Amy Howell
O.N.E. Florida Group · Real Brokerage
Published November 14, 2026 · Sources checked November 14

Before the model-home tour

Picture an ordinary week.

If you are thinking about retiring around St. Augustine, start with a week you would enjoy repeating. Then ask which home makes that week easier to live.

That is the point behind my latest retirement-community video. The pools and clubhouses are appealing. So are a quiet morning on the lanai, a favorite walking route and enough room in the budget to go somewhere simply because you feel like it.

Those priorities can lead to different searches. A full activity calendar may matter a great deal to one buyer. Another may spend much of the year traveling and prefer to put that money elsewhere. Neither answer needs to impress anyone; it needs to work for you.

The retirement community comparison guide puts the five video options, map and planning tools in one place. Here is how I would use them before falling in love with a kitchen.

Give the amenities a place on your calendar.

At WaterSong, the question might be whether you would use the river-oriented setting and the neighborhood facilities regularly. At Del Webb Nocatee, it might be which Canopy Club activities you would actually attend.

Ask for a current calendar. Pick a class, a group or a facility you would use on a normal week. Then find out whether it is included in dues, needs a reservation or carries a separate charge. Del Webb Nocatee’s association, for example, identifies fees for some classes on its amenities page.

I would also leave blank space on that imaginary calendar. You do not need to turn retirement into another crowded schedule. A community can offer plenty without requiring you to do all of it.

“Low maintenance” should become a written list.

Reducing upkeep is a sensible reason to move. It is also a phrase that needs more detail than a brochure gives you.

For a specific home, ask who handles the lawn, irrigation, exterior painting, roof and repairs. A villa and a detached house may divide those responsibilities differently. Find the answers in the current documents and put the remaining tasks into your own budget.

That is why I would compare the actual home at WaterSong with the actual home elsewhere, rather than assuming a community label settles the maintenance question. The builder describes the available home types; the property’s written obligations finish the comparison.

Keep “open now” separate from “coming soon.”

New construction can offer the layout and choices you want, along with the experience of living in a community that is still taking shape.

Reverie at SilverLeaf is a useful example. The developer markets a 55+ neighborhood with no CDD fees, but its amenity page still describes the Lake House as coming soon. I would confirm the current opening status and the written terms rather than count a planned facility as part of my first week after moving.

Walk or drive around the particular homesite, too. Ask what remains under construction nearby and where work traffic goes. Being comfortable with a growing neighborhood is different from being surprised by it.

A familiar area name is only the beginning.

My family lives in TrailMark in the broader World Golf Village area. As I explain in the video, saying “World Golf Village” still leaves us with important choices about neighborhood, housing type and responsibilities.

Cascades and Reverie at TrailMark are dedicated 55+ options. Other surrounding neighborhoods are all-age. St. Augustine Shores, the fifth option in the video, is also all-age. A retirement search does not have to be limited to age-restricted communities.

In an established home, I would take the condition questions seriously: the roof, cooling system and the projects that may be ahead. In a condominium, the association’s budget, reserves and assessments deserve attention. In any setting, test the route from an actual candidate home.

The choice is about the property and the routine you want. A label cannot tell you whether a particular floor plan, obligation or drive will work.

Leave room in the budget for the retirement itself.

In the video, I keep returning to the costs that continue after closing—even if you pay cash. Taxes, insurance, dues, assessments and maintenance all compete with the travel, hobbies and meals out you may be moving here to enjoy.

The St. Johns County Property Appraiser cautions that the seller’s taxes are not the buyer’s estimate. Use a purchase-specific estimate, read what it already includes and avoid counting a CDD charge twice.

My monthly-cost worksheet helps organize your own figures. It will not fill an unknown cost with zero or turn an advertised base price into a complete budget.

Then put the result beside the week you pictured. Does the home leave room for the life you wanted? That is a much more useful question than which clubhouse looks best in a photograph.