From Cincinnati to Royal Highlands: how one couple found their 55+ community
Finding the right 55+ community in Florida is genuinely hard. There are hundreds of options, and the differences between them matter. John and Mary Long's three-year search, which ended at Royal Highlands in Lake County, is a useful case study for anyone starting that process. They were methodical in a way most buyers aren't, and it paid off.
How the search started
John retired three years ago, right as the couple's daughter was looking at colleges. "She wanted to come South," Mary explains, "so we started traveling a lot and began initial discussions about where we would want to retire." Their daughter enrolled at Florida State University, and the 12.5-hour drives from Cincinnati became low-stakes scouting trips through different parts of the state.
They started near Tallahassee, then worked south and east through other regions. Their priorities were consistent: be closer to their daughter, have year-round decent weather, and land in an active community that matched how they wanted to spend their time.
Why Central Florida made the cut
Hurricane risk and storm surge ruled out the coast for them. That pushed their focus toward Central Florida, specifically the Ocala area, which they'd heard was both affordable and insulated from the worst weather.
The spreadsheet method
The Longs built detailed Excel spreadsheets to track communities against their criteria. Their list covered neighborhood characteristics, HOA fees, community type, price range, location, house size (they wanted three bedrooms), and one consideration most buyers don't think to include: their son participates in Special Olympics, so accessibility and community fit mattered beyond the standard checklist.
"We wanted to get them down on paper," John says. "That way we're not spinning our wheels. We're focusing on the communities that check off all your boxes."
Running the budget numbers
They also built a full budget before committing to anything. "We wanted to pay cash," John explains, "and that's a tough exercise, but what surprised us was the amount of taxes we paid in Cincinnati, property taxes, income taxes. Even though there are things that are more expensive here in Florida, when you put the whole thing together, it's actually going to be less expensive for us."
That kind of total-cost thinking changed how they evaluated communities. A higher HOA fee can look different once you subtract Ohio income tax from the ledger.
The original shortlist, and how it grew
Their first round of online research turned up five Ocala-area communities: Penbrook Fairways, Summerglen, Spruce Creek Country Club, Del Webb Stone Creek, and Oak Run. Working with an Explore55Plus concierge expanded that list into Lake County, adding Royal Highlands, The Plantation, Arlington Ridge, and Kings Ridge Golf Club in Clermont.
Golf as a hard requirement
For the Longs, golf wasn't a nice-to-have. "Golf was definitely a main criteria," Mary says. They played the courses at their top communities and talked to residents on the back nine, a better way to get candid feedback than any brochure.
Community first, house second
The best advice the Longs got was to find a community before finding a house. In practice, that meant rating communities on a 1-to-5 scale before ever comparing floor plans. They made multiple visits, talked to current residents, and sat with the amenities long enough to know whether they'd actually use them.
Once the community rankings settled, they looked at specific houses only within their top choices. That process narrowed the field to two finalists: The Plantation and Royal Highlands.
Why Royal Highlands won
The Longs chose Royal Highlands. Their process (online research, repeated site visits, playing the golf courses, and direct conversations with residents) gave them enough data to make the call without second-guessing it.
What the concierge relationship looked like
Working with an Explore55Plus concierge mattered partly because of what didn't happen. "It wasn't 'why are you wasting my time,'" John says. "It was reassuring. 'I'm not going to push you, I'm not going to call you every other week.' We would contact you when we'd be in Florida again." A search that runs over years needs that kind of patience from anyone advising you.
What their process suggests for your search
A few things the Longs did that most buyers skip: they built a real budget that included taxes on both sides of the move, they scored communities before looking at individual houses, they played the golf courses rather than just touring the clubhouse, and they made enough visits to know how a place felt in different seasons.
The common thread is that they treated the search as a project with documentation, not a series of weekend trips with gut reactions.
Start your own search
The Longs did their comparison work by hand: spreadsheets, road trips, and rounds of golf across multiple communities. A free account on Explore55Plus gives you a personal match score for communities based on your budget, lifestyle, and must-haves, so you're only spending time on places that genuinely fit.
Once you've found communities worth tracking, save them to your shortlist and compare them in our Decision Matrix, the structured comparison the Longs built manually, ready when you need it. Create your free account and start narrowing your list with confidence.
