Sequoia Grove Gracious Retirement Living

Cindy

We toured Sequoia Grove Gracious Retirement Living. I felt like they were selling me a timeshare. The lady explained it and she's the salesperson. She said they're a corporation, and once the facility is at 92% full, she's out of there and moves on to the next one. The administration there was very nice and she sat down and talked with us for a long time about things I like. She showed us 4 or 5 different floor plans and that was nice. And the dining room is fabulous. It has white tablecloths, white cloth napkins, and tall water glasses. And I said, wow, I feel like I've got to get dressed up to come down here and eat. And she said, "No, no, no. We just don't want pajamas and slippers and all that". But I thought it seemed like they spent more money in the dining room than needed. They didn't have a pet fee or a community fee, which is nice. You can have a vehicle, it's no charge, and internet, cable, and all that wi-fi are included, but the rooms, the one-bedroom I looked at that was on the internet for $3,795 was $5,100. And I said, what happened to $3,795 and she said, well, those are other floor plans and we can show you some. They didn't all have balconies. Some of them were just a French door out to a little cement patio. It was very high-end, very expensive, and everything was beautiful. They have a nice, authentic theater. We spoke to a few residents and they were very displeased with the administration. One of the residents pointed in the direction of the lady who was touring us. The lady wasn't there with us that time, but she said "That administration, I don't like them. " For example, she said, I had a Christmas wreath on my door and they complained about it and said I had to take it down. The week before that, they had a contest on door decorations. It could've been that she doesn't get along with them. We just had that one opinion, but that was before we got the tour. And by the time the tour was over, I looked at my daughter and she looked at me. I said I could see what that lady was talking about. They're very pushy. I can't tell you how many times she said, so which one are you comfortable in? And then she's telling me that she can make a deal. She said now, if you don't see me, next time you come in here, you won't get a deal because I can tinker with the prices. I can give you a couple of months, three months, I think she said, or $1,000 off. She was going to make deals like freezing your rent for two years and saying, I can give discounts on things. And she said, but when I'm gone after it's 92% full you won't get those discounts. And she kept saying, if you see one you like, put $100 on it. We'll keep an eye on it. She didn't want me to leave without getting some money from me, and that to me was like a timeshare thing. She was very friendly and very nice, and she wasn't rude or anything, just a little aggressive and pushy.