Amenties that Seniors Want Most

Top Amenities for Relocating Seniors

According to a recent study by Del Webb, sponsored by a major national home builder, the top amenities that seniors want most are:

  1. A Multicar Garage
  2. Deck or Patio
  3. Open Floor Plan
  4. Eat in Kitchen
  5. Private Yard

Other major things that were considered were access to water (Pool, beach, etc) and greenbelts or parks.

Ocean Hills Country Club Pool

Photo by Gary Harmon

No wonder why Ocean Hills Country Club fits the bill for so many seniors.  Ocean Hills offers all of these in most of their 17 floor plans.  Only one plan has just a single car garage.  All others have 2 car garages, or a garage and a carport.  All homes offer a deck or patio or both. Most plans are open with vaulted ceilings and lots of light.  Most plans offer a kitchen nook.  All have private yards.

When it comes to access to water, Ocean Hills Country Club has most beat.  They have their own private, oversized, sparkling swimming pool (solar heated and saltwater).  If you need more water, they are just a few miles from some of San Diego’s most beautiful beaches.

Photo by Gary Harmon

Photo by Gary Harmon

If you would like to experience why so many people are moving to Ocean Hills, just contact Gary Harmon for your free and personalized tour.

 

 

Charger Schedule 2013

For your convenience, I am adding a 2013 Charger schedule to my blog.

Charger Schedule 2013For real estate information in Ocean Hills Country Club including listings of Ocean Hills homes, contact Gary Harmon.

San Diego Events – June 2013

June 2013 a

 

June 2013 1June 2013 2

June 2013 b

For San Diego North County real estate, contact Gary Harmon.

Do You Need These High Tech Products?

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It is impossible to keep up will all the new innovations and high tech products that seem to come out everyday.  Many of them can make our life simplier and many can just be frustrating.   If we are talking about software, the question is always, “should I upgrade to the newer version.”  If it is hardware, do we just want it because it is new or do we “need it.”  I will share an evaluation that was recently written by the president of the Computer Club in Ocean Hills Country Club.

  • iPhone 5: Yes, I’m an iPhone user, having the “old” 3GS model. Turns out my daughter and her husband both bought an iPhone 5 the day they came out. The new phone is much thinner and lighter than mine. Almost too thin to hold comfortably. It is undoubtedly more competent, but I tried “Siri”, the voice interface, and it was useless. 30 seconds after asking a question I got the answer to a completely different question. So I turned to my children. “Should I upgrade to an iPhone 5?” After only 2 seconds the answer was “No.” I think I maybe might agree.

What you just read was the evaluation by the president of the computer club.  Now, I would like to totally disagree with his evaluation of the iphone 5.

If you have an iphone 3gs or earlier model, you should definitely upgrade to an iphone 5 when your elgible for an upgrade.  If you have an iphone 4, you can choose to upgrade or not.  The iphone 5 is lighter and has a brighter, with a clearer screen.  It also has a fantastic camera.  The camera is so good you will just put your old digital camera in a drawer. (Most of the photos on my websites are taken with my iphone.)  Starting with the iphone 4 you also have the voice interface  “Siri.”  Unlike the review above, I have found Siri very useful.  Also, as you use the voice activated system, she seems to learn your voice and make far fewer mistakes.  I use Siri to put my appoints in my phone’s calendar, to remind me of all kind of things, to play me songs I like, to give me sports scores of my favorite teams, and to set and turn off alarms.  Siri can save you all kinds of time.  You just have to spend a little time with it.

The evaluation continues with these other high tech products.

