at the beautiful Sun City Texas community.

In 2005, Where to Retire Magazine named Sun City one of “America’s Top 100 Master-Planned Communities.” The wonderful amenities deserve part of the credit for this accolade.

Here’s a “little” of what Sun City Texas has to offer:

• Two 18-hole championship golf courses
• An art studio, a woodworking shop and other craft areas
• A computer lab and library
• Parks with community garden plots
• A clubhouse complete with a spacious ballroom
• Two dining options within the community
• A 16,000 sq. ft. Rec Center with pool, fitness center, spa and more
• Tennis courts, jogging trails, barbecue facilities, game rooms…

In addition to all the amenities and activities within the Sun City community, you can also enjoy nearby Lake Georgetown with all the activities it brings, such as fishing, boating and skiing.

Want to Visit?
If you would like to see firsthand what Sun City of Georgetown, Texas has to offer, please contact me so we can arrange for a tour.

Sun City is the first Del Webb community to be built in Texas. It is billed as an active adult community for adults 55 and up. But don’t think of Sun City as “just another Texas retirement community.”

Sun City in Georgetown is unlike most retirement communities in Texas because there is so much activity to take part in (if you want to, of course). Let’s take golf for example. This community boasts not just one but two championship golf courses, with a third course in the works. Imagine, you could play golf three times a week within walking distance of your home, but on three different courses.

That’s why Del Webb refers to this as an active adult community, and not a Texas retirement community. Sun City has plenty of other activities and amenities to offer, which you can learn more about on our Sun City Texas page.

Want to learn more about this community or go out for a visit? Give me a call.

Continuing our blog series about Sun City Texas (in Georgetown, Texas), I thought I’d give an update about the homes in the Sun City community. Much of this information is borrowed from the Sun City Georgetown website, which is kept fairly current as the community grows.

• Community start date - Sun City Texas, as it’s known, was opened in the summer of 1995. The community has grown steadily since then.
• Number of homes - As of last month, Sun City reports that 4,853 homes have been built. They are projecting 7,500 total, which means they will still be building for some time.
• Sizes and prices - Homes in Sun City of Georgetown, Texas range in size from approximately 1,411 to 2,764 square feet. Prices range from 170k to 311k, but these prices are obviously subject to change.

Questions or comments? If you’d like to learn more about the community of Sun City located in Georgetown, or if you’d like to see the community firsthand, please contact me at your convenience.

In the last few blog posts, we talked about the community of Cimarron Hills in Georgetown, Texas. For the next few posts, we will focus on another popular community in Georgetown — Sun City by Del Web.

Del Web is a prominent developer of award-winning communities, and they build all over the United States. Their Sun City community in Georgetown marks another “home run” for the company.

Sun City is located in historic Georgetown, Texas. Sun City combines quality homes, beautiful scenery and world-class amenities designed specifically for active adults (for folks 55 or better). In the next few blog posts, we will examine Georgetown’s Sun City community in greater detail.

Stay tuned!

To kick off my blog series on Sun City and Cimarron Hills, I am offering an incentive to all of my clients who purchase in these two communties through the end of July 2007. 

Beginning today, any client that closes on either: (1) A developer homesite or any home in Cimarron Hills or (2) A new home from Pulte in Sun City, will receive a Hill Country Golf of Spa Package at the Barton Creek Resort and Spa. 

This includes a one night stay at this luxury resort for two people and 1 round of golf or a 50 minute spa service.  Click here for more details on this relaxing package for two!

If you refer a friend, you BOTH get the golf or spa package!  Hey, what are friends for anyway?