Opting for Maintenance-Free (Excerpt)
Saturday, July 30th, 2005It’s time to think again, according to both buyers and developers. Young people, say under 30, are choosing the maintenance-free lifestyle, too.
Karin and Casey Cesnovar are newlyweds who decided Liberty Grove in Libertyville would be a good transition to the suburbs from Chicago apartments and condominiums.
“We’re used to the maintenance-free life,” said Casey Cesnovar.
The location is convenient to Karin Cesnovar’s job in human resources at Abbott Laboratories, and Casey Cesnovar’s territory as a salesman for TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc.
“We want to start a family soon,” he said, “and we needed more space than we had in the city.
The townhouse has three bedrooms and an office.
“We love the fact that it was landscaped,” he said. “It’s beautiful. People come work on it once or twice a week, and they do a phenomenal job of keeping it green.”
These city folk weren’t ready for yardwork and snow shoveling, he said.
Andrew Ferris, president of Ferris Homes, said he had expected the buyers at Liberty Grove would be empty-nesters, but instead it’s been a demographic mix. Buyers range from people in their 20s to one woman who he thinks is 80.
Younger people like the space in the townhouses, especially if they are working at home, he said.
Not many couples with children are purchasing the townhouses, said Ferris, but the lifestyle - with all exterior maintenance handled by the home association for a fee - appeals to divorced parents.
“People realize ‘I don’t have to worry about my yard and there are other things I can do rather than shovel snow,’” Ferris said.
Maintenance fees generally cost about $200 a month and up.
The community also has single-family homes, said Ferris, and these have attracted some younger families. He thinks there might be a future for upscale family-style homes with maintenance provided.
“I think this is definitely something that would attract people in the middle to upper price range,” he said.
“We see a lot of people asking who they can get to do handyman services, little things like putting on a screen door and adding a light switch or a ceiling fan.”
Only three townhouses remain at Liberty Grove, where prices start at $379,000. The single-family homes are in the mid-$600,000 range.
The townhouses are 1,900 to 2,300 square feet and the single-family homes are 2,500 square feet and larger.