Older adults often want to downsize their homes and move on to other opportunities after their children have been raised and no longer live at home. One desirable option is to purchase a home in an adult community. Adult communities have age restrictions, so in many cases, all of the residents are 55 or older. An adult community is not a nursing home or an assisted living facility-- it is a neighborhood designed for active older adults. Buying a home in an adult community comes with a lot of advantages. Some of the top benefits of living in an adult community include:

Low Maintenance

One of the main reasons that older adults chose to downsize their homes is because they no longer want to deal with the responsibility and hassle of maintaining a house. In most adult communities, exterior maintenance is included with the homeowners association fees. This means that residents in an adult community will not need to worry about doing yard work, pulling weeds, or shoveling driveways and sidewalks when it snows. A low maintenance lifestyle is very appealing to many older adults who want to own a home but not have to worry about keeping up with outside maintenance.

Community Activities

A lot of people who live in adult communities are retired, so they have a lot of free time. Thus, adult communities typically offer a wide variety of activities and amenities that are not found in normal single-family home neighborhoods. When you live in an adult community, you can enjoy playing golf, taking different classes, or attending social gatherings with other residents of the community. The goal of most adult communities is to ensure that their residents maintain an active and social life.

Variety of Floor Plans

When you begin looking at homes for sale in an adult community, you will most likely notice that there are a variety of floor plans. Most homes are single-story, which are much easier to live in as a person ages and may begin to experience mobility issues. Homes often have one or two bedrooms, and since they are smaller in size, they do not cost a lot of money to heat and cool. You can count on homes in an adult community to be designed to accommodate the needs that a person may have as he or she gets older. This makes it possible to age in place while also maintaining independence. 

Work with a real estate agent to learn more about adult community homes for sale in your area.