Covenant Village of the Great Lakes

Cary12

We went to the Covenant Village Of The Great Lakes. It's a beautiful place with tons of amenities, but it's expensive. We had two friends that went there, and we've been there about four times in the last six months. Their apartments are on the small side, but they have different levels of sizes and prices. You go from two bedrooms and two baths with an x amount to one with two bedrooms and one bath, and they had a series of different floor plans. They're an average size. They have more storage in the rooms. There are more shelves and closets and most of the views are either woods or front lawn. Some people want one right in front cause they say they like to watch people come and go in cars, which a lot of old people like. Some of them have two bathrooms for one person might want to sit in a tub while the other person in a couple wants to stand up and hold on to a bar for support and doesn't want to climb over a tub. So it's like a super choice, " I can sit in that tub and my wife could stand up." And they had two small bathrooms with two different tubs. Their little kitchen spaces are a little more accessorized but they charge a lot of money. We ate there three times, it was good, and of restaurant quality. They had another room they called fine dining, and that was a waiter at a round table for six. You can move the chairs around, and make it for four. They have top-line menus, like a nice steak, just like in a high-end restaurant. Then whatever you get they take out of your food allowance anyway, because you pay $360 a month for food. But everything that you do there has a charge for it. And if you have laundry or room service, there's a charge. I think the only thing free is the bus rides. We liked it but the biggest problem with that isn't the rent. The rent is about the same as any place except for the extra charges. It's the community fee that is stifling to me. Our community fee, me and my wife for what we would rent, and everything like that was $283,000. That would be the sacrifice of the capital in your home. They say, "We call that a benevolent fund. If you pay that, it's like an insurance policy that if you run out of money we can't displace you." The irony with that is you do a financial workup with them like they would do if you're buying a house. So, they already know what your financial status is. Why would you be paying nearly $300,000 fee for insurance? It's a big block for us. They have a gym, a PT specialist, and a library.