Padzilly lets you decide whether age-restricted communities appear in your results. It is not in the Filters panel — it is a preference on your profile, which is why people go looking for it in the wrong place.
Go to Profile, open Homebuying Budget, and find Age Restricted Communities. You have three choices:
Include all homes — no preference; everything appears
Exclude age-restricted communities — they are hidden from your results
Search only age-restricted communities — your search returns nothing else
Once you set it, it sticks. It applies to your searches from then on, so you do not have to remember it each time.
A community where residency requires at least one occupant to be above a certain age — most commonly 55 or over. They are also called active adult or senior communities.
Eligibility is set by the community itself, in its own rules, and it is the community that decides who qualifies. Padzilly only tells you which listings are in one.
Because you are not eligible. This is the main reason, and it saves real heartache. There is nothing worse than finding the perfect house, building the offer, and then discovering that the community will not accept your household.
If you have children living with you, or you are simply under the age, excluding these communities keeps your list honest.
Because that is what you want. Age-restricted communities are often less expensive for the amount of house and amenity you get, they tend to be quiet, and the maintenance burden is usually lower because the association handles more of it.
If you are over the threshold and that life appeals, the third option turns your whole search into exactly those homes — which is far more efficient than wading through family neighbourhoods.
These communities almost always carry an association fee, and often a substantial one, because the association is doing more: grounds, amenities, sometimes exterior maintenance.
Remember that Padzilly counts that fee in your monthly payment, exactly as your lender does. So an age-restricted home that looks cheap on price may not be cheap on payment — check the payment figure, not the asking price. And if you are using the No HOA filter at the same time as Search only age-restricted communities, expect a very short list, because those two rarely coexist.
Leave it on Include all homes. You will see both kinds, and the listing will tell you which is which when you open it. You can change the setting at any time, and nothing else about your account depends on it.