  • Windows 8: Should you upgrade? Everything I’ve read says no. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not better. And it does offer some advantages over Windows 7 such as a faster boot up. If you buy a new PC this is most likely the operating system you’ll get. Don’t shy away from it. I just wouldn’t pay to upgrade my existing Windows operating system.
  • iPad 4 and iPad-mini: Pretty self-descriptive. The iPad keeps getting better and better, and experts agree that the iPad 4 is indeed an improvement over iPad 3. Faster, thinner, and better graphics. It is a (relative) beast to carry, however, heavier than it looks, and so we now have the smaller and lighter iPad-mini. It’s a smaller version of the iPad 3, though, so not as competent as the iPad 4. Again, I wouldn’t buy one of these if I already had an iPad, but these new products keep iPads at the top of the tablets. Their top-of-the-line rating does come with top-of-the-line pricing, and less capable but still competent tablets are available for less money.
  • Microsoft Surface: That’s the name of the new tablet from Microsoft. It looks intriguing to me, offering the advantages of both a laptop and a tablet. It runs Windows 8, but right now all that’s available is the tablet part of the Win8 operating system. You’ll need to wait a few months to get the full Windows 8 operating system capable of running the Microsoft Office applications Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

If you like high tech products and move to Ocean Hills, you should join the Computer Club.    They have a lot of great ideas and are willing to share.  Ocean Hills also has a great computer room in the clubhouse.

For more information on Ocean Hills homes, see Gary’s main website www.HomeInfoSanDiego.com.

Contact Gary Harmon today.

All original content by Gary Harmon.

 

 

 

Birdwatchers Club

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With the many Ocean Hills clubs there is something for everyone.  This post features the Ocean Hills Birdwatchers Club.   One of their activities are Bird walks.  The upcoming Birdwatchers Club walk for the month of November 2017 is a trip to the San Jacinto Wildlife Refuge.

This refuge is East of Lake Perris and North of Temecula up the 215 freeway.  It will take about one and a half hours to drive the 70 miles.  The club will be doing a birding by car over an access road with seven specified stops.  At these stops, there my be a little walking on mostly flat terrain.  The parking lot at San Jacinto has picnic tables and portable toilets  This refuge has been a productive birding location for many clubs.

Club members meet at the overflow lot across from the main Ocean Hills clubhouse.  Departure time is 8:00  so plan to be there by 7:45 am.  Sometimes locations, dates, and times change.  Changes are emailed to members.  you can also check the monthly calendar kept in “Clubs” section at the clubhouse.

Visit our OHCC Birdwatchers website for club information.  We always welcome new members, no experience necessary.

 

For real estate info, contact Gary Harmon today.

All original content by Gary Harmon.

 

Ocean Hills Safety First

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Ocean Hills Country Club stresses safety first to all their residents.  Here are some tidbits that I gleened from the Ocean Hills Country Club “Newsletter.”

Playing golf at Ocean Hills can be demanding, enjoyable, and a challenging game all at the same time.  If there are children, pets, spectators, or pedestrians, that can be a distraction.    Okay, that was a little bit of a trick.  None of the above are allowed on the golf course for safety reasons.  Also, remember that evening strolls are not allowed on the golf course.

As the weather improves and cools, more people in Ocean Hills will be out walking.  If you are driving be very careful.  If you are a pedestrian, be watchful and alert at all times.   Wear light colored clothing, preferably with reflectors or if not carry a flashlight.   If you walk out the front gate, there are signs directing you to the exit lane side of the gate-house and there is a designated pedestrian lane there as well.  You are encouraged to use this lane.  Don’t approach the Ocean Hills gatehouse from the entrance lane side.  That is very dangerous.

Be safe, be careful, and enjoy!

 

 

Ocean Hills Goes Green

Ocean Hills Country Club will get a little greener next month, October 20th, when they hoast a FREE electronic waste colletion event.  The event will be in the Ocean Hills Country Club overflow parking lot.   This is the lot across from the main Ocean Hills clubhouse and across the street a little to the west.  The event will be from 1o a.m. to 2 p.m.

Electronoics, computers, cell phones & TVs, monitors all contain toxic substances and should be disposed of properly.  You can do your part by coming to the free event.

