[quote=brg654]I’ve heard of Laguna Woods Village but not much else.[/quote]
Places in Laguna Woods are surprisingly inexpensive. My Dad bought a 2BR/2BA unit a few years back for around $90k. It’s a fairly basic condo, but the places get nice pretty quickly as you go up the price scale. The one I wanted him to get was around $170k, and it had a huge back balcony (~ 10′ x 20′) overlooking the open space preserve to the northwest. But my dad’s too frugal for that.
HOA fees are on the high side, but you get an awful lot of amenities – horseback stables, a dozen clubhouses, a library, woodshop, darkroom, golf course, several swimming pools, etc.
I think the reason you can buy units so inexpensively is that the CC&Rs are quite strict. 55+ and you’re not allowed to rent out a unit for more than 6 months out of they year, so LW is 90% owner-occupied.
Having said that, it is possible to do a short term (3-6 month) rental in Laguna Woods. That’s what my parents did before they moved there, and I suggest that your folks might want to do that also. Laguna Woods isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, so I think renting a furnished unit for six months might be a good way to see whether they like it.
