Community appeals to seniors
Retirees and others looking to live affordably in a high-quality ranch home are finding their way to The Four Seasons, a manufactured housing community in Belvidere, located 12 miles east of Rockford.
“Eighty-five percent of our residents are 50 or older, but we do attract others who are downsizing,” said developer Carma Yoder. “We have one family where there are four generations living here.”
Yoder and her husband, Amos, have owned Dream Homes USA and The Four Seasons since 1986.
The homes that Four Seasons sells are manufactured by Commodore Homes in Goshen, Ind., and then trucked to Belvidere in two large sections. Dream Homes' crew then bolts the sections together and anchors them to the foundation, which has already been poured on-site, said Glenn Terrell, community manager for The Four Seasons.
“It is never moved again. Our homes are only mobile from the factory to the site,” he said.
A 2½-car garage is built once the home is in place.
“We offer 13 different models and buyers may either purchase one that is already here or they may custom order one and choose an empty lot. Custom orders take about two months,” Yoder said.
“Our homes are sold with a land lease, which has been recently advocated by many retirement experts,” she added. With this arrangement, the 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot lot under the home is not sold with the house. So the homeowners are not liable for property taxes. Instead, homeowners pay a monthly fee of $450 that includes water, sewer and garbage removal charges and the lease. Each resident pays his or her own electric and gas bills and maintains their own yard.
The detailsPrices range from $69,900 to $106,900 for homes with square footages ranging from 1,100 to 1,800.#8220;We enable people to spend less on their housing so that they have more money left over for travel or a second home in a warm climate,#8221; Yoder said.Exteriors are made of vinyl siding with aluminum soffits and fascia and shingle roofs. Most come with three bedrooms and two baths, kitchen, laundry room and gourmet kitchen. Some people choose to convert one bedroom into a den or television room. Others opt for a full family room, in addition to the living room.Some models offer eat-in kitchens and formal dining rooms.#8220;Our homes come with lots of luxuries, like all the appliances in your choice of color, fieldstone fireplaces, tons of cabinets, carpeting, upgraded insulation, walk-in closets, skylights, cathedral ceilings, spa baths and separate showers with seats, and much more,#8221; Yoder said.Their philosophy#8220;We are providing people with quality-built, energy-efficient and luxurious housing at an extremely affordable price in a neighborhood that people will love. Our residents call it a modern-day Mayberry,#8221; Yoder said.The development also features 20 acres of common area that includes an outdoor swimming pool, heavily-landscaped mailbox areas with benches where people can socialize, a flag park and an open space park for recreation. Residents can also walk to shopping, restaurants, two banks, a hospital and a medical clinic.#8220;We offer many social activities that are conducive to getting to know the neighbors and people here are very friendly and supportive of one another,#8221; Terrell said. #8220;We have a community room where aerobic classes are offered free and we hold many parties, dinner, game nights, coffee hours and even day trips to casinos and places like Dubuque, Iowa.#8220;As people age, it can be quite lonely. So we offer an atmosphere where it is easy to meet people and it fills that void. Not many communities do that,#8221; he said.Some historyAmos Yoder has been in the manufactured home business since 1969, working in many different facets of the business, from building to service and beyond. Carma got into the industry in 1977 and then, from 1980 to 1986, the couple ran a manufactured homes sales center in Rockford.The Four Seasons was already under way when the Yoders bought it from its founder in 1986. Construction had begun there in 1970 and by 1986 there were 138 homes on the site. Today there are 587 homes in the community.The company also is in a redevelopment phase with some of those earliest Four Seasons houses, Yoder said.#8220;When our elderly residents give up the older homes, many of which were built in the 1970s and are outdated and very small (800 to 1200 square feet), we remove them from the site, redo the foundation, cement, sod and infrastructure and bring in a much larger, more modern home in its place. We feel that this is good for both the community and the environment,#8221; she said.Terrell manages the construction crew, retail sales and the grounds crew. Carma Yoder handles marketing, advertising and sales training while Amos manages the finances.Why buy a manufactured home?#8220;Manufactured homes often exceed the standards of site-built homes because they are built in a weather-controlled environment where specialized workers on an assembly line make them,#8221; Yoder said. #8220;The quality is better controlled and manufactured homes have always been known for making very good use of square footage.#8221;What are the biggest changes you have seen in the business?#8220;This type of housing has always drawn buyers who want high quality, along with affordability. But now they are also looking for more amenities like the gourmet kitchens, fireplaces and cathedral ceilings,#8221; Terrell said.What are your future plans?#8220;For the next several years we will continue to redevelop older home sites. We are currently redeveloping between 20 and 30 a year for a total of more than 100 so far,#8221; Yoder said.For more information, call (888) 373-2604 or visit www.fourseasonsdreamhomes.com. 32222073The kitchen and dining area of the Ashland model at Four Seasons, a manufactured home community in Belvidere by Dream Homes USA.Christopher Hankins/chankins@dailyherald.com 33092221The Greenfield model is one of the affordable, manufactured homes assembled at Four Seasons in Belvidere.Photos by Christopher Hankins/chankins@dailyherald