Items that will be accepted include: monitors, LCD & Plasma screens, CRT’s, cell phones, laptops, tablets, copiers, printers, digital cameras, stereos, computer towers, mice/trac balls, phones, speakers, BCR’s, DVD players, servers, gaming systems, power cords/strips, caculators and more.  If it has a plug and is not just an appliance, they will probably take it.

They cannot take hazardous materials, so they will not be taking batteries.   

If you have any questions you can call Green Stream E-Cycling at 760-935-5111 or email them at info@gsecycling.com.

If you are considering selling your Ocean Hills home, I would be glad to meet with you and give you a free marketing analysis.

Contact Gary Harmon today.

All original content by Gary Harmon.

Garden Club

The Ocean Hills homes area has a club for just about every interest. This week, I will tell you a little about the garden club. First of all, the garden club publishes a bulliten that can be picked up in the Ocean Hills clubhouse. See details below photo.

Photo by Gary Harmon

In July, the garden club had an excellent speaker that explained how to deal with summer pest (the garden kind). If you contact one of the members, I am sure they will share.

In August, the club is going to focus on roses. There are so many kinds a varieties of roses suitable for growing in our zone. The speakers this month were Sue and Dick Streeper. Sue and Dick have been growing roses for over 40 years. They grow about 400 roses of all types in they El Cajon home. Sue has a special fondness for floribundas and climbers fro their stellar performance in the landscape. Their other favorites include Secret, Midas Touch, Ruby Ruby, Lady Elsie May, and Fresh Pink.

In addition to great speakers, the garden club takes outside trips. The next trip will be August 24th to the “Self-Realization Fellowship’s Mediation Gardens” in Encinitas. I have been there and the gardens are truly beautiful. See photo above. The gardens are landscaping masterpieces of botanical soulfulness. There is nature and beauty for everyone. The gardens are set on the edge of a cliff in Encinitas and offer a stunning view of the ocean. The waves crashing below provide theraputic sounds.

If you would like more information about Ocean Hills homes or anything else about Ocean Hills Country Club, please contact Gary Harmon.

All original content by Gary Harmon.

Computer Club

The purpose of the Ocean Hills Homes computer club is to encourage active Ocean Hills residents to use computers for better living.

The Ocean Hills computer club offers various classes each month to fulfill that purpose.  The club also offers “help sessions,” and host a guest speaker on a subject interesting to club members.  The club has both PC and Apple products.

Some of the classes that have been offerred are Digital Photography, Beginning and Intermediate PC, Word and Excel.  For the Apple lovers the club offers classes on MacIntosh computers, iPads, and iPhones.  Since classes change monthly, residents need to check the monthly schedlue posted on the computer room window.  You can also find a schedule at www.oceanhillscomputerclub.net.

Advantages of being an Ocean Hills computer club member include free classes, their monthly newsletter, and nifty computer tips, all mailed to you.

Contact Gary Harmon today.

All original content by Gary Harmon.

 

Gone Are the Good Old Days?

If you live in Ocean Hills Country Club or are looking at Ocean Hills homes, you can remember how our living style has changed. The iceman no longer cometh, nor does the milkman. The newspaper no longer comes twice a day, morning and afternoon. We can no longer walk down to the corner store to get a slice of balogna or cheeze.

Ocean Hills Clubhouse - Photo by Gary Harmon

But that was then and here we are in the 21st century. I must disagree with the editorial I read, “Gone: good old days.” I really don’t remember the iceman, but I am sure much of it melted. I now can just go over to my refrigerator and get any kind of ice I like. My milk has dates on it so I am never suck with old milk. (Once lost a baby kitten because the little corner store sold me bad milk.) And most importantly, I can get my news off the Internet and it is totally up to date. So I would say the “Good Old Days” are “today.”

Real estate commissions are the same or less than when I started in the business 23 years ago. To get a great real estate deal, contact Gary Harmon, your Real Living Lifestyles Realtor.

All original content by Gary Harmon.